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October 25, 1999 11:01 AM, EDT

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) - John Chafee, Rhode Island's longtime Republican senator and chairman of the Environment and Public Works Committee, has died, a spokesman said. He was 77.

	Sen. John H. Chafee (R-R.I.)

Chafee died of heart failure Sunday night at Bethesda Naval Hospital in Maryland, spokesman John Goodman said.

He had announced earlier this year that he would not seek a fifth Senate term in 2000. His son, Lincoln, is seeking the seat.

A scion of one of Rhode Island's most powerful families, Chafee was perhaps the most popular Republican in the history of this overwhelmingly Democratic state.

Considered one of the Senate's most liberal Republicans, Chafee earned high praise from both the American Civil Liberties Union and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce during his tenure.

A strong environmentalist, Chafee served for many years on the Environment and Public Works Committee, which oversees the Federal Highway Administration as well as the Environmental Protection Agency. He played a large role for a minority member in the passage of the 1990 Clean Air Act.