August 19, 1974
Page 28882
Mr. MUSKIE. Mr. President, all of us are saddened by the death of a former colleague. It was with a particular sense of loss that I learned of the death last week of former Senator Mundt.
Karl Mundt and I were from different parts of the country. We had widely differing political philosophies. But for more than 10 years we worked together in the Senate to improve and clarify the nature of our unique Federal system of often conflicting and confusing intergovernmental relationships. From 1959 until his retirement, Senator Mundt and I served together on the Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations, a body created by legislation we both sponsored. And for 10 years we shared the privilege of overseeing the birth and development of the Senate Subcommittee on Intergovernmental Relations.
The work of the subcommittee attracted few headlines in those early years. The legislation we considered was highly technical and unglamorous. Although Senator Mundt and I frequently disagreed over the details of particular bills, the final product of our deliberations reflected the true spirit of bipartisan cooperation and mutual respect we always enjoyed. I valued that relationship.
Senator Mundt's contributions to the legislative record of the Subcommittee on Intergovernmental Relations – most notably in the Intergovernmental Cooperation Act of 1968 and the Intergovernmental Personnel Act of 1970 – were numerous and valuable. They reflected his deep concern with and understanding of the complexities and change in our evolving Federal system. In many unheralded ways they have helped strengthen that system today.
Mrs. Muskie and I extend our deepest sympathy to Mrs. Mundt.