Former Senator Warren Rudman Dead At 82

Former New Hampshire Senator Warren Rudman, a Republican centrist, died Monday night of complications from lymphoma.

Best known as the co-author of a deficit reduction law, Rudman was a key supporter of David Souter’s nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court.

He also served on the special committee that investigated ties between Marine Col. Oliver North and the funding of Nicaraguan rebels during the Reagan administration. Rudman also co-authored a 2001 report on national security, with former Colorado senator Gary Hart, that said a major terrorist attack would occur on American soil likely within 25 years. The report came out before the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attack.

Rudman served in the U.S. Senate from 1980 to 1993, and exemplified a time when Republicans and Democrats would put aside their party affiliations to work together. That kind of bipartisanship is now rare.

The Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Balanced Budget Act, signed into law in 1985, was one of the first laws of its kind to require caps on federal spending and automatic cuts, known as sequesters, if deficit targets were not reached. Rudman’s co-authors were Republican Phil Gramm of Texas and Democrat Ernest Hollings of South Carolina.

By: Alan

Alan Colmes is the publisher of Liberaland.