Who Is Senator Clifford Case?

Links to Documents

• Brief Biography of Senator Clifford P. Case II: Loyal Son, Scholar. View now or open the PDF version (0.1MB)>
• Remarks in the Congressional Record upon the death of Senator Case View now or open the PDF version (6.1MB)

*The Congressional Record is the official record of the proceedings and debates of the United States Congress. It is published daily when Congress is in session. The Congressional Record began publication in 1873, and is still published today"(U.S. Government Printing Office)". Items that one can find in the Congressional Record would be full text speeches given on the floor of the legislative houses, remarks of legislators on legislation, policy and current events affecting the government of the United States or its people. It is a useful tool to understand what the Congress has done at any one particular time and to see what the Congress is doing currently. Your instructor will explain to you which parts of this document you will need to examine for this activity.

• New York Times Obituary of Senator Clifford P. Case II.
  This resource is available through databases like Historical New York Times.

Activity I — Who is Senator Clifford Case?

1. Do Now Activity: At the beginning of the class session provide students with the question "What makes a good legislator?" Students should take 5 minutes to jot down their own responses and then prepare to share with the class.
2. Have students share their responses with the class while you record their responses. Ideally they will be recorded in a location where all students can see the unique list being developed by the class.
3. Provide students with/direct students to the following documents:
   • "Brief Biography of Senator Clifford P. Case II: Loyal Son, Scholar, Statesman";
   • Remarks in the Congressional Record upon the death of Senator Case;
     • Most likely students have not heard about the Congressional Record nor do they know its purpose. This description appears on the Electronic New Jersey website. If students do not have electronic access you will need to supply them with this description:
       "The Congressional Record is the official record of the proceedings and debates of the United States Congress. It is published daily when Congress is in session. The Congressional Record began publication in 1873, and is still published today"(U.S. Government Printing Office)". Items that one can find in the Congressional Record would be full text speeches given on the floor of the legislative houses, remarks of legislators on legislation, policy and current events affecting the government of the United States or its people. It is a useful tool to understand what the Congress has done at any one particular time and to see what the Congress is doing currently.
     • All students should read the remarks from Representative Peter Rodino as they are comprehensive and insightful.
     • Other legislators' remarks are useful but instructors may use discretion on which ones to assign or how to assign them (i.e. skim through the entire document, assigning specific remarks to small investigation groups, etc.)
   • New York Times obituary of Senator Case.
4. Students are to read through these documents and collect data such that they can respond to these short discussion questions. You may wish to have them identify main ideas or give them specific reading-for-purpose cues to guide and direct their reading. You may also wish to develop a graphic organizer for the students when they work with these documents. Be sure that the students know that they will be discussing the biography and should be prepared to share their observations with the class.
   • What did Senator Case accomplish over his life?
   • What is Senator Case's legacy?
   • How do other legislators who served concurrently with Senator Case perceive his record in light of their common experiences in the Congress?
   • How does Senator Case match up with the qualities list that the class generated at the beginning of the lesson?
5. Extension ideas for this activity include having students examine their own legislators or prominent national legislators in light of their list and/or their learnings about Senator Case. Do they feel that these representatives are effective or ineffective? Why? Are these legislators held in high esteem by their contemporaries and colleagues?