On the recordDecember 19, 2010
I rise to speak today to recognize the departure of my good friend, the senior Senator from Pennsylvania. Senator Arlen Specter has been present here in the Senate through some of its most contentious times. He and I have worked side-by-side-- sometimes in agreement, other times in opposition--for many years. His presence will be sorely missed. Arlen is the son of immigrant parents. He was born in Wichita, KS, in 1930 to Lillie Shannin and Harry Specter. Harry served in World War I in the U.S. infantry, just a few years after migrating to the U.S. from Russia. While in combat in France, Arlen's father was seriously wounded. Yet a few years later, the Federal Government, strapped for funds, broke its promise to pay World War I veterans a bonus. This, of course, led to a veterans march on Washington and a tragic encounter between the U.S. Army and the protesting veterans. It also led, indirectly, to Senator Specter's career in public service as he has been fond of saying that he came to Washington to get his father's bonus and that he would run for reelection until he got it. Arlen attended college at both the University of Oklahoma and the University of Pennsylvania, graduating from the latter in 1951. He served in the Air Force during the Korean war as an officer in the Office of Special Investigations. In 1953, he married Joan Levy, with whom he has raised two sons and four grandchildren.
