Dennis DeConcini
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Dennis Webster DeConcini (; born May 8, 1937) is an American lawyer, philanthropist, politician and former U.S. senator from
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. The son of former Arizona Supreme Court judge Evo Anton DeConcini, he represented
Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...
in the Senate as a Democrat from 1977 until 1995. After his re-election in 1988, no Arizona Democrats were elected to the Senate for 30 years until
Kyrsten Sinema Kyrsten Lea Sinema ( ; born July 12, 1976) is an American politician, lawyer, and former social worker who served from 2019 to 2025 as a United States senator from Arizona. A former member of the Democratic Party, Sinema became an independent ...
won his former seat in
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.


Early life and education

DeConcini was born in Tucson, Arizona, the son of Ora (née Webster) and Evo Anton DeConcini. His father was judge on the Arizona State Superior Court for 10 years, then served as the
Arizona Attorney General The Arizona attorney general is the chief legal officer of the State of Arizona, in the United States. This state officer is the head of the Arizona Department of Law, more commonly known as the Arizona Attorney General's Office. The state attorn ...
for one two-year term from 1948 to 1949 before being appointed to the Arizona State Supreme Court, where he served as a judge for four years, from 1949 to 1953. DeConcini received his bachelor's degree from the
University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it ...
in 1959, and his LLB from the University of Arizona in 1963. He then worked as a lawyer for the Arizona Governor's staff from 1965 to 1967. DeConcini attended The JAG School at the
University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson and contains his The Lawn, Academical Village, a World H ...
and entered U.S. Army JAG Corps. Dennis DeConcini rejoined the law firm of DeConcini McDonald Yetwin and Lacy, which he and his father had co-founded in 1968, after leaving the Senate in 1995. He is a member of the advisory council of the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation.


Career

DeConcini served one elected term as
Pima County, Arizona Pima County ( ) is a County (United States), county in the south central region of the U.S. state of Arizona, one of 15 List of counties in Arizona, counties in the state. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 1 ...
, Attorney (1973–1976), the chief prosecutor and civil attorney for the county and school districts within the county. He was elected to the U.S. Senate in
1976 Events January * January 2 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 18 – Full diplomatic ...
as a Democrat, defeated Republican representative Sam Steiger for the open seat left by retiring Republican senator Paul Fannin. DeConcini served three terms in the Senate. In October 1991, he was one of eleven Democrats who voted to confirm Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court in a 52-48 vote.


Panama Canal

DeConcini sponsored an amendment (the DeConcini Reservation) to the Panama Canal Treaty of 1977 which allows the United States "to take such steps as each he U.S. or Panamadeems necessary, in accordance with its constitutional processes, including the use of military force in the Republic of Panama, to reopen the Canal or restore the operations of the Canal, as the case may be." The DeConcini amendment, which establishes the use of US military force in Panama, is written and signed by Omar Torrijos in the Instrument of Ratification, but it is alleged that it does not exist. "The DeConcini amendment does not exist, and I maintained that and I continue to maintain it," is what Carlos López Guevara expressed. In the same statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, mentioned above by former negotiator Carlos López Guevara, the De Concini Amendment is addressed, arguing that it "was neutralized by the leadership amendment or Church amendment", contained in the Treaty of the Panama Canal. López Guevara spoke about the book "Panama Odyssey" by former US ambassador, William Jorden. "I am going to quote in English what the Senate, President Carter, Undersecretary of State Christopher Warren, Ambassador Jorden and the Panamanian team did, to explain why the Church amendment is the rebellion of a group of liberal senators against the DeConcini amendment," he said. "Why was the Church amendment made?" López Guevara asked himself, before answering by quoting Jorden's book: To disown (page 563), to undo (page 567) to neutralize (page 567). . 571) to balance (page 571), as content move (page 583), etc. "These are the arguments that a Panamanian patriot has to use to say that what the Senate did when approving the Church amendment was to eliminate the interventionist effects of the DeConcini amendment, because in this way, it was "neutralized," said the lawyer. Asked if the fact that the Church amendment is part of the Panama Canal Treaty, which ends next December, is a reason for it not to have effect on the Neutrality Treaty, which does not end on that date, and which has no termination date, López Guevara responded that "it doesn't matter because it is part of that negotiation." "INTERVENTIONIST" PACT.


Keating Five

DeConcini was widely noted as a member of the
Keating Five File:AlanCranston.jpg, Alan Cranston (D-CA) File:Dennis DeConcini.jpg, File:John Glenn Low Res.jpg, John Glenn (D-OH) File:McCain2 (1).jpg, John McCain (R-AZ) File:Riegle2.jpg, Donald Riegle (D-MI) The Keating Five were five United States Se ...
in a banking and political contribution ethics investigation during the 1980s which grew out of the U.S. Savings and Loan Crisis. The Senate investigation involved Charles Keating and Lincoln Savings/Continental Homes, the sixth largest employer in the state of Arizona at the time. The Senate Ethics Committee looked into the actions of five United States senators in relation to their actions connected with Charles Keating and concluded that Senators DeConcini, McCain, Glenn and Riegle "broke no laws or Senate ethics rules, but were aggressive in their actions on behalf of Charles Keating." Specifically, DeConcini was judged to have "acted improperly" and did not run for a fourth term.


Senate committees

In the 101st Congress, DeConcini served on the
Senate Appropriations Committee The United States Senate Committee on Appropriations is a standing committee of the United States Senate. It has jurisdiction over all discretionary spending legislation in the Senate. The Senate Appropriations Committee is the largest committ ...
, chairing the Subcommittee on Treasury, Postal Service and General Government. He also served on the Subcommittees on Defense, Energy and Water Development and Foreign Operations, and on the
Senate Judiciary Committee The United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, informally known as the Senate Judiciary Committee, is a Standing committee (United States Congress), standing committee of 22 U.S. senators whose role is to oversee the United States Departm ...
, chairing the Subcommittee on Patents, Copyrights and Trademarks. He served on the Subcommittees on Antitrust, Monopolies and Business Rights, the Constitution and the Courts. In 1993 and 1994, DeConcini chaired the Select Intelligence Committee.


Appointments

In February 1995 DeConcini was appointed by President
Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...
to the board of directors of the
Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation The Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (FHLMC), commonly known as Freddie Mac, is an American publicly traded, government-sponsored enterprise (GSE), headquartered in Tysons, Virginia.Del E. Webb Construction Company President Anne Mariucci were selected by
Governor of Arizona A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the type of political region or polity, a ''governor'' ma ...
Janet Napolitano Janet Ann Napolitano (; born November 29, 1957) is an American politician, lawyer, and academic administrator. She served as president of the University of California from 2013 to 2020, on the faculty at the Goldman School of Public Policy at t ...
to sit on the
Arizona Board of Regents The Arizona Board of Regents (ABOR) is the governing body of Arizona's public university system. It provides policy guidance to Arizona State University, Northern Arizona University, and the University of Arizona. History In 1885, the territori ...
.


Congressional papers

DeConcini's congressional papers are held at the University of Arizona Libraries, Special Collections.


Business career

DeConcini served on the board of directors of the
Corrections Corporation of America CoreCivic, Inc. formerly the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), is a company that owns and manages private prisons and detention centers and operates others on a concession basis. Co-founded in 1983 in Nashville, Tennessee, by Thomas W. ...
(now known as CoreCivic) from 2008 to 2014. Starting in 2010, some individuals protested his membership on the board, saying his involvement is "not suitable for a public figure like DeConcini." Although he claims he has not lobbied for harsher immigration laws and sentencing practices, he admits meetings with the Arizona Department of Corrections Director Chuck Ryan and "publicly speaking in favor of" for-profit prisons. It was alleged that, in 1979, DeConcini had insider knowledge about the proposed route of the Central Arizona Project and that he used this knowledge to purchase land that he resold six years later to the federal government for a gain of almost $1,000,000.


Philanthropy

DeConcini is a member of the board of directors of the
International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children The International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children (ICMEC), headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia, USA, with a regional presence in the United Kingdom, Europe, Turkey, Africa, Canada, Latin America, Caribbean, Southeast Asia, India, Jap ...
(ICMEC), a global nonprofit organization that combats
child sexual exploitation Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (CSEC) defines the "umbrella" of crimes and activities that involve inflicting sexual abuse on to a child as a financial or personal opportunity. Commercial Sexual Exploitation consists of forcing a chil ...
,
child pornography Child pornography (also abbreviated as CP, also called child porn or kiddie porn, and child sexual abuse material, known by the acronym CSAM (underscoring that children can not be deemed willing participants under law)), is Eroticism, erotic ma ...
, and
child abduction Child abduction or child theft is the unauthorized removal of a Minor (law), minor (a child under the age of Age of majority, legal adulthood) from the Child custody, custody of the child's Parent, natural parents or Legal guardian, legally appoi ...
.


Book

* ''Senator Dennis DeConcini: From the Center of the Aisle'' by Dennis DeConcini & ''Jack L. August Jr.'', (University of Arizona Press February 1, 2006);


References


External links

*
Speaking about President Carter and Senate on KJZZ Radio
*
Parry, Romani, DeConcini & Symms

Deconcini Mcdonald Law Firm


*
DeCONCINI & Warner


, - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Deconcini, Dennis 1937 births American male non-fiction writers American political writers American prosecutors Arizona Democrats Arizona lawyers CoreCivic people Democratic Party United States senators from Arizona Lawyers from Tucson, Arizona Living people Politicians from Tucson, Arizona United States Army officers University of Arizona alumni James E. Rogers College of Law alumni Writers from Tucson, Arizona The Judge Advocate General's Legal Center and School alumni American people of Italian descent 21st-century American memoirists Members of Congress who became lobbyists Phi Delta Theta members 20th-century United States senators