Former Senator Warren B. Rudman, who co-sponsored the landmark budget legislation known as the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act, has died. He was 82 years old.
“Warren was the embodiment of Yankee sensibility and New England independence. As an early advocate for fiscal responsibility, he worked with Republicans and Democrats alike to call attention to our nation's growing deficit,” President Obama said in a statement issued Tuesday. "As we work together to address the fiscal challenges of our time, leaders on both sides of the aisle would be well served to follow Warren's example of common-sense bipartisanship.”
The decorated war veteran and two-term senator from New Hampshire passed away Monday in Washington, D.C., after complications from lymphoma, the Washington Post reported.
The Republican was first elected in 1980 and demonstrated a fierce independent streak, crossing the aisle, if necessary, to do what he considered the right thing.
Vice President Biden called him “a tenacious prosecutor, a courageous combat infantry commander, and a devoted Senator,” in a statement. “He knew as much about the federal budget as anyone who ever served in this town--and it was always a privilege to work with him, and learn from him. I was proud to call him a close personal friend and confidant.”
Joining forces with Sens. Phil Gramm of Texas and Ernest F. Hollings of South Carolina, Rudman helped pave the way for a balanced budget in 1985, tackling the $200 billion deficit, an all-time high at the time, under the Reagan administration. The act called for a balanced federal budget within six years.