View source for Dennis DeConcini

{{Short description|American lawyer & politician (born 1937)}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name                = Dennis DeConcini
| image               = Dennis DeConcini, Goldwater Foundation Trustee.png
| office              = Chair of the [[United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence|Senate Intelligence Committee]]
| term_start          = January 3, 1993
| term_end            = January 3, 1995
| predecessor         = [[David Boren]]
| successor           = [[Arlen Specter]]
| jr/sr1              = United States Senator
| state1              = [[Arizona]]
| term_start1         = January 3, 1977
| term_end1           = January 3, 1995
| predecessor1        = [[Paul Fannin]]
| successor1          = [[Jon Kyl]]
| birth_name          = Dennis Webster DeConcini
| birth_date          = {{birth date and age|1937|5|8}}
| birth_place         = [[Tucson, Arizona]], U.S.
| death_date          = 
| death_place         = 
| party               = [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]]
| spouse              = Patty
| education           = [[University of Arizona]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]], [[Bachelor of Laws|LLB]])
| website             = {{url|deconcinimcdonald.com|Official website}}
| allegiance          = {{flag|United States}}
| branch              = {{army|United States}}
| serviceyears        = 1959–1960 (active)<br>1960–1967 (reserve)
| rank                = [[United States Army Judge Advocate General's Corps|Army Judge Advocate General's Corps]]<br>[[United States Army Reserve]]
| battles             = [[Vietnam War]]
}}
'''Dennis Webster DeConcini''' ({{IPAc-en|ˌ|d|iː|k|ə|n|ˈ|s|iː|n|i}}; born May 8, 1937) is an American lawyer, philanthropist, politician and former [[United States Senate|U.S. senator]] from [[Arizona]]. The son of former Arizona Supreme Court judge [[Evo Anton DeConcini]], he represented [[Arizona]] in the Senate as a [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrat]] from 1977 until 1995. After his [[1988 United States Senate election in Arizona|re-election in 1988]], no Arizona Democrats were elected to the Senate for 30 years until [[Kyrsten Sinema]] won his former seat in [[2018 United States Senate election in Arizona|2018]].

==Early life and education==
DeConcini was born in Tucson, Arizona, the son of Ora (née Webster) and [[Evo Anton DeConcini]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lvMkAAAAMAAJ&q=Ora+Webster|title=United States Code Congressional and Administrative News|date=2007-01-04|access-date=2017-06-24}}</ref>

His father was judge on the Arizona State Superior Court for 10 years, then served as the [[Arizona Attorney General]] 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]] 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 Judge Advocate General's Legal Center and School|The JAG School]] at the [[University of Virginia]] and entered [[Judge Advocate General's Corps, United States Army|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.<ref>{{cite news |title=Tucson-based law firm celebrates 45 years of service |author=Krueger, Cindy |date=2013-05-24 |work=Inside Tucson Business |url=https://www.insidetucsonbusiness.com/news/profiles/tucson-based-law-firm-celebrates-years-of-service/article_5e11b6e8-c3cb-11e2-8057-0019bb2963f4.html |access-date=2018-08-27}}</ref><ref name=ua>{{cite news |url=https://uanews.arizona.edu/story/dennis-deconcini-receive-ua-veterans-award |title=Dennis DeConcini to Receive UA Veterans Award |date=2017-04-17 |access-date=2018-08-27 |author=UA Alumni Association |work=UA News}}</ref>

He is a member of the advisory council of the [[Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.victimsofcommunism.org/about/nationaladvisors.php|title=National Advisory Council|publisher=[[Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110610171740/http://www.victimsofcommunism.org/about/nationaladvisors.php|archive-date=2011-06-10|access-date=2011-05-20|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Career==
DeConcini served one elected term as [[Pima County, Arizona]], Attorney (1973–1976), the chief prosecutor and civil attorney for the county and school districts within the county.<ref name=ua/>

He was elected to the U.S. Senate in [[1976 United States Senate election in Arizona|1976]] as a [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrat]], defeated [[Republican Party (United States)|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 [[Clarence Thomas Supreme Court nomination|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 [the U.S. or Panama] deems 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.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Contacto |first=Giovanna Ort\u00c3\u00adz \/ |date=1999-05-23 |title=&#191Una neutralidad condicionada? |url=https://www.panamaamerica.com.pa/nacion/191una-neutralidad-condicionada-62746 |access-date=2023-10-15 |website=Panamá América |language=es}}</ref>

===Keating Five===
DeConcini was widely noted as a member of the [[Keating Five]] in a banking and political contribution ethics investigation during the 1980s which grew out of the [[Savings and Loan crisis|U.S. Savings and Loan Crisis]]. The Senate investigation involved [[Charles Keating]] and [[Lincoln Savings and Loan Association|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.<ref>{{cite news | publisher = azcentral.com | date = September 25, 2018 | title = John McCain gets into 'a hell of a mess' with the Keating Five scandal | author = Dan Nowicki and Bill Muller, The Republic | url =  https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/politics/arizona/2018/04/02/john-mccain-keating-five-scandal-arizona-senator/538034001/}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | publisher = govtrack.us | title = Sen. Dennis DeConcini, Former Senator for Arizona | url =  https://www.govtrack.us/congress/members/dennis_deconcini/403346}}</ref>

===Senate committees===
[[File:Dennis DeConcini, official portrait.jpg|right|thumb|Portrait of U.S. Senator Dennis DeConcini]]
In the [[101st United States Congress|101st Congress]], DeConcini served on the [[Senate Appropriations Committee]], 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]], chairing the Subcommittee on Patents, Copyrights and Trademarks. He served on the Subcommittees on Antitrust, Monopolies and Business Rights, the Constitution and the Courts.<ref>{{cite journal |title=SENATE COMMITTEES, 101st CONGRESS |journal=CQ Weekly |date=1989-12-23 |pages=3476–89}}</ref>

In 1993 and 1994, DeConcini chaired the [[United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence|Select Intelligence Committee]].<ref>{{cite journal |title=1993 COMMITTEES SPECIAL REPORT: SENATE -- Select Intelligence |journal=CQ Weekly |date=1993-05-01 |page=43}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |title=1994 COMMITTEE SUPPLEMENT: Senate Select Intelligence |journal=CQ Weekly |date=1994-03-05 |page=44}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.nytimes.com/1993/05/18/opinion/bomb-the-serbs-now.html |title=Opinion &#124; Bomb the Serbs. Now. |work=The New York Times |date=18 May 1993 |access-date=2015-05-26 |archive-date=2015-05-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150526093040/http://www.nytimes.com/1993/05/18/opinion/bomb-the-serbs-now.html |url-status=live |last1=Deconcini |first1=Dennis }}</ref>

===Appointments===
In February 1995 DeConcini was appointed by President [[Bill Clinton]] to the board of directors of the [[Freddie Mac|Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation]] (Freddie Mac), where he served until May 1999.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.clintonfoundation.org/legacy/042195-president-names-four-to-freddie-mac-board.htm|title=William J. Clinton Foundation "President Names Four to Freddie Mac Board"|access-date=2008-02-07|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20071115185423/http://www.clintonfoundation.org/legacy/042195-president-names-four-to-freddie-mac-board.htm|archive-date=2007-11-15}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.responsiblecubapolicy.org/board/deconcini.html|title=Alliance for Responsible Cuba Policy Foundation|access-date=2009-04-28|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100411081206/http://www.responsiblecubapolicy.org/board/deconcini.html|archive-date=2010-04-11}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.spokesmanreview.com/allstories-news-story.asp?date=070503&ID=s1377253|title=The Spokesman-Review.com - at Freddie Mac, it helps to have contacts|access-date=2009-04-28|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100413005731/http://www.spokesmanreview.com/allstories-news-story.asp?date=070503&ID=s1377253|archive-date=2010-04-13}}
</ref>

In 2006, he and former [[Del E. Webb Construction Company]] President Anne Mariucci were selected by [[Governor of Arizona]] [[Janet Napolitano]] to sit on the [[Arizona Board of Regents]].<ref>[http://news.nau.edu/governor-appoints-deconcini-mariucci-to-board-of-regents/ "Governor appoints DeConcini, Mariucci to Board of Regents", Northern Arizona University News]</ref>

===Congressional papers===
DeConcini's congressional papers are held at the University of Arizona Libraries, Special Collections.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Dennis DeConcini Papers |url=http://speccoll.library.arizona.edu/collections/dennis-deconcini-papers |access-date=March 5, 2016 |website=[[University of Arizona]]}}</ref>

==Business career==
DeConcini served on the board of directors of the [[Corrections Corporation of America]] (now known as CoreCivic) from 2008 to 2014.<ref name="nashthreeccadirectorssettostepdown">{{cite news|title=Three CCA directors set to step down|url=http://www.nashvillepost.com/home/article/20475845/three-cca-directors-set-to-step-down|access-date=June 24, 2017|work=The Nashville Post|date=April 4, 2014}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite news |title=Ties That Bind: Arizona Politicians and the Private Prison Industry|author=Hodai, Beau |magazine=In These Times |date=June 21, 2010|url=http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/6085/ties_that_bind_arizona_politicians_and_the_private_prison_industry/ |access-date=December 7, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=How the Recession Hurts Private Prisons|author= Cook, Nancy |magazine=Newsweek |date=June 30, 2010 |url= http://www.newsweek.com/2010/06/30/how-the-recession-hurts-private-prisons.html|access-date=December 7, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Morals Before Profit |author=Herraras, Mari |magazine=Tucson Weekly |date=March 29, 2012 |url= http://www.tucsonweekly.com/tucson/morals-before-profit/Content?oid=3268846|access-date=December 4, 2012}}</ref>

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.<ref>"[https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=886&dat=19881021&id=uOpSAAAAIBAJ&sjid=lYEDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5515,5593547 DeConcini bought CAP land after planning began]", ''The Prescott Courier'', October 21, 1988, page 11 (via Google news); retrieved July 10, 2017.</ref><ref>Arizona Republic, September 18, 1993, page 8.</ref>

==Philanthropy==
[[File:ICMEC Board.jpg|thumb|Dennis DeConcini (''top row, far right'') with the Board of Directors of the [[International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children]].]]
DeConcini is a member of the board of directors of the [[International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children]] (ICMEC), a global nonprofit organization that combats [[child sexual exploitation]], [[child pornography]], and [[child abduction]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.icmec.org/missingkids/servlet/PageServlet?LanguageCountry=en_X1&PageId=1225|title=ICMEC Board Members|work=icmec.org|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150703182150/http://www.icmec.org/missingkids/servlet/PageServlet?LanguageCountry=en_X1&PageId=1225|archive-date=2015-07-03}}</ref>

==Book==
* ''Senator Dennis DeConcini: From the Center of the Aisle'' by Dennis DeConcini & ''Jack L. August Jr.'', (University of Arizona Press February 1, 2006); {{ISBN|978-0-8165-2569-0}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{CongBio|D000185}}
*{{C-SPAN|1428}}
* [http://kjzz.org/news/arizona/archives/200502/dennisdeconcini Speaking about President Carter and Senate on KJZZ Radio] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131112073644/http://kjzz.org/news/arizona/archives/200502/dennisdeconcini |date=2013-11-12 }}
* {{IMDb name|id=2020436}}
* [http://www.lobbycongress.com/ Parry, Romani, DeConcini & Symms]
* [http://www.deconcinimcdonald.com/ Deconcini Mcdonald Law Firm]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20090119212944/http://www.americanpolicy.org/more/whypanamacanal.htm Deconcini on Panama Canal]
* {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20081203155345/http://uanews.org/node/18730 Book Award]}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20081120232236/http://www.cnss.org/EdwardsLetter.pdf DeCONCINI & Warner]
* [http://phoenix.bizjournals.com/phoenix/stories/2008/01/28/daily60.html DeConcini Backs Senator Obama]

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