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Former Sen. Claiborne Pell, who served Rhode Island in
the upper chamber for six terms, died Thursday at his home in Newport. He was
90 years old. During his long tenure in the Senate, Pell served as chairman
of the Foreign Relations Committee before his retirement after the 1996
elections. In 1995, Pell had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.
Pell was best known for legislation allowing millions of
low-income students to attend colleges under grants that bear his name. The
Pell Grant program was established in 1972.
On Thursday, senators lauded their former colleague as a
giant on the Senate.
“Claiborne Pell was a man of extraordinary integrity,
grace and decency,” Vice President-elect Biden said in a statement, calling
Pell a personal mentor and “one of our country’s greatest public servants.”
“Few senators have done more to expand opportunity in
America,” he added.
Biden followed Pell as the leading Democrat on the
Foreign Relations Committee.
Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), who will chair the panel in
the 111th Congress, said Pell led the body “to support America’s rightful place
in the world community.”
Pell “will be recorded in history as a leader whose moral
compass pointed him to do great things,” Kerry said.
First elected to the Senate in 1960, Pell never faced
serious Republican opposition. In 1996, Pell gave his seat up to Sen. Jack Reed
(D), who Thursday called his predecessor a “remarkable statesman and legislator
who worked tirelessly to promote peace and expand opportunity through education.”
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