[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 99 (Tuesday, July 26, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: July 26, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
 THE PAN AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT FOUNDATION'S HUMANITARIAN AWARD TO MARIA 
              JULIA POU DE LACALLE, FIRST LADY OF URUGUAY

  Mr. DODD. Mr. President, I rise today to bring to the attention of my 
Senate colleagues a remarkable woman, Maria Julia Pou de Lacalle, the 
First Lady of Uruguay.
  Mrs. Lacalle has worked tirelessly over the years as an advocate for 
the needy. She has been widely recognized in Latin America as a leader 
in promoting assistance to families in need, not only in Uruguay, but 
throughout the hemisphere.
  She was recently given the Pan American Development Foundation's 
distinguished Humanitarian Award, in recognition of her efforts with 
Accion Solidaria, a social welfare organization. This award is one of 
the most prestigious citations given to any citizen in the Western 
Hemisphere.
  I would ask unanimous consent that a translation of Mrs. Lacalle's 
acceptance speech on the occasion of receiving this prestigious award 
be printed in the Record at the end of my remarks. I urge my colleagues 
to take the time to review her very thoughtful comments.
  There being no objection, the speech was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

                     Remarks of First Lady Lacalle

       Mr. President, Mr. Joao Baena Soares, Secretary General of 
     the Organization of American States, Mr. George Kroloff, 
     President of the Panamerican Development Fund, Ministers of 
     State, Amb. Luis Macchiavello, Director of the OAS Office in 
     Uruguay, National Authorities, Ladies and Gentlemen:
       My very first words, which express my feelings, are words 
     of gratitude to the Organization of American States and to 
     the Panamerican Development Fund, for having considered our 
     nomination for this award which every year honors a person 
     for his or her dedication and work for the benefit of the 
     less fortunate sectors in our American societies.
       And I say ``our'' thanks because I consider that, although 
     I am formally receiving this award personally, because it has 
     been so established, it is our institution, ACCION SOLIDARIA, 
     with which we celebrate this recognition.
       Today's event makes us recall with pride the origin, growth 
     and consolidation of our work, which in recent years reflects 
     the effort of so many people all across the country.
       Inspired by our needs but with understanding, we felt the 
     necessity to work in what we have called ``the country of 
     now'', in order to provide answers to present needs such as 
     health and education. This could not wait until later when 
     the country might provide some relief for those people for 
     whom ``very soon'' is too late in life.
       We felt this future was now, and in order to quicken the 
     pace we shared our work with many people who gave their time, 
     generated ideas, granted financial support. All of us 
     together, in ``solidarity'', fulfilled some of the goals for 
     which we rejoice today, with pride, not arrogance. And along 
     the paths we walked searching for solutions to major health 
     and education issues, we encountered The Panamerican 
     Development Fund, from which we sought answers and from which 
     we found not merely solutions to many of our problems, but 
     also a generous spirit. They helped us beyond our goals, they 
     impelled us forward and encouraged us to break patterns in 
     order to increase the scope of our endeavor.
       We rejoice in ``solidarity'' because this sentiment is the 
     source of our endeavor, the way we work and its final goal. 
     We intend to be present wherever our help is required. We are 
     able to answer, making no distinctions whatsoever. Our motto 
     has been ``make what is necessary possible'', and almost 
     always, when it was necessary, it was possible.
       It has been said, and we want to share this thought with 
     you, that humanity took too long to absorb the demands of the 
     French Revolution. Thus, the 19th century was undoubtedly the 
     century of liberty, and pursuing that goal many went to fight 
     and paid with their lives for having faith in this idea. 
     Slowly we built. The 20th century has been the century of the 
     fight for equality in its broadest sense: for equal rights, 
     for equal opportunities, for the still imperfect practice of 
     tolerance as an essential ingredient of coexistence.
       We hope--and from our position we are striving for it--that 
     the 21st century may be--must be--the century of fraternity, 
     without which, we think, the efforts to achieve the other two 
     aspects of this revolutionary trilogy would be senseless. 
     Since 1789 we have intellectually agreed on all three. 
     However, it has been very hard to realize these goals.
       When even today we hear--and aided by technology we see--
     that in so many places on earth, religious intolerance runs 
     rampant, ideological fanaticism often dominates, or terrorism 
     reigns, we realize that the road ahead is still long and 
     painful. But we have learned something in our lives, we know 
     that when there is a will there are ways. But the will must 
     exist, and if not, we must strive for it to emerge as a 
     compelling impulse so as to find the way towards fraternity. 
     France proclaimed it and the world accepted it as essential 
     to the human being.
       Progress on paper is meaningless; virtues should not be 
     declared but exercised and lived. We Uruguayans are 
     privileged to live in a country where ``solidarity''--a 
     privileged way to exercise fraternity--is part of our 
     national character. So much so that it did not take long to 
     explain our projects to a society in which we live and the 
     aims proposed to meet our dreams. We wanted to show the 
     openness of our endeavor, assume responsibility for the 
     confidence placed in us. Thus the growth of activities and 
     expectations guided our work, which day by day was motivated 
     by this confidence and supported by different sectors of 
     society.
       All this was achieved with the help of many people, and for 
     this reason I can speak so freely about it; but above all it 
     was done with much dedication and much love.
       This is the key word, the magic term that opens doors as 
     well as hearts, that feeling which is vital to every human 
     being, so much so that when it is scarce or absent it 
     takes away the sense of life itself. I want to share with 
     you a thought that has flowed like a torrent of 
     irrepressible truth. It has also been a lesson that we 
     have learned from our people at this time: if there is one 
     thing that makes us all equal it is our need for 
     affection, our need for love. Beyond social position, 
     economic status, diversity of ideologies, all of us, 
     absolutely every one of us has a need to love and to be 
     loved.
       This is a good starting point to begin work: we live in 
     liberty and in an egalitarian society. Let us then make this 
     society live in fraternity with these values for which it has 
     so ardently strived.
       Now, in the International Year of the Family, it is 
     undoubtedly more than appropriate for each of us, from within 
     our families where we are loved without question, just for 
     being part of it, to set an example and live positively in 
     this fraternity which we hope may be the essential 
     characteristic of the new century. Let us remember the 
     children and the young people. They often watch us, confused, 
     telling us how our attitudes prevent them from hearing our 
     thought and advice. When we think about them let us make an 
     effort to build a world where they can grow with faith, hope 
     and love.
       A wise oriental proverb urges us not to move our lips if we 
     are not sure that what we are about to say is more beautiful 
     than silence. Finally, I dare confide to you two feelings 
     that exist in my heart at this moment: a feeling of enormous 
     gratitude towards my father, from whom I received the example 
     of a lifetime dedicated to others by easing their pain, 
     giving all of himself to his profession as a medical doctor 
     with total selflessness, and making us appreciate that there 
     are some circumstances in life for which there are no 
     timetables. He also demonstrated that one can act on a strict 
     professional basis, as he did and taught, while embracing 
     every aspect of the human soil.
       We are both root and branch. We have a past and we have a 
     future. Today I wish to tell these three young persons here 
     with us today, my children, that our life in itself is just a 
     blue-print, and we are not always the only architect in its 
     formation. Everyone needs others. Because of this, if I were 
     sure that they will always have an open heart towards all 
     those who may be wanting, and that they are willing to knock 
     on the doors of those who may need advice and affection, if I 
     had the certitude that they already have within them the 
     strength of character which can and should be accompanied by 
     sensitivity, by compassion, by a feeling of sympathy for 
     others, then I think I entitled to receive this award with 
     the peace of mind of having done my duty. Because the 
     absolute priority in our lives and in our families should be 
     to live those values to which we have dedicated so much time 
     and so much work within our community.
       So be it, I pray.

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