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Sunday, December 07, 2008

Popular N.M. Senator Remembered for Dedication, Long Service To State

By John Robertson
Journal State Editor
          This special section reviews the highlights of the life and career of Pete Domenici, New Mexico's longest-serving United States senator.
        The Journal reached into photo and news archives compiled over more than four decades of reporting on Domenici and asked reporters to interview knowledgeable people about his background and contributions.
        Domenici announced in October 2007 his pending retirement after he was diagnosed with a degenerative brain disease. In a twist of good news, he told a Journal reporter recently that he was feeling much better and that the disease had stalled. In fact, one researcher told him he didn't believe he had the disease at all. But Domenici said he did not regret his decision to step down.
        The senator himself was in the Journal offices the other day for a farewell chat. His jacket cuffs were a little frayed and he wore a wristwatch with a yellow face and a red Zia symbol.
        The worn coat and New Mexico watch seemed to reflect themes that run throughout the stories and testimonials in this tribute: hard work, long service and devotion to New Mexico.
        Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., who has served all 25 of his years in the Senate with Domenici, spoke in August at the Domenici Legacy Conference at New Mexico State University and said, "The four hallmarks of the Domenici legacy can be summarized in four words: budget, energy, nuclear and labs."
        As chairman of the Senate Budget Committee and later as chairman of Senate Energy and Natural Resources, Domenici rose to prominence in Congress and provided national leadership on the federal budget and energy policy. In 1997, while he was Senate Budget Committee chairman, Congress passed its first balanced budget in more than three decades. Meanwhile, Bingaman noted, Domenici always knew what New Mexico communities needed and wanted.
        "Few can match his record of accomplishment, and, I think it's safe to say, the respect and affection the citizens of a state have for their senator and his family," Bingaman said.
        "I'm a legislator," Domenici once said of himself. In a single word, it said a lot about his career. Colleagues say he was good, both at City Hall and then in Congress, at working with others to get things done for his town and his state.
        As his career draws to a close, there's no shortage of buildings and roads being named for the retiring senator. But New Mexicans obviously think the recognition is due.
        The Journal's late Washington correspondent, Paul R. Wieck, in 1983 reported a story being told inside the New Mexico congressional delegation. Domenici had asked a delegation member who was up for election what he could do to help.
        "Stop taking credit for everything that happens in the state," the fellow New Mexican said.
        It was told as a joke, but the truth is that Domenici was ubiquitous when it came to getting money, projects and services sent New Mexico's way. For years, he served on the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee. Meanwhile, his staff helped countless individuals and families with with everyday problems. Back home, critics somewhat resentfully dubbed him St. Pete.
        But the critics were few. Nearly 70 percent of voters surveyed in the last Journal poll on his job performance said they approved. Throughout, he was a Republican in a Democratic majority state.
        There were few incidents to mar the luster of his career — perhaps only one that will be remembered. That was his phone call to the U.S. attorney for New Mexico at the height of the 2006 election about an investigation that could prove embarrassing to Democrats. Domenici said he regretted making the call and apologized. The Senate ethics committee issued a "Public Letter of Qualified Admonition" but found "no substantial evidence" that Domenici had improperly tried to influence an investigation.
        While he relished his big-vote margins in six elections to the Senate, the senator from New Mexico was the opposite of the blow-dried, blow-hard politician who has become the image of Washington. He wasn't running for president. He wasn't lining his own pockets. He was a practical man who took his job seriously and focused on helping his state.
        In his own farewell speech on the Senate floor in September, Domenici thanked key members of his staff over the years, including Steve Bell, Bill Hoagland and Alex Flint. He thanked his wife, Nancy, mother of their eight children, for living with the distractions and demands of his political career.
        "It has not been an easy job," Domenici said of his wife. "She probably has had as hard a job — a much harder job than I — and she's never been anything but beautiful and decent, honest and loving and caring."
        Then, in a modest summation of his own efforts, the man from New Mexico said, "I worked pretty hard at being a senator."