# Alfonse D'Amato Republican U.S. Senator from New York (1981–1999), "Senator Pothole" for his constituent-service machine politics. KB relevance: his **May 18, 1989** Senate-floor performance — tearing up a reproduction of the Serrano exhibition catalog and denouncing *Piss Christ* as "a deplorable, despicable display of vulgarity" — co-launched the legislative phase of the [[NEA Culture Wars]] with [[Jesse Helms]]. Later chaired Senate Banking (Whitewater hearings); defeated by Chuck Schumer in 1998; became a Washington lobbyist. ## See Also - [[Piss Christ Controversy]]