Norman F. Lent obit

 US Representative Norman Lent Has Died

He was not on the list.

On Monday, June 11, 2012, of Arlington, VA and West Palm Beach, FL. Beloved husband of Barbara Morris-Lent; loving father of Norman F. (Susan) Lent, III, Barbara Ann (Geoff) Roberts, and the late Thomas B. (Shari) Lent; devoted grandfather of Elizabeth and Abigail Roberts, Mollye and Ryan Lent, and Andrew Lent. He is also survived by a brother, Robert (Patricia) Lent; one niece and one nephew. A retired member of the United States House of Representatives, Mr. Lent represented the South Shore of Long Island, NY for 22 years from 1971 to 1993, rising to the position of Ranking Republican of the Energy and Commerce Committee. He previously was elected to five terms in the New York State Senate from 1962 to 1970, where he was Chairman of the Joint Legislative Committee on Public Health and Medicare. Prior to his elective offices, Mr. Lent was appointed law clerk to New York State Supreme Court Justice Thomas P. Farley. He also served as Police Justice for the Village of East Rockaway, NY. Mr. Lent served in the U.S. Navy during and immediately after the Korean War, achieving the rank of Lieutenant. He was a graduate of Hofstra University and Cornell Law School. The family will receive friends on Tuesday, June 19, 2012 from 2 to 4 and 6 to 8 p.m. at Everly-Wheatley Funeral Home, 1500 West Braddock Road, Alexandria. Funeral services will be held at Fairlington United Methodist Church, 3900 King Street, Alexandria, VA, on Wednesday, June 20, 2012 at 11 a.m.  Interment in Arlington National Cemetery will take place at a future date. Mr. Lent supported and had a very high regard for the Wounded Warriors Project, (supportwoundedwarriorproject.org), and the Salvation Army, (salvationarmyusa.org).

 

Lent was elected as a Republican to the 92nd, 93rd, 94th, 95th, 96th, 97th, 98th, 99th, 100th, 101st and 102nd United States Congresses, holding office from January 3, 1971, to January 3, 1993.

 

He was a delegate or alternate delegate to the 1972, 1976, 1980, 1984 and 1992 Republican National Conventions.

 

Lent entered Congress by defeating an incumbent, the controversial Democratic representative Allard K. Lowenstein, by 9,300 votes in a hotly contested election in a newly drawn, largely Republican district. One of his campaign slogans was the play on words, "Let's vote out Lowenstein for Lent." Long Island's generally liberal Five Towns region had recently been removed from the district, and the far more conservative Massapequa added, during Congressional redistricting by the Republican-controlled State legislature.

 

The election was viewed nationwide as a referendum on President Richard Nixon's conduct of the Vietnam War. Lent supported Nixon's policy of gradually withdrawing American Forces from Vietnam while turning the fighting over to the South Vietnamese Army.

 

As a U.S. Representative, Lent was endorsed several times by Long Island's largest newspaper, Newsday, whose editors called Lent a "key player in environmental and energy legislation". He was most active as a member of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce and of the House Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries, ultimately becoming the ranking minority member of both committees.

 

Lent worked on drafting and handled floor debate for the Republican minority on some of the most sweeping environmental, energy, telecommunications and transportation legislation enacted during his tenure. These included the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990, National Energy Policy Act of 1992, Cable Television Act, Legislation ending the 1992 National Rail Strike, the Superfund Act (CERCLA), Resource Conservation & Recovery Act (RCRA), Toxic Substances Control Act (TOSCA), the Conrail Privatization Act, and the Insider Trading and Securities Fraud, Enforcement Act.

 

Lent held Honorary Doctor of Laws Degrees from Hofstra University (1988) and Molloy College (1985) and was the recipient of the Prime Minister's Medal, State of Israel (1977), Distinguished Achievement Medal, Holland Society of New York (1987) and the George Estabrook achievement Award, Hofstra University (1967), along with many other awards.