Hon. Michael G. Oxley: “I found him to be truly the embodiment of what a public servant ought to be, one who did not take himself too seriously…”

“I found him to be truly the embodiment of what a public servant ought to be, one who did not take himself too seriously, but took his job very seriously, one who could spin a good story as well as anybody. I remember in one particular case we were asked to go to Camp David to be lobbied very heavily by the Reagan administration for the TEFRA bill. That was the bill that was going to try to restore some tax revenue after the big tax cut in 1981, and after we returned from Camp David that afternoon, the news media asked a lot of us there what was it all about, and they asked Ed Madigan. Particularly they said: 'We understand you're already in favor of TEFRA. Why did you go up to Camp David with all of these other folks who were allegedly undecided?' And Ed, with that wry smile of his, said, 'I suspect I was a shill,' and that was really the embodiment of his personality. I valued his friendship; I valued our service together on the committee.”