Sen. Claiborne deBorda Pell
1918-2009
Upon his retirement, Sen. Claiborne deBorda Pell
concluded one of the longest and most distinguished careers in the history of
the U.S. Senate. Beginning in 1960, Pell was elected to six terms representing
his home state of Rhode Island. During his years of service, he made historic
contributions in international relations, higher education, environmental
protection and global resource preservation, and government support of the
arts, humanities, libraries and museums.
Pell was present at the inception of the United Nations
in 1945 and remained committed to the U.N.'s founding principles: the
international rule of law and basic human rights. A member of the Senate
Foreign Relations Committee for 34 years, he served as its chair or ranking
member for 17 years. Pell sponsored and achieved enactment of legislation on
such issues as nuclear arms control and disarmament and the development of
multinational institutions and treaties. He championed human rights and
democracy and was a passionate advocate for persecuted people throughout the
world.
Pell is best known for the Pell Grant legislation that
provides direct federal funds for low- and middle-income students seeking
higher education. Since the program was created in 1972, more than 100 million
Pell Grants have been awarded. As chairman of the Senate subcommittee on
education for most of his career, Pell also authored major legislation
increasing federal financial assistance to elementary and secondary schools and
expanding federal education programs. He was the driving force behind the
establishment of the National Endowment for the Arts and National Endowment for
the Humanities.
Among hundreds of other legislative initiatives, Pell
sponsored the High Speed Ground Transportation Act, which made vast
improvements in rail travel in the northeast corridor of the United States and
stimulated the creation of Amtrak. In his 1965 study "Megalopolis Unbound,"
Pell foresaw many of the challenges facing the world today, including rapid
globalization and the development of increasingly complex, interrelated systems
of commerce and transportation.
Pell sponsored the national Sea Grant College Program,
which greatly expanded oceanographic study. He initiated international treaties
outlawing nuclear weapons in the oceans and prohibiting environment
modification as a weapon of war. He championed the international Law of the Sea
regime and was a strong supporter of the United Nations Environment Programme. Pell
was the only senator to serve as a delegate to both the first World Conference
on the Environment in 1972 and the 1992 United Nations Conference on
Environment and Development.
Read Pell's full obituary from the New York Times.