Chuck Hagel: “the passing of Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan is a loss for all of us. Pat Moynihan committed his remarkable life to…”

“the passing of Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan is a loss for all of us. Pat Moynihan committed his remarkable life to his country: serving four Presidents, representing our Nation as Ambassador to India and the United Nations, and representing the State of New York as a Senator. His deep intellect and unyielding candor will be missed. As a junior colleague, I was struck by Senator Moynihan's generosity with his time and graciousness of spirit. I had the privilege of sitting next to Senator Moynihan on the trip to Rhode Island for the funeral of our colleague the late Senator John Chafee. As we traveled, I was out of my depth listening to him discuss different styles of architecture in between offering endearing stories about our departed colleague. Of all his gifts, Pat Moynihan's ability to recognize great issues before they were commonly observed was his greatest. In public policy, he had an ability to appreciate and make sense of the larger picture rarely found in a politician. From the plight of broken families and inner cities, to the collapse of the Soviet Union, to the danger of ethnic conflict in the Balkans, to Social Security reform, Moynihan was prophetic. In one of his last public speeches, at last year's Harvard Commencement, Moynihan again offered words that carry far more weight today than when he delivered them less than a year ago: Certainly we must not let ourselves be seen as rushing about the world looking for arguments.…”