[Page: S12843]

Mr. NUNN. I thank the Chair. Mr. President, this past weekend the Nation lost a dedicated public servant, and the Senate and the Armed Services Committee lost a valuable staff member. Doug George, a senior member of the Armed Services Committee staff and a former intelligence official with a distinguished career in the U.S. intelligence community, died at his home last Friday evening after a courageous fight with cancer.

Doug joined the Armed Services Committee staff a little over a year ago. When he came to the committee, we knew that we were getting a seasoned professional in the fields of arms control and U.S. intelligence. Over the past year, Doug played a key role in the committee's oversight of Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm. He played a key role in our continuing work on the CFE and START treaties; on command and control of the nuclear arsenals of the United States and the Soviet Union; and on the reorganization of the U.S. intelligence community. Doug was tireless in providing the members of the Armed Services Committee with his views and his professional assessment of these issues. He drew on the broad experience he gained in the field of intelligence analysis and management.

Before Doug joined the Armed Services Committee staff, he served almost 25 years in the U.S. intelligence community. He rose from the position of analyst to become one of the senior members of the U.S. intelligence community staff. In his last assignment before coming to the committee staff, Doug was deputy director of the intelligence community staff for requirements and evaluation, where he worked directly with the Director of Central Intelligence and other top intelligence officials in the Government. In recent years, Doug regularly testified before the congressional intelligence oversight committees on weapons proliferation, arms control, and intelligence community operations.

In the mid-1980's, Doug served as the chief of the arms control intelligence staff and the executive secretary of the CIA's Steering Group on Monitoring Strategic Arms Limitations. As the CIA's most senior specialist and executive on arms control issues, Doug played a key role in several United States-Soviet summit meetings, including the Reykjavik summit.

I first got to know Doug during the debate on the SALT II Treaty. At the time, Doug was serving in the CIA's Office of Scientific and Weapons Research, and was an expert in the Soviet Union's nuclear capability. During that debate Doug gained a wide reputation from all who dealt with him, for his absolute honesty and total integrity that became the hallmark of his career as an intelligence official. In all of the years I have worked with Doug, I never knew him to ever hesitate to give his own objective analysis of a particular issue or problem, and he never let his analysis be swayed by partisan or political considerations.

No matter where the pressure came from for Doug to in any way tilt his assessment, he never yielded 1 inch from what he believed to be his professional judgment. He did that with a tremendous amount of integrity, and he did it at times when I knew there was a great deal of pressure on him.

The quality of Doug's work was recognized throughout the U.S. intelligence community. He had a well-deserved reputation as a strong and active manager with a positive attitude and an ability to get things done. As a result, he received a number of awards and citations from the intelligence community, culminating in 1987 with the prestigious Distinguished Intelligence Medal.

Mr. President, Doug George's distinguished career in the service of our Nation's intelligence community is a matter of public record. All of us appreciate his service to the country, and we are grateful for the privilege of having known and worked with him closely.

But people should also know that Doug's demeanor and his spirit in the last months of his life were an inspiration to those who observed and those who were close to him.

Doug faced his disease with determination and courage. After his cancer was diagnosed in April, he continued to carry out his responsibilities to our committee, often in spite of terrific physical pain. He remained involved in our committee's work even in the last days before his death, and I was told yesterday by a senior member of the staff that he was discussing conference issues in their last conversion the day before his death.

Mr. President, I know all of my colleagues join me in offering our condolences to Doug's wife, Kathyrn. Kathryn has had an outstanding career in her own right, and she has been a great partner to Doug.

In a letter to me this week, Gen. Colin Powell, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, described Doug very well. General Powell wrote:

[Page: S12844]

The many officers of the Joint Staff and in the field who worked with Doug knew him to be a wise and thoughtful man of uncompromising integrity and patriotism whose goal was always to do the `right thing' for America.

Mr. President, Doug George was a true professional and a public servant of great integrity. He always did the right thing for America. Those of us who knew him will miss him, but we will remember him.

Mr. President, I yield the floor.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Chair recognizes the Senator from Virginia [Mr. Warner].

END