William Proxmire (1915-2005) served in the United States Senate for the state of Wisconsin from 1957 to 1989.
Between 1967 and 1986, he gave 3,211 speeches arguing that the United States should sign the UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.
Ron Kind, elected to Congress from Wisconsin in 1996, interned in Sen. Proxmire's office in 1984. He was inspired by Proxmire's commitment and perseverance to see the convention pass in U.S. Senate.
On February 19, 1986, the Convention was ratified by the Senate with bipartisan support. Implementation legislation, named the "Proxmire Act," was passed two years later and signed by President Ronald Reagan.
