Former senator, war critic Hatfield dies

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - Former Sen. Mark Hatfield, an outspoken critic of war whose liberal views often put him at odds with fellow Republicans, died Sunday. He was 89.

Hatfield, who had become increasingly frail in recent years, died at a Portland residence, said Gerry Frank, a longtime friend and former aide. The former senator's death was first reported by The Oregonian newspaper.

Also a former governor, Hatfield was the longest serving U.S. senator in Oregon history, serving five terms from 1967 to 1997. He gained fame for key efforts against American involvement in Vietnam and the Persian Gulf war, but also spoke in favor of President Bush's decision to invade Iraq.

One of the first American servicemen to enter Hiroshima following the atomic bombing, he once said one of his major accomplishments was helping usher through Congress a ban on U.S. nuclear weapons testing in 1987.

"Every president other than Eisenhower has been seduced by the military concept that that is our sole measurement of our national security and the more bombs we build, the more secure we are," Hatfield said a decade later.

"That's just not true. We are vulnerable in our national security today and we are vulnerable in many ways we are not addressing - the needs of education, the needs of housing, the needs of nutrition, the needs of health, the needs of infrastructure."

As chairman and later ranking Republican on the Senate Appropriations Committee, Hatfield steered millions of dollars to public works projects in his home state. They ranged from national scenic areas and hydropower dams to the state university system and the Marine Science Center that bears his name in Newport, Ore.

"You can't travel anywhere in Oregon without seeing the difference Mark Hatfield has made," former Oregon Secretary of State Norma Paulus once said.