David Obey: “I think the institution has experienced a great loss with the death of Fred Mohrman. He served this committee and this…”

“I think the institution has experienced a great loss with the death of Fred Mohrman. He served this committee and this Congress for a good many years. He in fact served me for a brief period as staff director after I became chairman, and he was what I would call an institutional man. He cared deeply about this institution, and he cared deeply about the committee. He had that tough, old-fashioned sense of duty that characterized his entire generation, and this country and the world is far better off for it. He would have taken great pride in the fact that this year, despite all of the outside pressures that are brought to bear on this committee, that we managed to produce 12 out of 13 appropriation bills that were passed on a bipartisan basis, and 1 that was pretty close to doing the same. He recognized that we need to define our differences and then we need to find ways to resolve them, and he took great pride in the services that he provided each and every Member on both sides of the aisle. He performed a great public service to this country. He was a man of absolute integrity, and we were saddened and shocked to learn of his passing.”