[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 16 (Wednesday, February 23, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: February 23, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                        THE DEATH OF MARY LASKER

  Mr. PELL. Mr. President, with great personal sadness, I rise to honor 
the memory of an outstanding woman, a champion of medical research, and 
a friend. Mary Lasker, who died Monday at the age of 93, was a person 
of deep commitment, intelligence, and compassion. She devoted her adult 
life to bettering the world in a myriad of ways, ranging from 
preventing disease to promoting beauty.
  Mary Lasker's influence on the life of this Nation began very early. 
A graduate of Radcliffe College, she never forgot a childhood filled 
with illness and the early loss of her parents to disease. She 
developed a passion for promoting medical research, and she had far 
more than concern and passion to devote to her cause. Mary had a clear, 
levelheaded way of thinking, and knew how to approach people--including 
Senators and Presidents. Her advice was invaluable, her encouragement 
undaunting, and her followthrough impeccable. If Mary said she wanted 
to work on funding a particular project, she simply did not give up 
until it happened.
  Her winning attitude and genuinely noble goals were only part of what 
made Mary so effective. Mary had the good fortune of being able to lend 
financial support to her dreams, and did so with a generosity that is 
rare and unstinting.
  Perhaps the single most important thing that Mary did was to make the 
Nation--and the world--confront the existence and the reality of 
cancer. It has been widely reported that in the forties, when no one 
acknowledged cancer, Mary persuaded the Radio Corp. of America to say 
the word ``cancer'' on the air. And she did not give up then. I 
remember well how hard Mary worked to pass the National Cancer Act of 
1971, and to establish and fund the National Cancer Institute. Through 
her private philanthrophy, she was the mother of the organization that 
would become the American Cancer Society, and was its honorary 
president at the time of her death.
  Mary's commitment to promoting medical research extended far beyond 
cancer, however. She helped persuade Congress that the Federal 
Government must help finance medical research at a time when such 
research was generally funded privately. She devoted much time and 
energy to promoting and funding the National Institutes of Health, 
which helped it become the preeminent medical research institution in 
the world, and she was involved in creating the NIH Institutes that 
study heart disease, mental health, and arthritis. Mary and her husband 
Albert created the prestigious Albert Lasker Medical Research Awards, 
which are given annually--51 of these awardees have gone on to receive 
the Nobel Prize.

  I would add that I had the pleasure of knowing Mary Lasker and the 
privilege of working with her on a number of pieces of health care 
legislation which she supported. And I can fully attest to her 
intensity, her perseverance, and her strong will. In fact, she played a 
very real role in my decision to run and helped me immensely in that 
regard.
  Mary's interest and influence extended beyond the area of science and 
medical research and into the arts and environment. She was an avid art 
collector and a trustee of the John F. Kennedy Center for the 
Performing Arts and the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and a past 
president of the Society for a More Beautiful Capitol. For this last 
achievement, Mary may be best remembered in the spring, when the 
million daffodils she helped purchase bloom along Washington, DC, 
streets and parkways, planted as part of Lady Bird Johnsion's 
beautification program. Mary made similar improvements in New York 
City, hoping to bring beauty to inner city urban areas. In 1985, in 
recognition of her beautification efforts, a new variety of tulip was 
named for her.
  Mary Lasker's achievements were acknowledged by a grateful Nation on 
many occasions. In 1969, she was awarded the Presidential Medal of 
Freedom, the highest civilian award of the U.S. Government. And in 
1989, she was awarded a Congressional Gold Medal, the highest award 
that the Congress can give.
  Mr. President, as the Senate sponsor of the 1987 legislation which 
resulted in Mary Lasker's Congressional Gold Medal, I am deeply aware 
of her innumerable contributions during a full, productive and 
immensely good life. We will miss her deeply and hope that her memory 
will serve to inspire us to go forward to make her many dreams a 
reality.

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