[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 36 (Monday, February 27, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E448-E449]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                            TERESA McGOVERN

                                 ______


                        HON. JOHN JOSEPH MOAKLEY

                            of massachusetts

                    in the house of representatives

                        Monday, February 27, 1995
  Mr. MOAKLEY. Mr. Speaker, last December, Senator George McGovern's 
daughter, Teresa, died in Madison, Wisconsin--losing her long battle 
with alcoholism. Terry was a remarkable young woman who cared deeply 
about others and cared passionately for this country. I recall meeting 
her in Boston back in 1972 when her father ran for the presidency. She 
was intelligent, articulate and totally dedicated to making our 
Government reflect the very best in our Nation.
  Since her death, the McGovern family has courageously talked publicly 
about the ravages of Terry's alcoholism and their attempt to deal with 
it. In an excellent article which recently appeared in Parade magazine, 
George McGovern eloquently and painfully describes the impact that this 
disease had on his daughter and his family.
  The article follows:
                    What I Learned From My Daughter

                          (By George McGovern)

       On the 10th day of June, 1949, my wife, Eleanor, gave birth 
     to a 6-pound, 14-ounce baby girl, whom we named Teresa. 
     ``She's a beautiful little porcelain doll,'' said an admiring 
     artist friend. We agreed that we had brought forth a creature 
     of remarkable beauty and charm. That was the way I saw her 
     for the next 45 years, through laughs and joys, anxieties and 
     tears.
       From the beginning, Teresa blossomed into an engaging, fun-
     loving, quick-witted child--a special joy in our family. She 
     later developed a notable sense of compassion, insight and 
     sensitivity toward others, communicating easily with people 
     about their concerns and aspirations, disappointments and 
     victories.
       The day of Teresa's birth was hot and dry in Mitchell, 
     S.D., the temperature around 90 degrees. Forty-five years 
     later, on Dec. 12, 1994, the ground was covered with snow in 
     Madison, Wis., and the temperature was far below freezing. 
     That night, Teresa died in the snow in a lot, out of sight of 
     passersby. ``Hypothermia due to exposure while in a state of 
     acute alcohol intoxication,'' read the Dane County coroner's 
     report.
       We had dreaded such a report for years. Terry's troubles 
     seem to have started as early as high school, when she had 
     the first indications of depression and then experimented 
     with alcohol with teenage friends. She seemed to have been 
     born with a vulnerability to both depression and alcoholism. 
     To whatever extent genes influence these matters, there is a 
     pattern of alcoholism in some of my Irish ancestry, just as 
     there is a pattern of depression in some of Eleanor's English 
     and Norwegian ancestry.
       Terry's dependence on alcohol seemed both to enhance and to 
     result from the depression. It was a vicious circle. When she 
     achieved periods of sobriety she sometimes was afflicted with 
     a depression that seemed to trigger a relapse into alcohol 
     consumption. When doctors finally found a medication that was 
     somewhat successful in combating her depression, the 
     medication often would be neutralized by drinking bouts that 
     she seemed powerless to control.
       A glass or two of wine or a cocktail can be a pleasant and 
     relaxing experience for most people. But to the 15 million or 
     more Americans like Terry who are alcoholics, there is no 
     such thing as a casual glass of wine. In Terry's case, she 
     drank until she collapsed or blacked out. During her last 
     five years, she was admitted to Madison's Tellurian 
     detoxification center 76 times. Sometimes she checked in 
     voluntarily. More frequently she was taken there after she 
     had collapsed in a bar or on the street or in her home.
       Terry couldn't seem to stop drinking, but she fought the 
     addiction with tenacity for most of her life. With pressure 
     from Eleanor and me, as well as her sisters and brother, she 
     agreed to treatment in some of the best centers in the 
     nation. These painstaking, sometimes expensive programs, 
     combined with attendance at AA meetings, brought her sobriety 
     for periods of time--days, weeks or months, and once for 
     seven years, as she gave birth to and lovingly nurtured her 
     daughters, Marian and Colleen, who remained the central 
     passions of her life--except for alcohol, her hated master.
       She devoured pamphlets and books on alcoholism. She 
     searched the Bible and other spiritual sources for guidance 
     and insight. 
     [[Page E449]]  She pursued ``users'' in recovery who would 
     share their secrets with her. She talked to her patient, 
     unfailing mother about her struggle.
       My office staff knew Terry had a problem that frequently 
     took precedence over all else in my life. Especially in the 
     years since I left the U.S. Senate in 1981, Terry has never 
     been far from my consciousness and concern. In the 1960s and 
     early '70s, the Vietnam War and the excesses of the Cold War 
     became such obsessions with me that I ran for the Presidency 
     in 1972 to offer a different course. But Terry became my 
     obsession in the 1980s and '90s. Only another parent with an 
     alcoholic or otherwise chemically addicted child can begin to 
     comprehend the endless concern and anxiety, anger and 
     resentment, excited hopes and disappointments, exhausting and 
     sometimes frightening experiences that go with loving and 
     caring for an alcoholic offspring.
       Two years ago, while having lunch with Michael Deaver, a 
     long-time aide to former President Reagan, I mentioned my 
     deep concern over Terry's drinking problem. He arranged for 
     her to go through one of the finest treatment programs in the 
     nation--Father Martin's Ashley rehabilitation center in Havre 
     de Grace, Md. After six weeks of a seemingly successful 
     recovery, Terry was urged to live for the next six months in 
     the protective environment of a halfway house. Terry, 
     however, was desperate to return to Madison to be near her 
     daughters, so she rejected this advice. Eleanor agreed to go 
     with her to Madison and stay until Terry could get settled. 
     With her usual patience and love, Eleanor remained with Terry 
     for two weeks. On the day of her departure, Terry started 
     drinking again. Eleanor returned home--her heart broken one 
     more time.
       A few months later, we persuaded Terry to enter a program 
     at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md. She 
     cooperated with all aspects of the agenda, and so did Eleanor 
     and I, which involved counseling and group-discussion 
     sessions with family members of other patients. We were 
     highly encouraged by Terry's seeming success.
       On the morning of the completion of the program, I happily 
     brought Terry home. She asked if she could use the car for a 
     few minutes to pick up a prescription at a drugstore nearby. 
     Three hours later, I was called by a friendly bartender who 
     told me that Terry had collapsed from drinking. It pains me 
     even now to recall the sad and bitter disappointment, the 
     personal regret and doubt about my own judgment that 
     followed.
       One of the things I learned from experiences like this was 
     to separate my feelings toward the alcoholic whom I loved 
     from the alcoholism which I hated. Some of her friends would 
     tell me that there were two Terry's--the sober one whom they 
     cared about and the intoxicated one whom they could not 
     stand. I understand this well-meaning sentiment, which I 
     sometimes held. But it is wrong. There was never more than 
     one Terry--a Terry who usually brought joy to her friends but 
     at other times transferred to others her own suffering. If a 
     member of the family were suffering from cancer or AIDS, we 
     would not say that we love them when they are healthy but 
     despise them when they are ill. So it should be with 
     alcoholism, a frequently fatal disease. The same disease that 
     hurts the alcoholic's family and friends hurts and 
     demoralizes the alcoholic vastly more.
       I developed an exchange with Terry that seemed to work for 
     both of us. ``Who is ahead today--you or the demon?'' I would 
     ask. She loved that way of posing the problem. It's okay to 
     love your family member or friend and despise the demon that 
     attacks him or her.
       What parents discover is that they are powerless to 
     overcome the addiction that's destroying their precious 
     creation. A friend of Terry's, from one of America's most 
     celebrated families, says she saved his life by persuading 
     him to go forward with alcohol treatment. He sent us a 
     eloquent letter in which he wrote: ``Senator, not all the 
     Senators of all the Congresses could legislate a person 
     sober. And Mrs. McGovern, no amount of love expressed by good 
     mothers like you can birth sobriety.''
       You can assist, advise, agonize, pay and pray, but you 
     cannot deliver sobriety. And in many cases, neither can the 
     victim, no matter how hard she or he tries.
       However, another thing I learned is that you must never 
     abandon hope. Never give up on the alcoholic, and don't let 
     him or her give up. If you have a spiritual faith or wish to 
     develop one, use the power of prayer. Share that hope and 
     faith with the victim. Terry died at age 45. She probably 
     would have died at 18 or 30 or 40 had it not been for her 
     faith and the faith of others.
       I believe that alcoholism and other chemical dependencies 
     constitute America's No. 1 social problem. Every year, 
     victory eludes 100,000 Americans like Teresa, who die of 
     alcoholism. Countless others suffer from the loss of 
     employment, the neglect of their families the breakup of 
     marriages, a sense of shame and defeat--all of this, plus 
     constant danger and distress.
       We must support the good treatment centers and urge public 
     officials to support adequate funding for alcoholism research 
     and rehabilitation. Unfortunately, funds recently have been 
     cut back. The price of this ``economy'' includes more 
     suffering and death from alcohol and other drugs, more loss 
     of productivity, and more disorder and crime. For every 
     dollar saved in cuts, we will spend several times that much 
     in future costs--some of which are immeasurable.


                  if someone you love is an alcoholic:

       More than 15 million Americans drink too much, according to 
     some experts. Alcoholism has no known cure, but the National 
     Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence (NCADD) says the 
     disease can be stopped. In fact, there are more than 1.5 
     million Americans in recovery. Here are some of the council's 
     recommendations when dealing with an alcoholic:
       1. Recognize that alcoholism is a disease and not a moral 
     failure or lack of willpower.
       2. Learn as much as you can about the disease. Many 
     libraries have sections on alcoholism, addiction and related 
     subjects.
       3. Don't become an ``enabler.'' An enabler is a person 
     close to the alcoholic who supports or ``enables'' the 
     drinking by pretending that there isn't a problem (denial), 
     or by protecting or lying for the alcoholic.
       4. Avoid ``home treatments.'' Don't try to solve a loved 
     one's drinking problem by preaching, complaining, acting like 
     a martyr or reasoning with the drinker. An alcoholic needs 
     help from experts, such as Alcoholics Anonymous.
       5. Get help for yourself. One of the hallmarks of the 
     illness is that it affects everyone close to the alcoholic. 
     Many treatment programs provide help for those affected by 
     another person's drinking.
     

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