LETTERS: THANK YOU, SENATOR SIMON

To the editor:

This is an open letter to retired U.S. Sen. Paul Simon, D-Ill.:

Dear Friend Paul:

How many cards or letters have you received over the last 30 years or so which began, "Dear Friend Paul," "Dear Senator," "Dear Representative" or "Dear Lieutenant Governor"? It must have been well over a million, with 90 percent of them asking for your help in getting some problem solved. To my knowledge, you never failed to respond.

I know that we've contacted your office more than 100 times. These calls for help ranged from asking your office to help speed up tardy government contract payments to having the distinct pleasure of your presence at a meeting in Washington, D.C., with Charles Schumann, who was then secretary of agriculture. That occasion was when a group from the Cairo areas was desperately trying to secure final approval on a loan from the Community Facilities Program of the Farmers Home Administration. Since only the national office made such funding decisions, Bill Egan, Dr. William Thomas, Margo Fraser and I made the trip to find out what was holding up the loan. Senator Simon, you not only set up the meeting and introduced us tot he secretary, but you attended the two-hour meeting with us. Subsequently, by following Secretary Shumann's instructions, our group proceeded to raise the necessary matching funds to prove our validity, finalized the loan and built the skilled-care nursing home called Daystar in Cairo.

We feel that your office always gave us, your constituents, the finest kind of personal service. We Illinoisans can always point with pride to our senator, Paul Simon, who never compromised good Christian moral standards, holding himself, his staff and his votes to the high ground for our nation.

Our country benefits daily from some of your historic legislation, particularly the programs of loans and grants for low-income college students. Our Southern Illinois counties benefit directly from the payment in lieu of taxes, which stabilized many poor counties within the Shawnee National Forest. We enjoy good roads, bridges and highways and owe much to you for our new wetlands, levees, river locks and dams and, soon, for clean public water throughout all rural areas.

Please accept our personal thanks for dignifying our state, our nation and, indeed, the field of politics throughout your entire career. We salute you, friend Paul Simon, and your fine family. You will be missed.

MR. and MRS. PETER J. CLARKE

Cache, Ill.