[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 135 (Friday, August 11, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Pages S12350-S12359]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
NYU SCHOOL OF LAW'S TRIBUTES TO FIRST LADY HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON
Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, the 1995 Annual Survey of American Law,
published by the New York University School of Law, is dedicated to
First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton and contains a series of tributes
that emphasize her remarkable ability, leadership, and contributions to
public service throughout her career.
I believe that the tributes will be of interest to all of us in
Congress who have worked with Mrs. Clinton and to millions of others
throughout the country who admire her service to the Nation. She is a
powerful voice for justice and opportunity, and I ask unanimous consent
that the tributes may be printed in the Record.
There being no objection, the tributes were ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:
[Tributes to First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, 1995 Annual Survey of
American Law, New York University School of Law]
Dedication to Hillary Rodham Clinton
(Introductory remarks on behalf of the Annual Survey Board of Editors
at the Hillary Rodham Clinton Dedication Ceremony, April 25, 1995, by
Lauren Aguiar, Managing Editor, 1994-95)
I don't have the advantage of the previous speakers, all of
whom possess a unique and personal vantage point on Hillary
Rodham Clinton. Yet even though I don't know her, it still
seems possible somehow to speak about her with equal passion
and conviction. When someone like Hillary Rodham Clinton is
the object of praise, someone who is so much a part of our
national consciousness and culture, it is easy to pay
tribute.
In explaining what prompted the Editors of Annual Survey to
invite Hillary Rodham Clinton to be our Dedicatee, I'd like
to share with you a book which I read several years ago by
anthropologist Mary Catherine Bateson, the daughter of
Margaret Mead. The book, entitled Composing A Life, explores
the act of creation that engages us all--the composition of
our own lives. Through the comparative biographies of five
women, Bateson develops a novel theory about how to assess
and value contemporary living.
The author invites us to view life as an improvisational
art form: that transitions, diverse priorities, and
challenges are not merely a part of our lives, but should be
seen as a source of wisdom and empowerment. The book explains
how, in modern times, it is no longer possible to follow the
paths of previous generations. Our energies are often not
narrowly focused on achieving a single goal, but are more
divided needing to be continually rebalanced and redefined.
I refer to this book, and Bateson's theory, to illustrate
the strength and diversity of Hillary Rodham Clinton's life.
The Editors selected her as this year's Dedicatee because she
serves as an example of the successful composition of a life,
and as a role-model for those who will encounter the
complexities of modern-day living.
When faced with needing to divide her energies--between
family, work, and public service--Hillary Rodham Clinton has
inevitably achieved an artful balance. She has managed
priorities and combined her multiple commitments.
Because we live in a society which is often recalcitrant to
accept change, people are frequently admonished for
innovation and self-reformation. In our estimation, though,
this flexibility demonstrates strength of character and
wisdom. Hillary Rodham Clinton has adjusted quickly, finding
ways to affirm herself and her skills in new environments.
In order to advance her convictions, she has remained
flexible in the complex world of politics and the law, while
holding firm in her fundamental resolve. Certain that her
values and her choices are important, she has adhered to the
goals of improving education for children, establishing legal
services for the poor, creating opportunities for women, and
providing health care for all.
Rather than pursuing a route already defined and
established, she has practiced stepping off the expected road
and cutting herself a new path. By redefining traditional
notions of women and their place in this world, Hillary
Rodham Clinton has neither played it safe, nor lived a life
free of risk. In doing so, she has emerged not only
successful and productive, but as an essential figure in the
unabating struggle for equality.
Although Hillary Rodham Clinton's accomplishments and
choices may be particularly encouraging and motivational for
women, they are equally applicable to all people. Each of us
has something to learn from how she has composed her life;
she upholds her values and pursues her aspirations in a way
which serves as an inspiration to us all.
In many ways, law school teaches us to play it safe, to
make calculated and planned decisions about our lives and to
execute that plan. The model for an ordinary, successful life
offered to us is one of a single rising trajectory, and of
focused ambition that follows a predetermined track. After
graduating from law school, we are expected to take a job
that symbolizes the first step on a sole, ascending ladder.
In this day and age, though, I am not convinced that these
assumptions will be, or should be, valid for many of us. As
our lives unfold, we need a new and fluid way to imagine the
future, and looking to the life of Hillary Rodham Clinton
helps us to gain this insight.
From her example, we can draw an appreciation of a lawyer
who has not been afraid to change or explore new prospects.
She has worn many professional labels, always proceeding to
new situations with graceful transitions. As a member of the
faculty at Arkansas she made contributions to the academic
and clinical world of law, as a member of a prominent firm
she excelled in private practice, and as a mother she managed
a home and cared for her family. As an advocate for children,
she has continually sought the public good, and as First Lady
of the United States, she has navigated the world of
politics, the media, and policy making.
When young people so often lament the scarcity of positive
role models, Hillary Rodham Clinton is someone from whom we
can learn, and derive empowerment to realize our
possibilities.
[[Page S 12351]]
As Annual Survey's 52nd Dedicatee, Hillary Rodham Clinton
joins the esteemed company of Harry Blackmun, Barbara Jordan,
William Wayne Justice, Judith Kaye and Thurgood Marshall, to
name just a few.
In dedicating this year's volume to Hillary Rodham Clinton,
we not only note her achievements, but praise her courage and
conviction.
I am honored to introduce to you a woman who has composed a
revolutionary life in many ways--as attorney, public servant,
mother, policy maker, and First Lady--Hillary Rodham Clinton.
____
Remarks of Professor Richard Atkinson, Leflar Law Center, University of
Arkansas
The work and heart of Hillary Rodham Clinton are happily
coincident in her chief contributions to the law in Arkansas.
The interests of women and children hold a primary claim on
her emotions, and it is precisely in these areas that her
legal legacy to the state is most significant. Her public
commitment to these concerns has a long history and promises
to extend indefinitely into the future.
By 1972, when she was still a law student, Hillary had
already worked one summer with the Children's Defense Fund
and had begun her association with the Yale Child Study
Center. Twenty-three years later and less than a month prior
to this writing, with her daughter at her side and the
world's attention upon them both, Hillary was in Asia, still
in the process of educating both herself and others about the
problems faced by women and children.
In 1975 Hillary and Bill met me at the airport on my first
trip to Fayetteville, Arkansas, and immediately took me to a
volleyball tournament involving law faculty and students.
Between games, students were sharing their excitement about
participating in the University of Arkansas Legal Clinic, a
newly-instituted program which gave law students hands-on
experience and provided counsel to students and
representation to people unable to afford an attorney.
Though the clinic was on the drawing board before she
arrived, Hillary, as its first director, gave it life.
Without diminishing the clinic's effectiveness, she
skillfully designed the structure to minimize the opposition
voiced by some members of the local bar who viewed it as a
potential competitor for fees. Through the professionalism
and thoroughness she inspired in the students, she won over
the judges who were initially concerned about allowing
students to be advocates in their courts. The program also
benefitted from the reputation she quickly established,
through her own court appearances, as an extraordinarily
effective lawyer.
The windows of my law school office face the handsome
building into which the clinic has recently moved. I more
than occasionally glance at the folks entering the clinic and
enjoy the thought that for more than two decades these
clients, predominately women, have been finding assistance
from an institution Hillary helped to shape. I could
duplicate the experience if I were across town, observing the
activity at Ozark Legal Services. There, too, she played a
critical role in its inception while on the law faculty.
Later, in 1976, President Carter appointed Hillary to the
board of the
Legal Services Corporation. She pushed hard for expanded
access by the poor to legal assistance, drawing heavily on
her experience in setting up both the University of
Arkansas Legal Clinic and Ozark Legal Services. Now, in
part because of her efforts, in country after country
across the nation, the scene from my window is, at least
for the moment, daily repeated.
In addition to such institutional impact, she also
significantly influenced the law through the attitudinal
changes she engendered. Many of her students have now assumed
significant leadership roles as judges, lawyers and
legislators, and none passed through her classroom
unaffected, especially in regard to two areas. First, her
high expectations of the students raised their expectations
of themselves. Hillary was no less demanding of herself then,
without the pressure of the White House glare, as she is now.
And by both example and exhortation, she made it clear that
she expected others to push toward their potential as well.
In particular she had no patience with the argument,
occasionally voiced then, that she was importing standards
which were inappropriate for Arkansans, and I believe that
she succeeded in dispelling, in most instances, that
pernicious notion.
Second, she was a role model. There, I've said it, though
award that the phrase is daily less fashionable. But we're
talking the seventies here, and for anyone who was there,
that is exactly what she was. Word was out that she was a
tough litigator, that she had played a significant role in
the Watergate hearings, that she had a Yale law degree, and
that she could have gotten virtually any legal job she
wanted. They saw that she was smart as hell and was in
complete control of both her classroom and her subject
matter. Their contact with Hillary was for many of these
students, male and female alike, a catalyst that triggered a
rethinking of the roles they assigned to ``lady lawyers''.
When Bill was elected Attorney General in 1976, they moved
to Little Rock, and the lawyers and judges there were no more
immune to her ability to confound conceptions than were their
counterparts in Fayetteville. She joined the Rose Law Firm
and consciously set out to hone further her skills as a
litigator. In short order she became the firm's first female
partner and helped to create opportunities for other women
lawyers across the state.
Ultimately specializing in commercial litigation, Hillary
savored its competitiveness, appreciated the living it
provided, and both enjoyed and deeply respected her
colleagues at the firm. That work, however, did not fully
engage her emotionally. It was not her mission. She continued
to take cases involving children's rights, devoted
considerable energy to the formation of Arkansas Advocates
for Children and Family, took a leadership role on the board
of the Children's Defense Fund, and actively participated
with her husband in thinking about how they could help
address the significant social and economic problems Arkansas
faced.
In November 1980, Bill was seeking election to his second
term as governor. On election day, Hillary came to
Fayetteville to vote and to work the five o`clock shift
change at the Standard Register Company. I drove her back to
the airport. Unsuspecting of the impending defeat. Hillary
was tired, ready for the campaign to be concluded, and eager,
she said, to get back to work. The work she had in mind was
not her law practice, though she was thankful it would be
there. Rather it was for her the reviving process of using
her talents to improve the lives of women and children.
After an electorally enforced two-year hiatus, Bill
returned to the governor's office, and Hillary began the work
that would become, in my opinion, her single greatest
contribution to Arkansas. In his inaugural address in January
1983, Bill singled out educational reform as the critical
component in any plan to improve Arkansas' economic future.
He then appointed Hillary as the chairperson of the Arkansas
Education Standards Committee, a commission he created to
devise a set of minimum standards for public schools. Her
task was two-fold: to craft the standards and to create a
public consensus about their desirability in order to make a
tax increase to implement them politically feasible.
She held hearings across the state, both gathering
information and dispensing it. If there is a high school gym
in Arkansas where she did not meet the public, I am unaware
of it. Her extraordinary knowledge, her exceptional skills as
a facilitator, and, most important, the depth of her
conviction about the rightness of this project galvanized
public opinion. Less than eleven months after the creation of
the standards committee. Arkansans passed a sales tax
increase to fund the standards, which included minimum class
sizes (no more, for example, than twenty students in a
kindergarten class), a longer school year, a much lower
counselor/student ratio, and enhanced curricular offerings,
especially in the areas of science and math.
Back to my office window. A month ago, before the leaves
intervened, I could see, to the left of the Clinic and a few
hundred yards behind it, Leverett Elementary School. There
too, Hillary is still at work.
In 1985 Hillary brought to Arkansas a preschool program
that had impressed her on a trip to Israel five years
earlier. The Home Instruction Program for Preschool
Youngsters, known as HIPPY, was a logical extension of her
work on the standards. She had found that a critical
determinate of a child's performance in school is the
educational level of the mother. HIPPY involves home
visitations by teams of educators to show impoverished
mothers how best to teach their preschool children in the
home. It continues to be an enormously successful program.
Hillary has a good friend, Dr. Robert A. Leflar, who was
her former law faculty colleague and who has a special
connection to New York University. In fact, she lived in his
Fayetteville home one summer when he was teaching, as he did
for decades, at NYU's Appellate Judges Seminar, which he was
instrumental in creating. At 94, he is the towering figure in
the history of legal education and reform in Arkansas and
ranks respectably among the great legal minds of the nation
in this country. His autobiography, ONE LIFE IN THE LAW,
modestly recounts his immersion in those pursuits. The
definitive biography of Hillary will surely recount a similar
immersion and a similar effectiveness.
The nation is now the beneficiary of the intellect, spirit,
and commitment that continues to enrich Arkansas through the
people and institutions Hillary Rodham Clinton touched. ``How
do these decisions affect women and children?'' has become a
refrain in the Clinton Administration. This is not an
accident.
____
Remarks of Lloyd M. Bentsen, Former Secretary of the Treasury and
United States Senator
It's a privilege to join in this tribute to Mrs. Clinton, a
First Lady Americans know for her first-rate intellect, her
engaging personality, and her commitment to serving the
public.
B.A. and I have known eight First Ladies. I think each one
has felt her job was the best job in America.
Over the last 40 years, each has followed a great
tradition, using her special office to highlight a need in
our country or help others improve their lot. They've all
made contributions, as Americans would expect them to.
But I can't recall ever seeing anyone so committed to an
issue and anyone work with the intensity and feeling that
Mrs. Clinton
[[Page S 12352]]
and the President did this past year on health care. When Congress
reforms this country's health care system, we'll have Mrs.
Clinton to thank.
The President often says we live in a time of change, and
Mrs. Clinton--because she's been a working mother and an
extraordinary lawyer--has changed the role of a First Lady.
She still maintains the great traditions. I've seen her at
State Dinners, serve as a gracious hostess in America's most
honored home. I've seen her raise funds for charities, and
work with children who need special help, as every other
First Lady before her has done.
But she also has taken on added responsibilities. I had
never been in a policy meeting with a First Lady, until Mrs.
Clinton entered the White House. I watched the President, in
his moments of decision making, turn to her for advice and
counsel in areas she's the expert on.
They're partners. They're a team. And their collective
wisdom guides our country.
In a different time, this may not have worked. If Mrs.
Clinton wasn't as talented as she is, it may not have worked.
Knowing human nature, some of the people in the room would
probably have played to her, thinking through her, they can
get to the President.
I believe as more couples have two careers, and as more
women enter public service, Mrs. Clinton serves as an
inspiration to them.
She has a huge fan club in this country, and B.A. and I are
proud to be among the admirers. You've picked a very worthy
lady and lawyer to honor.
____
Remarks of Diane D. Blair, Professor of Political Science, University
of Arkansas
In Carol Shield's recent novel The Stone Diaries, one
character observes, ``Life is an endless recruiting of
witnesses.'' When Hillary Rodham moved to Fayetteville in
1975, to teach at the University of Arkansas, nobody was
consciously ``recruiting witnesses.'' Rather, as two of only
a handful of female faculty members, she in law and I in
political science, we quickly discovered many strong mutual
interests (books, politics, children, education, the status
of women) which drew us together and have sustained our
relationship ever since.
However, as the friend with whom I once batted worn tennis
balls in the city park and rode in a truck moving furniture
became a national figure (and a media obsession), I have
frequently been called by the press to share my memories and
observations. At first, I was eager to do so: when one is
familiar with and enthusiastic about a subject, sharing is a
pleasure. And so I happily recalled instances of Hillary's
devotion to her own daughter and her abiding interest in my
five children; of her concern for her parents (and, again,
for mine); and of her knack for thoughtful acts of
friendship. I gave the inquiring press vivid vignettes
illustrating her determination to bring out the best from
each of her students when she was a teacher, and then her
resolve to excel in the courtroom as well as the classroom. I
gladly recounted the courage and wisdom and tenacity she
demonstrated in leading the battle for better schools in
Arkansas, working to upgrade Arkansas Children's Hospital,
and helping establish Arkansas Advocates for Children and
Families, and a statewide Single Parent Scholarship Fund.
Little of which was ever reported, or even--I began to
suspect--recorded. As I enthused on about this attentive
parent, devoted daughter, fun-loving friend, supportive
spouse, talented teacher, advocate extraordinaire, the
clicking computer keys of my interviewer would slow, and
finally grow silent. And then, often, would come the
question: ``Yes, but what is she really like?''
It may well take future historians, more interested in
telling the truth than in ``exposing'' imaginary evils, to
offer the complete portrait of Hillary Rodham Clinton; but
perhaps this dedication issue, contributed to by those who
actually know her work and her life, is a good contemporary
beginning. So, for the record, here are a few moments I have
``witnessed'' since my friend became First Lady, and what I
think those incidents signify.
President Clinton's first State of the Union Address, in
February, 1993, was a home-run, a thrilling triumph.
Afterwards, when aides and friends gathered in the Solarium
to toast a very sweet success, someone called for a special
salute to the First Lady, for whom the standing ovation from
Congress had seemed especially heartfelt and fervent. Hillary
was not there to receive the tribute, however. Upon returning
to the White House she learned that Chelsea needed help with
her homework, and so she had quickly excused herself from the
celebration and hastened to her daughter's side.
In September, 1993, the national media gave rave reviews to
Hillary's marathon, flawless, sequential presentations before
U.S. Congressional Committees on health care reform. While I
was delighted to see some positive press for my friends in
the White House, two things struck me about these stories.
First, there was something almost insulting, certainly
patronizing, about the seeming astonishment (no staff! no
notes!! complete and thoughtful sentences!!!) that a woman, a
mere spouse, could execute so excellently on so public a
stage. Second, what seemed so impressive to me about
Hillary's achievement was that on the day preceding her
unprecedented performance, (a day when most of us would have
been demanding seclusion, cramming information, snarling at
subordinates, and putting our families on hold), Hillary
traveled to New York because it was important to the
President that she be present for his first address to the
United Nations, then rushed home for a school meeting where
her presence was important to Chelsea. Only then, late at
night, did she have time to fully focus and prepare.
None of these, or countless other daily juggling acts,
makes Hillary Rodham Clinton eligible for martyrdom. Rather,
as she would be the very first to point out, they simply
illustrate the lives that most of the women who are her
contemporaries are now living: trying to meet and balance all
of our responsibilities, and find ways to usefully exercise
all our talents.
The press grows impatient, I think, because they want an
easily identifiable image, a simple story, someone who either
cares about making herself and the White House look good, or
cares about health care and women's rights. But most of the
women I know (and surely many women in the media, which makes
some of the strange stories especially bewildering) care
about all those things, and many more besides. Few of us
today have the luxury of choosing this or that, homemaker or
professional, wife or worker. We are all those things,
because they all must be done. Hillary Rodham Clinton simply
happens to be the first of our First Ladies who has dared to
do them all openly, and well, and without apology.
When I was a schoolchild I was both fascinated and
horrified by stories of the canaries who were carried down
into the mines as early warning systems for the miners; if
poisonous gases started seeping into the mine-shafts, the
canaries would quickly expire, thereby giving warning to the
men in the mines. I wonder now whether Hillary is playing the
risky part of national canary for the women of America. If
she can survive the distortions and misrepresentations, the
poisonous slurs and constant criticisms, it will be easier
breathing for us, and our daughters, and all the millions of
women who are coming on behind. The smart money is on the
canary.
____
Remarks of Dr. Ernest L. Boyer, President, The Carnegie Foundation for
the Advancement of Teaching
In every generation, since the United States began, notable
women have turned their talents to great causes, often
becoming advocates for the least advantaged. Going beyond
mere good works, and private acts of benevolence, these
leaders, of great competence and conviction, profoundly
influenced the public-policy issues of their day.
Consider, for example, Dorothea Dix, the Unitarian school
teacher in Massachusetts, who led a national mental health
crusade. By the time of the Civil War, in large part through
her labors, twenty-eight states, four cities, and the federal
government constructed public institutions to treat, more
humanely, the mentally disabled.
In 1889, Jane Addams, with Ellen Gates Starr, founded Hull
House in a dilapidated mansion, in a crowded Chicago
neighborhood. Addams, combined a remarkable capacity for
human sympathy with a brilliant gift of theoretical insights,
derived from personal experience. Far from being a naive do-
gooder, Jane Addams viewed settlement houses as a way to help
new immigrants become empowered.
Earlier in 1882, Florence Kelly, a graduate of Cornell
University, was refused admission to the University of
Pennsylvania law school. Still, with her formidable political
and legal skills, she crusaded against child labor--
investigating, for example, the shocking working conditions
of children, including the glass-bottle factories of Alton,
Illinois, where boys as young as seven and eight worked from
dawn to dusk, carrying trays of red-hot glass bottles
through-out the factories.
At a time when protecting wildlife was gaining national
attention, Kelley angrily noted the paradoxical neglect of
children. ``Why,'' she demanded, ``are seals, bears,
reindeer, fish, . . . buffalo [and] migratory birds all found
suitable for federal protection, and not children?''
Largely through Kelley's efforts, the Illinois legislature,
in 1893, prohibited child labor. In 1912, Congress created a
federal Children's Bureau, through her influence. And then,
six years after Kelley's death, Congress finally banned child
labor.
Josephine Baker, a physician in New York City at the turn
of the century, understood the link between health and
learning. She aggressively promoted school nurse programs and
basic health serv
ices for needy children that became routine throughout the
country.
All of these women possessed a passion for the downtrodden.
They also brought sharp wits, political skill, and, not
least, infinite patience and persistence, in the face of
setbacks. They overcame the prejudicial barriers of their
times, pursuing self-fashioned careers that helped shape,
profoundly, the history of this nation.
Hillary Rodham Clinton is a part of this great tradition.
Her intelligence and determination, brilliant flashes of
humor, plus an unswerving commitment to human justice, and
most especially, to children, make her a worthy successor to
Dorothea Dix, Jane Addams, Florence Kelley, Josephine Baker,
and a host of other leaders who have made America a more just
and caring country.
[[Page S 12353]]
Hillary Clinton is, above all, a consensus builder. In her
commencement address, upon graduating from Wellesley, she
told the audience: ``The challenge now is to practice
politics as the art of making what appears to be impossible,
possible. . . . It is such a great adventure. If the
experiment in human living doesn't work, in this country, in
this age, it is not going to work anywhere.''
Years ago, I followed, with great admiration, Hillary
Rodham Clinton's remarkably successful efforts to implement
as the First Lady of Arkansas, Governor Clinton's
comprehensive plan for school renewal. She conducted meetings
in every one of the state's 75 counties, and eloquently
asserted a common sense reform strategy that raised academic
standards, tested teachers, increased salaries, and improved
performance.
More recently, I have been struck time and time again, that
key ideas in our work at The Carnegie Foundation could be
traced to the State of Arkansas where Governor and Mrs.
Clinton pursued a shared vision of excellence for all.
This leadership became dramatically apparent at the
National Education Summit Meeting in 1989. On that historic
occasion, Governor Clinton argued forcefully, and with
success, that the nation's first and most essential education
goal should be school readiness for all children. The
Governor credited Mrs. Clinton for articulating the
importance of the early years. The Carnegie Foundation,
persuaded by the importance of this first national goal,
issued a report in 1991 called Ready to Learn: A Mandate for
the Nation.
While preparing that report, I kept hearing about the HIPPY
program in the state of Arkansas--which stands for the Home
Instruction Program for Preschool Youngsters. This program,
which Hillary Clinton brought from Israel to Arkansas, has
spread nationwide. It's now in twenty-four states reaching
20,000 families.
On yet another front of child advocacy, Hillary Rodham
Clinton confronted the agonizing problem of teenage
pregnancy, moving the infant mortality rate in Arkansas, from
one of the highest, to one of the lowest in the nation.
Our most recent Carnegie Foundation report called The Basic
School, brought us to the state of Arkansas once again. We
learned that through Hillary Clinton's supportive leadership,
the state mandated, in 1991, counselors for every elementary
school, which has become a model for the nation.
As First Lady of the United States, Hillary Rodham
Clinton's commitment to children has remained energetically
unchanged, beginning with health. She brought common sense to
an enormously complicated problem. And we have no choice as a
nation but to achieve reform, not for political or even
fiscal reasons, but for the sake of all Americans and, most
especially, our children.
Today, when the climate seems particularly unreceptive to
calls for caring and compassion, Hillary Clinton reminds us,
with elegance, about our obligations to the coming
generation. ``There is no such thing,'' she said, ``as other
people's children. There are only the hopes and dreams all
parents share, which we must do everything in our power to
preserve and strengthen.''
In accepting the Lewis Hine Award, Hillary Rodham Clinton
said: ``No matter how much work we do, from the White House
to the courthouse, up and down every street in every large
city and every small town, what children need more than
anything else are adults who care abut them and love them,
teach them, and discipline them, and are willing to stand up
and fight for them in a world that is often cruel and
unfair.''
One of my favorite American authors, James Agee, wrote on
one occasion, ``With every child who is born, under no matter
what circumstances, the potentiality of the human race is
born again.''
Hillary Rodham Clinton has devoted a lifetime to affirming
both the dignity, and the potential, of all the nation's
children.
____
Remarks of Dr. John Brademas, Chairman, President's Committee on the
Arts and the Humanities, President Emeritus, New York University
I have the honor for a third time of paying public tribute
to the First Lady of the United States, Hillary Rodham
Clinton. The first occasion was in March 1992 when, as
President of New York University, I introduced Mrs. Clinton
as principal speaker when the New York University School of
Law marked its ``Celebration of 100 Years of Women
Graduates.'' As a woman who is herself a highly regarded
lawyer, Mrs. Clinton was a most appropriate and distinguished
speaker at a salute to the education of women in the law and
recognition of their achievements in the legal profession.
Since then, of course, Mrs. Clinton has become our First
Lady and has elevated her long-time advocacy of children's
rights, public schools and universal health care to the level
of national debate and attention.
On September 21, 1994, President Clinton did me the honor
of appointing me Chairman of the President's Committee on the
Arts and the Humanities while asking the First Lady to serve
as Honorary Chair. At a reception at the White House that
day, Mrs. Clinton spoke eloquently about this responsibility.
She said then:
We want to support and nurture our artists and humanists
and the traditions that they represent. And we want also to
bring those traditions alive for literally millions and
millions of children who too often grow up without
opportunities for creative expression, without opportunities
for intellectual stimulation, without exposure to the diverse
cultural traditions that contribute to our identity as
Americans.
Too often today, instead of children discovering the joyful
rewards of painting, or music, or sculptering, or writing, or
testing a new idea, they express themselves through acts of
frustration, helplessness, hopelessness and even violence.
. . . We hope that among the contributions this Committee
makes, it will be thinking of and offering ideas about how we
can provide children with safe havens to develop and explore
their own creative and intellectual potentials.
The arts and humanities have the potential for being such
safe havens. In communities were programs already exist, they
are providing soul-saving and life-enhancing opportunities
for your people. And I am delighted that as one of its major
endeavors, this Committee will be considering ways of
expanding those opportunities to all of our children.
Last month I had the privilege of being at the United
Nations to hear the First Lady speak of the challenge to men
and women everywhere, and particularly women, actively to
participate in promoting social progress. Clearly Mrs.
Clinton has been inspired by the life of her eminent
predecessor as First Lady, Eleanor Roosevelt. And like
Eleanor Roosevelt before her, Hillary Clinton breaks new
ground in public service.
Like Eleanor Roosevelt, Hillary Rodham Clinton has been
criticized for undertaking responsibilities some consider
inappropriate for First Ladies, indeed, for women in general.
But like Eleanor Roosevelt, Hillary Clinton has persevered.
Hers is an unwavering voice on behalf of the rights and needs
of human beings, especially children, not only in our own
country but around the world.
In recognizing the responsibility of women in helping shape
America's future, Hillary Rodham Clinton has earned, and
continues to earn, our admiration and our respect. I am proud
to join in this tribute to her.
____
Remarks of Rev. Dr. Joan Brown Campbell, General Secretary, National
Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA
Day by day, Hillary Rodham Clinton is building an enduring
contribution to our national life that can be discerned even
amid the rush and tumult of current events. She is serving
the nation in one of its defining moments and when historians
place these events in perspective, surely she will be given a
prominent place. By her style, her sensitivity, her presence
and her competence, Mrs. Clinton has already expanded the
nation's understanding of the role of the First Lady. Never
again will it be limited to the single role of national
hostess and helpmate. Called by circumstance and equipped
with the extraordinary gifts of grace and intelligence, she
has broken that mold--a task that has often placed her in an
unenviable position and that places all those who follow in
her debt.
This is what history may say, but for those who identify
themselves as people of faith we acknowledge Hillary Rodham
Clinton today, and in all the days to follow, as a woman of
faith.
The New Testament urges believers to ``be doers of the word
and not merely hearers'' (NRSV James 1:22). Hillary Rodham
Clinton has taken this admonition to heart, as is evident
from the way her many achievements have contributed to the
common good.
In the language of theology I salute her as an
incarnational person, in that her words become incarnate in
deeds. Throughout her life she has been deeply involved in
work that protects children, that upholds the dignity of
women, that supports families in concrete, meaningful ways
and that seeks health and wholeness for all people.
As a very busy attorney, she showed her commitment by
giving time and energy as an active director of the
Children's Defense Fund, advocating a morally grounded and
highly practical approach to caring for all children, and
especially for the very young who suffer from the effects of
material and spiritual poverty. As First Lady, her work
toward health care reform in this nation combined passionate
careing with knowledge and skill. Because of the sacrifices
she made to pursue this work, the issue was raised to a level
that it had never been raised to before and in a way that
ensures it can never be removed from the American agenda.
Most recently I admired her role at the United Nations Social
Summit in Copenhagen where she spoke eloquently on behalf of
the people of the United States on the issue of social
development and the role of women in that process.
Examples abound of the care and high seriousness with which
she takes every assignment that life gives her. More
testaments to her grace, integrity and competence could be
shared in a lengthier forum. Taken together, her work
provides a powerful model for women everywhere. She is the
image of a woman with expertise, poise, and credibility. In
recasting the role of First Lady she helps all women to be
taken seriously, and at the same time, she demonstrates those
qualities that have been traditionally held up as womanly
virtues. We see her as wife, as life companion, as loving
protective mother, as daughter, and as empathetic friend.
Both in the focus of her work and in her personal demeanor
she shows a concern for the comfort and well-being of others.
She extends a sense
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of hospitality to all around her, thus she carries a vision of what a
woman can be--for the sake of her own daughter and for the
sake of all women and their daughters. Such a visible model
is also a lightning rod for criticism by those who do not
share this vision. Mrs. Clinton has borne this criticism with
courage and without rancor.
Mrs. Clinton is truly a ``doer'' in every sense of the
word. The book of James quoted earlier also promises that
those who ``persevere, being not hearers who forget but doers
who act--they will be blessed in their doing.'' So to you,
friend and faithful servant, Hillary Rodham Clinton, all
God's blessings in your life and work.
____
Remarks of Marion Wright Edelman, President and Founder, Children's
Defense Fund
I have known First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton for more
than two and a half decades. I first met her when she was a
student at Yale Law School--even then interested in figuring
out ways to help families provide for the basic needs of
children. I have known her in the intervening years as a
gifted advocate--in court, in the legislature, and in public
education; and inspiring and insightful author; a loving,
concerned, and attentive mother; a supportive wife; a dutiful
and loving daughter; a warm and loyal friend; an effective
leader of the Children's Defense Fund's board of directors; a
dedicated friend for children; and a tireless First Lady.
At a time when many women, but particularly women in the
public eye, have been faced with the difficult challenge of
juggling career and family, the First Lady has balanced those
dual demands with courage, grace, and humor. She has held her
family together with love and resiliency in the face of
extraordinary professional and political demands.
The First Lady is a committed, persistent, thoughtful, and
balanced advocate for children and families. Since she was a
law student, she has understood the crucial need to nurture
families as they struggle to rear the children who will be
our future parents, voters, employees, entrepreneurs, and
leaders. The First Lady has cared deeply that low- and
moderate-income working families and children have access to
decent childcare so that they can develop to their fullest
potential; she has cared that children have access to the
preventive healthcare services necessary to long-term
individual health and reduced national healthcare costs; she
has striven to ensure that children have access to quality
education and early childhood development opportunities
necessary to productive adulthoods.
In each of her many roles, the First Lady has excelled.
Perhaps most importantly, she has never lost sight of her
spiritual commitment to values that transcend self and
partisanship. I am constantly grateful to have had her as a
friend and colleague, and we as a Nation are extraordinarily
lucky to have her as our First Lady.
____
Remarks of Arthur S. Flemming, Chair, Save Our Security Coalition,
Former Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare
Hilliary Rodham Clinton has dedicated her life to helping
her fellow human beings deal with the hazards and
vicissitudes of life. She has kept at the center of her life
the Commandment that is at the center of our Judeo-Christian
religion: ``Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.''
Her dedication to others has been shown in many ways, such
as her outstanding contributions to the Legal Services
Corporation and the Children's Defense Fund.
This dedication reflected itself in a dramatic way when she
committed her talents to the cause of universal coverage of
health care.
She immersed herself in the issue. Some of the finest
leaders in the health care field provided her with advice.
She emerged with a plan that not only set forth the goal of
universal coverage but recommended to the Nation a
comprehensive plan for achieving that goal.
Then along with her husband, the President of the United
States, Mrs. Clinton became one of the most effective
advocates for universal coverage that this Nation has even
known. The Nation became well acquainted with here as an
effective advocate. As she traveled throughout the Nation she
was not content with speaking. She listened to real people
discuss their real problems. They were the persons that
convinced her that our present system for the delivery of
health care has broken down. They were the persons that
convinced her that without universal coverage they and their
children faced premature death and unnecessary suffering.
As a result of Mrs. Clinton's dedication, 1994 was the
greatest year in the history of this Nation in the area of
health care.
Never before had we had the in-depth national dialogue on
health care that we had in 1994. As a result of that
dialogue, poll after poll showed that 75-80 percent of our
people believe that we must have universal coverage. A real
concern developed throughout the Nation about the breakdown
of our present health delivery system.
We are now in a position as a national community to add
universal coverage for health care and roundout President
Roosevelt's concern for a complete system of Social Security.
If we build on the accomplishment of 1994 we will reach our
goal.
We can and will reach this goal because of the dedication
of Hillary Rodham Clinton to the people of this Nation. Her
deep-seated concern is one of our Nation's great treasures.
The Annual Survey of American Law's recognition of this fact
is deeply appreciated.
____
Remarks of Dr. David Hamburg, President, The Carnegie Foundation of New
York
It is a privilege to write about Hillary Rodham Clinton
from the perspective of her lifelong dedication to children.
As First Lady, she has established a track record in the
great tradition of Eleanor Roosevelt as a tireless exemplar
of humane, compassionate, democratic values and creative
problem-solving. In this capacity, she has played a highly
significant role in expanding the reach of immunization while
also broadening the scope and enhancing the quality of Head
Start. She also facilitated a new federal initiative on the
school-to-work transition for youth. In her travels as First
Lady, at home and abroad, she has called attention to
innovative ways of strengthening healthy child development.
In the years ahead, millions of today's children will live
better lives as a consequence of her efforts.
She was the First Lady of Arkansas for twelve years, during
which time she worked thoughtfully on behalf of children and
youth. For example, she chaired an education committee that
set public school standards in Arkansas. Indeed, she
exemplified in her own life as well as her professional work
the complex integration of family, work and public service
that is so precious in modern democracies.
My own distinctive view of her work on behalf of children
comes from her relationship with the Carnegie Corporation of
New York over almost a quarter of a century.
While a student at Yale Law School, she developed her
strong concern for protecting the interests of children and
their families. In 1993, when speaking at Yale about very
young children, she made a few remarks about the meaning of
the Yale experience. ``I got this rather odd idea when I was
at the Yale Law School that I wanted to know more about
children's development. . . . particularly in the early
years, and to really find out what I can about how their
needs are met or not met, and particularly what role the
legal system plays in both a positive and negative way in
helping children and families.''
One of her earliest professional positions was on the staff
of the Carnegie Council on Children, starting in the Spring
of 1972. She had already been involved in civil rights law,
children's advocacy, and work in Head Start. The Council took
a very broad view of our nation's children, their problems
and ways to improve their opportunities.
The Carnegie file from 1972 contains a letter from
Professor Kenneth Kenniston, the Chairman of the Council. He
wrote, ``I am very happy with this staff which is young,
lively, committed, iconoclastic, open and energetic. They are
going to be hard to handle.'' I don't know whether he was
talking about Hillary in referring to that brilliant,
iconoclastic, hard-to-handle staff, but there is no doubt she
made valuable contributions. In that period, she published a
landmark paper, ``Children Under the Law,'' in the Harvard
Educational Review.
In 1980, she came back into the Carnegie orbit again as the
founder and president of Arkansas Advocates for Children and
Families. Carnegie made a grant to that organization to
improve services for children and families. Her long and
thoughtful dedication to the Children's Defense Fund is well
known, from a staff job in the early 1970s to her
chairmanship of the board in recent years.
In the late 1980s, Hillary served on the W.T. Grant
Foundation's Commission on Youth, Work, and Family, that
produced a very important report, ``The Forgotten Half,''
emphasizing the school-to-work transition for students who do
not go on to college. She pursued this interest later with
Carnegie support, relating it to the Commission on the Skills
of the American Workforce. She thought creatively about ways
to implement an effective school-to-work transition in the
United States, where we lag so far behind Europe and other
countries. She paid particular attention to the role of the
states in this process. So there are many manifestations of
her devotion to children, youth, and families--from the
youngest children through late adolescence.
In 1994, she spoke at the opening of a Carnegie Conference
on the first three years of life. In eloquent terms and with
deep insight, she clarified ways of meeting the essential
requirements for healthy child development in the earliest
years. She has seen to it that the national discourse on
health care reform can never again leave out children and
youth.
For decades to come, Hillary Rodham Clinton's clear voice
will be heard on behalf of America's, and the world's,
children. The life chances of children everywhere will be
improved as a consequence of her actions. If there is a more
important contribution anyone can make, I wonder what it
could be.
____
Remarks of Edward M. Kennedy, United States Senator, Commonwealth of
Massachusetts
In 1993, America welcomed an impressive and extraordinarily
talented woman to the White House, Hillary Rodham Clinton. In
the time since then, all of us who knew her in earlier years
and were impressed by her ability and commitment to public
service have
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come to admire her even more, especially her grace under pressure--her
courage--in enduring the controversies that have swirled
around her as she redefines the role of the modern First
Lady.
I have had the privilege of working closely with her in the
past two years on an issue I have been especially committed
to--the ongoing struggle to bring health security to all
Americans. In the years I have been involved in this
important effort, I have never met anyone more committed to
the cause than Hillary Rodham Clinton. We came closer to
success in the past Congress than ever before, and the
progress we made was primarily the result of the energy,
intelligence, and political skill she brought to the battle.
I vividly remember our first Senate hearing on the
comprehensive health reform package proposed by President
Clinton. It was held on September 29, 1993, in the historic
Senate Caucus Room. The First Lady was the only witness. For
several hours, she answered the toughest questions seventeen
Senators could throw at her, and she did so with an eloquence
and persuasiveness that impressed Democrats and Republicans
alike. If we could have taken the bill to the full Senate in
the days after that hearing, I believe we could have passed
it.
Powerful vested interest groups and partisan tactics of
obstruction designed to deny President Clinton a legislative
victory succeeded in blocking action by the past Congress.
Bipartisan efforts are now under way in the current Congress
to adopt the most needed reforms, and whatever progress we
make will in large measure be due to the groundwork Mrs.
Clinton laid. She is an effective advocate for making the
fundamental right to health care a basic right for all, not
just an expensive privilege to the few, and I have been proud
to stand with her.
Mrs. Clinton has also been a tireless advocate on
children's issues. As First Lady of Arkansas, she
successfully led efforts for education reform and for
increased investment in early childhood development. She
discovered a model home-visiting, parenting-training, early
childhood and school readiness program in Israel, adapted it
to Arkansas, and implemented it across the state. This
program has become a national model and has been replicated
in communities across the country.
In addition, as chairperson of the Board of Directors of
the Children's Defense Fund for several years, Mrs. Clinton
was at the forefront of numerous major initiatives to improve
the lives of children and families. Her causes have included
expanding access to Head Start, encouraging childhood
immunization, and shaping a ``one-stop-shopping'' approach to
reduce bureaucracy and streamline the delivery of services to
families and children. In May 1991, in an earlier impressive
appearance on Capitol Hill, she testified at a hearing by the
Senate Committee on Labor and Human Resources on these and
other children's issues, and reminded us that the heart of
these serious problems is not lack of resources but lack of
will.
I know that in the years ahead, Hillary Rodham Clinton will
continue to be a powerful voice for justice and opportunity
and a role model for millions of Americans. This tribute by
the Annual Survey of American Law is a well-deserved honor,
and it is a privilege to participate in it.
____
Remarks of C. Everett Koop, M.D., Former Surgeon General of the United
States
Hillary Rodham Clinton and I first met when President
Clinton asked me to advise Mrs. Clinton on the ways that her
Task Force on Health Care Reform might respond to the growing
opposition of the medical profession to the Clinton health
care reform plan. After only a few minutes of conversation
with Hillary Clinton, I was delighted to discover that any
negative impressions generated by the media's caricature of
her were dispelled immediately. I found her to be a woman of
great sensitivity, keen intellect, and a delightfully winsome
charm. Since I shared the Clintons' desire to bring equitable
reform to our health care system, with special attention to
the needs of the uninsured, I agreed with the President's
suggestion that I moderate a series of forums between the
First Lady and the medical profession.
Convened in several cities across the nation, these forums
provided a much-needed dialogue between physicians and the
head of the Task Force on Health Care Reform. The medical
profession saw first-hand the sincerity and dedication of the
First Lady, and they achieved her sympathetic understanding
of the ways in which certain provisions of the Health
Security Act disturbed the medical profession. She was able
to assure the physicians that, as long as the main thrust of
reform was not threatened, the language of the reform would
be altered to meet their concerns. Hillary Clinton quickly
demonstrated that she was able to see the many facets of the
President's health care reform plan through the eyes of
physicians who were dedicated--above all--to caring for their
patients and acting as their advocates.
I have met no one who has a better grasp of the American
health care system--or non-system, which might be a more
accurate term--than Hillary Rodham Clinton. Yet, she was
already ready to learn more, to accommodate a nuance not
clear before, to adjust to a new wrinkle in the complicated
tapestry of health care delivery.
The President's plan failed in Congress for many reasons,
but mostly because the nation had not been prepared for
changes as sweeping as those proposed. The last major reform
health care, the Medicare and Medicaid programs, came in the
midst of the reforming zeal of the Great Society, and they
were preceded by several years of national education and
debate.
Politics aside, the health care reform plan failed because
each of us was being asked to do something for all of us. And
each of us may have feared that what was best for all of us
was not necessarily best for each of us. It was that simple.
It was that complicated.
The President's plan for health care reform provided a
diagnosis of the problems with our health care system, and
then it proposed a series of remedies. The Congress and the
people may have rejected the proposed remedy, but they have
not challenged the diagnosis. No one can fault Hillary
Clinton's diagnosis of the health care system's ailments. Her
diagnosis was far-reaching, comprehensive, and right on
target. Her diagnosis will be the springboard for the next
round of the debate on health care reform.
____
Remarks of Philip R. Lee, M.D., Assistant Secretary for Health, U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services
Hillary Rodham Clinton is a woman of extraordinary
intelligence, understanding, compassion and commitment. In
more than thirty years of involvement in health policy at the
federal, state, and local levels, I have never met an
individual who was able to grasp the complexities of health
care organization, delivery, and financing as well as Mrs.
Clinton. She not only has this extraordinary ability to grasp
complex information, but she was able to communicate it to a
range of audiences, professional, and public, more clearly
and accurately than anyone in my experience.While these
talents are important, even more important is her capacity to
listen to individuals and families about their experiences in
order to learn fully how the system does and does not
operate. Her deep compassion was evident as she listened to
individuals and families throughout the country--from tribal
chiefs in Montana, to parents in a children's hospital in
Washington, to a broad range of citizens in Lincoln,
Nebraska, to sick patients in nursing homes, parents of
disabled children, and to citizens of the broadest range
across the country. She read the thousands of letters sent to
her by people from throughout the nation in order to better
understand what health care meant to people and what needed
to be done to assure everyone in the United States access to
a decent level of health care.
These are all great qualities and ones to be admired, but I
think, even more, I admire Hillary Rodham Clinton's integrity
and strength of character. She has a clear sense of who she
is, what here values are, and what she believes. She does not
wet her finger, stick it up to the wind, and determine what
she will believe on particular issue at a particular moment
in time.
Finally, Mr. Clinton has been an inspiration for many of us
who have had the opportunity to work with her as Presidential
employees. When the times are toughest, when the road is most
rocky, when the tasks seem insurmountable, she has been a
source of not only encouragement, but energy and inspection.
While many of us have been beneficiaries, directly and
individually, of her support, her knowledge, her
understanding, her commitment and her incredible energy, all
of the American people benefit from her extraordinary
qualities, but most of all from her integrity.
Remarks of Loretta McLaughlin, Op-Ed Columnist, Boston Globe
As we honor our distinguished and endearing First Lady,
Hillary Rodham Clinton, do not expect faint praise from me.
I belong to that vast company of Americans, women and men,
who are openly admirous of this woman who has such an
enormous and difficult job, balancing countless demands on
her time and talent along with myriad points of view--and yet
who handles it all with uncommon grace and seeming ease.
People who work on the line in my business--on newspapers,
radio, and television--are especially drawn to her.
She's our kind of person, our kind of woman. An activist.
Approachable. Quick-witted, quick study. Absorbing. Serious.
Informed. Expressive. We genuinely like her. We honestly
respect her.
And I, from the vantage point of long experience, worry for
her. I don't want her hurt needlessly, don't want her
feelings trammeled by shallow detractors.
She simply thrills American women. She appeals to all women
who work for wages, women on payrolls, salaried women. Women
who earn money in the workplace. And she inspires young
professional women who are combining jobs, husbands,
children, Parent Teacher Association meetings, dentist and
doctor visits, car pools, community activities, and the whole
nine yards of today's lifestyles for families trying to cope
with everything at once.
All these women see a small piece of themselves in her.
They see her obviously trying hard to do a good job, as they
are. They see her performing so well, doing them proud--doing
all women proud who are trying to keep a house, hold a job
and contribute meaningfully to society.
They love her because she, like them, went out to compete
in the real marketplace and tested her mettle in the way that
American business demands. She earned money; her
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work was valued enough to be compensated; she bolstered the family
income.
My daughter-in-law has urged me to ``please tell Mrs.
Clinton how much we would like to be like her. She's so
articulate. So focused. So prepared. So effective.'' It is no
small accomplishment to have a new generation--in your own
time--want to become like you. It is the highest of
compliments.
In Mrs. Clinton's case, it is well-deserved. She is new
generation. She is tomorrow. More than highly intelligent and
finely educated, she is capable and competent and absorbing.
And she keeps getting stronger as she moves fully into this
new role. Two years into the Presidency, she has set a
standard of excellence on par with Eleanor Roosevelt for
health and social services and civil rights, with Jacqueline
Kennedy Onassis for arts and the humanities, and with Bess
Truman for honesty and personal loyalty. The nation remains
intrigued by Mrs. Clinton.
The Washington Post calls her ``the first lady of paradox.
. . . both old-fashioned and post-modern. . . . a
contradiction of perceptions.'' That is her gift; she is
sensible and sensitive at the same time.
However, we should be mindful that she occupies the White
House at a time of extreme transition. The paradox of being
both old-fashioned and post-modern applies to our society as
well. Despite the rock-em, sock-em, depictions of American
life that glut our television screens, as a people we remain
quite traditional.
With the dawning of a new age, a new century, a new
millennium, we are even more demanding of our leaders on both
fronts. We want them to respect and retain the formalities
and rituals of office and we want them to master and reflect
each new technology, technique and trend that comes along.
We have empathy for every First Lady--each woman, wife,
mother who has to live in full public view in the nation's
most scrutinized residence. But history must concede it has
fallen to Mrs. Clinton to break new ground. She is a pioneer
First Lady, the first to be a credentialed and active lawyer,
qualified as a member of the American bar, a professional
person fully in her own right.
She and the President serve at a time when the nation has
profound problems that cry out for expert attention. Instead
of allowing the Presidency with its vast network of advisors
to provide a setting for quiet, thoughtful and comprehensive
analysis, the office is constantly being distracted by those
who flood the halls of government with foolish partisan
themes and empty political ploys.
Such tactics make it difficult for all of us to concentrate
on what we need to do as citizens. And they threaten to blunt
the enthusiasm and energy, the resiliency that Hillary and
Bill Clinton have brought to the White House. It is shameful
that Mrs. Clinton who has sincerely tried to be helpful is
made the butt of cheap jokes by rightwing extremists
preaching provincialism and zealotry. What the Clintons would
have us do is to seek greatness again.
Others will speak of Mrs. Clinton's work on behalf of
children and education and in pursuit of better opportunities
to lead productive and useful lives for all Americans. It is
for me to speak of
Mrs. Clinton in connection with health care reform--my
favorite issue and one near and dear to her.
That is the ground upon which she and I first met in Boston
and continue to meet. It is the legislative turf that she
made most her own during the first half of the Clinton
Presidency.
Since the Congressional election last November, it is
considered journalistically chic in many quarters to
criticize Mrs. Clinton for what some in the press like to
label her failure to enact health care reform.
But Mrs. Clinton didn't fail at this. She did her job. She
researched the problem, pinned down the facts, and outlined a
solution. Her recommendations were consistent with the
President's oft-expressed view that health care coverage
should be universal, comprehensive, job-linked, and cost-
controlled. He proposed a national health care plan based on
a managed competition model. But he and she made it clear
from the beginning that the plan was open for negotiation.
The failure to come to grips with any part of health care
reform--not even to grasp the urgent need for it--lies with a
very confused and lethargic 103rd United States Congress.
The immobility of its members was abetted by the multi-
million dollar lobbying effort staged by health insurers and
others on the business end of the health care industry. To
maintain the status quo on health care, a trillion-dollar-a-
year industry in the United States, the lobbyists generously
fed campaign kitties around the country for Congressional
candidates standing for re-election.
Mrs. Clinton was clear about what was needed. She made
stellar appearances on the Hill, testifying before House and
Senate committees more extensively than any previous First
Lady.
We can all agree there is room for differences of opinion
on the Clinton-proposed solution as to how best to achieve an
equitable and affordable system of universal health care. But
we should bear in mind that the facts speak for themselves
when we examine the existing patchwork of health care
delivery in this country and the vagaries of its funding.
Mrs. Clinton learned all there is to know about our
unevenly delivered and inadequately funded health care non-
system. And she now knows, as do experts in the field, that
it cannot be fixed piecemeal--despite the partisan rhetoric
to the contrary.
What a happy surprise it was to see the front-page headline
in the New York Times on a recent Sunday saying that ``now
it's Republicans who see a health care crisis looming'' and
they now
want to persuade the public that the crisis is real. Too bad
they couldn't see it last year when Mrs. Clinton needed
them.
It comes as no surprise, however, that when Mrs. Clinton
looked at the situation she saw as the most serious problem
within the heath care dilemma the number (now 41 million) of
Americans with no coverage.
But even at this late date, the Republican majority is
obsessed with proposals to trim the Medicare budget. Medicare
is the program that pays for medical care for 37 million
Americans over 65 years of age or disabled.
It figures, doesn't it, that the new Newt-onian-style
Republican reformers would want to meddle with a group of
Americans who already have the most solid coverage. But, as
Willy Sutton well knew, that's where the money is. Medicare
currently spends about $170 billion a year. While we could
agree on the need to conserve Medicare dollars and discuss
the pluses and minuses of moving the elderly into managed
care plans, the real point is that doing so would also pour
billions of Medicare dollars--that now directly buy health
care--into the coffers of private health insurance companies.
This is not what Mrs. Clinton and the President had in mind
when they set out to make all Americans medically secure. And
I am convinced he and she will yet see that goal achieved.
Health care reform remains a top tier concern of the American
public.
Congress's failure to enact health care reform does not
mean that the problem has gone away. To the contrary. The
most recent analyses indicate that since 1993, every facet of
health care coverage continues to worsen. More Americans than
ever before are uncovered; and those with coverage are
getting less for their money and must spend more out-of-
pocket for medical care.
Meanwhile, let us see the First lady in her own light. Let
us put away the old vie of First Ladies. You know, the one
where she figuratively and actually stands slightly behind
and slightly below the President.
In the wonderful new world of this accomplished couple, let
us have the First Lady and the President stand on level
ground as all enlightened men and women should. Not in
confrontation, but side by side, looking out together from
the same perspective but with individual insight.
In the long run, defining anew the role of First Lady,
carefully and distinctively, may prove to be her most arduous
but most outstanding accomplishment. I salute you, Mrs.
Clinton.
____
Remarks of Her Majesty Queen Noor of Jordan
I was very pleased to be asked to write a few words of
dedication about Hillary Rodham Clinton, because it allowed
me to express some of my thoughts about a truly remarkable
person, who has also become a good friend.
Hillary Clinton, in many ways, has enhanced the importance
of the challenging roles of public servant and First Lady
through her unfaltering personal courage and sense of
compassion, her unwavering support for social justice and
human rights, and her dedication to the welfare of American
society, particularly to those whose voices are too seldom
heard, such as children. Those qualities, coupled with Mrs.
Clinton's education, legal experience and political and
social awareness, have enabled her to be an articulate
champion of issues of concern to many throughout the world.
But it is Mrs. Clinton's personal integrity, her
intellectual honesty and commitment to dialogue and
understanding in international relations that have impressed
me most.
In the past year, Jordan has witnessed some of the most
critical and momentous events in its history. In July of
1994, the Washington Declaration, signed on the South Lawn of
the White House, ended 46 years of conflict between the State
of Israel and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. Mrs. Clinton
was more than simply a gracious and generous hostess; she was
a partner in Jordan and Israel's shared hopes for a better
future for the Middle East and all its peoples. Like a mirror
of her country, the United States, she was our partner in
peace.
____
Remarks of Letty Cottin Pogrebin, Author
As a professional scribbler, I usually find it hard to
write about Hillary Clinton because of the journalistic
imperative to avoid superlatives. Thankfully, no such rule
applies at the Annual Survey of American Law, which means
your tribute book will likely reflect a more authentic view
of this remarkable woman than has been evident in the average
``objective'' media profile.
The fact is, one cannot talk about Hillary Rodham Clinton
without using superlatives. The National Law journal listed
her among the ``100 most influential lawyers in America''
(one of only four women), and she appears in Best Lawyers in
America, Who's Who in American Law, and the World Who's Who
of Women. What interests me far more than her professional
honors is the way her friends and colleagues talk about her,
their recollections of her personal warmth, her lifelong
commitment to justice, her breath-taking intellect, the
balance of mind and
[[Page S 12357]]
heart, dazzling eloquence and down-home humor that make this woman so
unique.
Hillary Clinton is not a recent invention of First
Ladyhood; she has been who she is for more than 25 years. Her
Wellesley classmates remember her as a pre-eminent
intellectual but also as the kindest, most principled student
leader on campus, totally focused, a gifted mediator, well-
centered, and mature beyond her years. Several of her Yale
contemporaries have told me she was not simply an editor of
the Review of Law and Social Action, but the smartest person
(not woman, person) at the Yale Law School--and
unselfconscious to boot.
Sara Ehrman, veteran Democratic activities who ran George
McGovern's 1972 presidential campaign in south Texas, first
met Hillary Rodham when she came to San Antonio as a
volunteer. Ehrman remembers being bowled over by the young
law student's grasp of arcane election law, but says the
reason the two became friends and remain close to this day is
because ``Hillary's the best company in the world.'' In 1974,
while she was serving on the impeachment Inquiry staff of the
Judiciary Committee working on the Watergate proceedings,
Hillary Rodham was Sara Ehrman's houseguest for nine months.
As Ehrman tells it: ``She was brilliant, she was a star,
she could have done anything in Washington. When she came
home one night and told me she'd decided to teach at the
University of Arkansas and make a life with Bill Clinton, I
said, `Are you out of your mind going to this godforsaken
place to marry this country
lawyer?!' She just looked at me and said, `Sara, I love
him.' So I drove her to Arkansas, which was the most
raucous, wonderful journey of my life. We laughed all the
way through the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Shenandoah
Valley. It took us four days because every 20 miles we
stopped to go shopping.''
Ambassador Mickey Kantor, now U.S. Trade Representative,
joined the Legal Services Corporation Board in 1978 when
Hillary Clinton was its Chair. ``I can't say enough good
things about her,'' he begins. ``She had a tremendous
dedication to local programs and a deep commitment to making
justice accessible to poor people in everything from spousal
abuse cases to landlord-tenant or wage disputes. Plus, she
could always balance conflicting interests, ideologies, and
personalities on the Board and among the lawyers and staff.
The Corporation was never in better shape than when she
chaired it.''
Kantor, a friend for 17 years, believes the media has
trouble capturing Hillary Clinton because she is so multi-
dimensional. He describes her as a terrific wife, mother,
daughter, sister, lawyer, public servant, and friend; someone
with a great sense of humor, who has contributed so much to
her community, is ``extremely well-organized, speaks in
perfect paragraphs, knows how to take complicated issues and
break them down into manageable pieces, and operates as every
good lawyer should--zealously on behalf of the client.''
Not only has she always been willing to take on intractable
issues whether related to the legal system, quality
education, or health care, but, Kantor says, by the example
of her own strength and dignity ``she is blazing a trail for
future First Ladies--or First Husbands. She is a fascinating
combination of talents. For once, all the superlatives are
true.''
Elaine Weiss was Executive Director of the ABA Commission
on Women in the Profession when Hillary Clinton was its
Chair. ``Hillary was instrumental in getting the American Bar
Association to take an activist voice in advancing women's
status,'' says Weiss. ``She saw women's issues as economic
issues. She'd go into a room full of predominantly white guys
and their body language bespoke their discomfort. But she had
this incredible ability to break down barriers and get men to
listen to the problems of women. She came across very
mainstream, and sounded so reasonable, and presented herself
as a working lawyer just like them. And she got them to
embrace change because of her leadership.''
Under Hillary Clinton, the Commission held national
hearings on the status of women in the profession. It
published a report on
gender bias in law schools, government, courtrooms, and Bar
Associations. It identified the double barriers
experienced by minority women lawyers. It developed policy
manuals to guide law firms on how to better deal with
parental leave, part-time work, or sexual harassment.
``A woman lawyer anywhere in the country, not just a Wall
Street magister, could take this manual to a partner and say,
`Look, we can work this out.' The Commission really made a
difference for me because she was a role model of a
successful woman who never sacrificed her family or friends.
Working for her was the best part of my life.''
When Elinor Guggenheimer brought Hillary Rodham Clinton
onto the board of the Child Care Action Campaign, on which I
also served, I remember thinking Guggenheimer must have
recruited her for show, because she was cute, young, blonde,
and the wife of an up-and-coming governor. To my surprise, at
the first meeting she attended, Hillary Clinton offered the
most knowledgeable, clear-headed assessment of this country's
child care crisis I'd ever heard in one mouthful. During the
years we served together, I developed an abiding respect for
her problem-solving skills and her genuine dedication to
guaranteeing quality care to every American child.
``Hillary always approached the child care problem with
passion but not emotionalism,'' says Guggenheimer. ``She's
not one of those simplistic `I just love little children'
types; she looks at what legislation is needed, what policy
changes, what strategies. She brings cerebral power to her
caring.''
To Ellie Guggenheimer, there's much more to Hillary Clinton
than her brains. ``I never recognize her when I read about
her in the press. They miss her whimsy and her sensitivity.
Whenever she stayed over at our apartment in New York, we put
her up on a convertible couch. She was First Lady of Arkansas
at the time but she refused to be waited on by anyone. My
husband Randy fell in love with her and he's a Republican.
After one visit, she sent us a picture of herself and Randy
on which she'd inscribed, ``Hope the tabloids don't find out
about us.''
Hillary Clinton's eloquence is the eighth wonder of the
world. ``She never speaks from notes and she never says er,
ah, or um, no matter how complex the subject,'' says
Guggenheimer. ``I don't know how she does it.''
I've marveled at the same phenomenon. In the summer of
1991, I organized a week-long series on family issues at the
Chautauqua Institute and invited Hillary Clinton to speak on
the challenge
of blending marriage, work, and childrearing. When she took
to the podium in front of 5,000 people with not a shred of
paper in hand, my heart stopped, but of course she gave a
speech of great substance, an inspiring mix of personal
experience and policy analysis--and did so, indeed,
without a stammer.
Leon Friedman remembers a recent Eighth Circuit Judicial
Conference in Colorado Springs at which the speakers and
panelists included Supreme Court Justices Byron White, John
Paul Stevens, and Harry Blackmun, plus various Circuit and
District Judges, a United States Senator and Congressman, the
head of the Central Intelligence Agency, and a passel of
professors. Friedman, a Hofstra Law School professor, and
Hillary Clinton of the Rose Law Firm, did joint service on a
panel on ``Recent Developments in the Area of Civil Rights.''
He took race, age, and disability, and she took sex
discrimination.
``I was awed by her technical legal experience,'' says
Friedman, ``but what really blew me away was the impromptu
keynote address she gave earlier in the day when she was
asked to stand in for her husband, the Governor, who was
called away on state business. She had no time to prepare,
yet she got up there and, without a single note, gave a talk
that was so perfectly parsed, so well-organized and elegantly
presented that Justice Blackmun just kept raving, `Wasn't
Hillary wonderful? Wasn't she great?!'
``I remember how she summoned this very distinguished
audience of 500 lawyers and judges to think about the well-
being of the nation's children. She said we must start at the
bottom, with attitudes and education. She cited a survey that
asked Americans and Europeans, `What is more important to
your child's success: hard work or innate ability?' The
Europeans said hard work, the Americans said innate ability.
She speculated that America's sports culture may cause us to
give too much credit to innate ability and we must do things
at all levels of society to inspire education and hard work
so every child can perform to his or her best potential.
``Most people are not used to hearing a woman do public
policy analysis. Wives, especially, aren't supposed to effect
policy. Wives are supposed to be there to open up the garden
in the spring. But we lawyers can recognize intellectual
excellence when we see it, and you couldn't miss it with
Hillary. I came home and told everyone `Watch out for this
woman. You're going to hear more from her.' ''
Hillary Rodham Clinton is a great national resource, a fine
legal mind, an inspiration to aspiring women, a model of the
loving yet autonomous wife, a consistent champion of
children, and a good soul. I look forward to hearing more
from her in the years to come.
____
Remarks of Ronald F. Pollack, Executive Director, Families, USA
When I was eleven years old, I had the opportunity to
listen to a speech by, and then spend precious moments with,
Eleanor Roosevelt. As part of the multiple celebrations that
year marking the tenth anniversary of the United Nations, my
mother organized a remarkable evening for several thousand
New Yorkers, featuring Mrs. Roosevelt.
My mother organized the event on an unpaid, voluntary
basis, but she decided to retain two ``perks'' for her
family. First, she made sure that her only child would go on
stage to present a bouquet of roses to the former First Lady
immediately upon the conclusion of her speech. Then, she made
sure that we would transport Mrs. Roosevelt from the event in
our family car--an arrangement that undoubtedly presaged the
need for a tighter and more protective Secret Service.
That evening, 40 years ago, is etched indelibly in my
memory. Mrs. Roosevelt was eloquent and compassionate,
dignified and warm, purposeful and friendly. She inspired a
genuine sense of goodness about public life.
Years later, I carefully observed my daughter's reactions
when she met--and when she watched television interviews
with--another very remarkable First Lady, Hillary Rodham
Clinton. My daughter, Sarah, who (unlike her younger
brothers) is not particularly awed by famous people, has an
unmistakable
[[Page S 12358]]
glow when she listens to the First Lady. On one such occasion, during
the Presidential campaign, Sarah declared most emphatically:
``Hillary Clinton makes me feel very good!''
As Sarah later explained to me, Hillary makes her feel good
to be a woman. Sarah finds inspiration and reaffirmation from
women who are strong and gentle, determined and kind, and who
have a finely-tuned, life-affirming social conscience. It is
those qualities that Hillary enlivens in Sarah.
Above the din of shrill acrimony and demonization that
passes as political discourse these days, Sarah--through
Hillary's example--has gained a much better understanding
about the positive potentialities of public service.
Sarah's perceptions about the First Lady are well grounded.
Of Hillary's many fine qualities that abundantly substantiate
Sarah's impressions, three are particularly salient for me.
First, empathy. Although the First Lady's virtuosity in
testifying before five Congressional committees on health
reform was properly chronicled, her interactions in meetings
with ordinary people were, in my judgment, even more
impressive. For people experiencing unfathomable emotions
watching loved ones bear the direst consequences of an
inequitable health system, Hillary was a reassuring presence.
She listened. She consoled. She explained. She gave hope. She
infused strength, and she seemed to gain strength in return.
Second, an indomitable spirit. No one can deny that the
First Lady has had to confront difficult, and undoubtedly
emotional, moments of a profound adversity during the past
four years. But, even during the most troubled periods of the
campaign, and the denouement of the health reform fight, and
this past November's elections, the First Lady demonstrated a
resiliency that is truly remarkable. She remains focused. She
moves on. Through her example, and with her words of
encouragement, she helps us to find the next, highest ground.
Third, her unswerving support for low-income and other
vulnerable constituencies. Time and again, throughout her
career and her ascendancy to national leadership, Hillary
Clinton has been a steady, reliable and thoughtful voice for
people who are poor and deserve a helping hand. At the Legal
Services Corporation, in the fight for universal health
coverage, as an eloquent spokesperson for America's children,
and in the quest for improved educational opportunities,
Hillary Clinton has effectively opened doors and championed
new possibilities for ``the other America.'' In so doing, she
has enriched us all.
Sarah instinctively knows why I and our family's best
friends, felt overjoyed on the night of November 8, 1992. For
so many of us, it was an opportunity to dream once again.
Although we now know better how difficult it will be to
achieve our dreams, Hillary Rodham Clinton's vitality,
inspiration and encouragement will keep us going, keep us
working, keep us fighting--and keep us dreaming.
____
Remarks of Robert Rubin, United States Secretary of the Treasury
Hillary Rodham Clinton is an unusual woman who has spent
her life doing extraordinary things.
She graduated from law school at a time when few women
chose law as a profession. Since then, she has balanced with
grace the demands of public life with the pressures of
protecting and nurturing a child being raised in the national
spotlight. And with great effect, she has used her personal
and professional experiences as an advocate for women,
children, and families, and to advance their rights in the
eyes of the law.
There is no constitutionally defined job description for
the role of First Lady. She can look to tradition, to the
times in which she lives, to the demands placed upon her by
the President and her family. But the women who have made the
greatest impact on our nation are the ones who have blazed a
trail that is uniquely their own.
This is the course Hillary Rodham Clinton has followed so
remarkably these last two and one-half years.
As First Lady, she has opened the White House to more
Americans than have visited the First Family's residence in
our history. On health care, she opened the policymaking
process to victims of disease, families haunted by
extraordinary health care expenses, and to the community of
healers, practitioners and administrators. As a result, we
are closer today than ever before to reforming our nation's
health care system.
Most of all, she has opened the minds and hearts of
Americans about the role, the pressures and the opportunities
that come with being a First Lady, a mother, and a
President's partner at this important time in our history.
As a member of the President's Cabinet, and as a former
member of the President's staff, it has been my privilege to
know and admire Hillary Rodham Clinton. She is a wise
counselor, an enormously sensitive, decent and compassionate
person, and someone to whom we have well entrusted the role
of First Lady in our national life.
____
Remarks of Elie Wiesel, Andrew W. Mellon Professor in the Humanities,
Boston University, Nobel Peace Laureate, 1986
Hillary Rodham Clinton is worth knowing better. The more
closely one observes her, the more impressed one is by her
intellectual curiosity and human sensitivity.
A woman with a mind of her own, deeply committed to social
values, she sets high standards for others and ever higher
ones for herself.
She does what she says and says what she wants to say--not
what others want to hear.
Whatever she does, she does well, with genuine though
subdued enthusiasm.
Her language is clear, her words precise, her initiatives
courageous. She knows what she wants, though she also knows
that one cannot obtain everything one wants.
I wish she were appointed by the President of the United
States to the unpaid cabinet position of Secretary for Human
Rights--a field in which she could do wonders for all those
who need an intercessor.
____
Hillary Rodham Clinton Biographical Data
Born: October 26, 1947, in Chicago, Illinois.
Husband: President William Jefferson Clinton.
Daughter: Chelsea Victoria Clinton.
Education: B.A. Wellesley College, 1969; J.D. Yale Law
School, Yale University, 1973.
Law Practice and Professional Associations: Admitted to
Arkansas Bar, 1973; U.S. District Court (Eastern and Western
districts of Arkansas); U.S. Court of Appeals (8th Circuit);
U.S. Supreme Court, 1975; Children's Defense Fund, Cambridge,
MA and Washington, D.C., and Carnegie Council on Children,
New Haven, CT, 1973-74; Counsel, Impeachment Inquiry Staff,
Judiciary Committee, U.S. House of Representatives,
Washington, D.C., 1974; Chair, American Bar Association
Commission on Women in the Profession, 1987-91; Chair, Legal
Services Corporation, Washington, D.C., 1978-80; Member,
Board of Directors, 1977-81; Partner, Rose Law Firm, Little
Rock, AR, 1977-92.
Law Teaching: Assistant Professor of Law and Director of
the Legal Aid Clinic; University of Arkansas School of Law at
Fayetteville, 1974-76; Assistant Professor of Law, University
of Arkansas School of Law at Little Rock, 1979-80.
Publications: ``Children Under the Law,'' Harvard
Educational Review, January 1974;
Hillary Rodham, Book Note, Children's Policies: Abandonment
and Neglect, 86 Yale L.J. 1522 (1977) (reviewing Steiner: The
Children's Cause) (1976);
``Handbook on Legal Rights for Arkansas Women,'' Carolyn
Armbrust [et al.], a project of the Governor's Commission on
the Status of Women, 1977, 1987 editions;
``Children's Rights: A Legal Perspective,'' Children's
Rights, Teachers College Press, New York, 1979;
``Teacher Education: Of the People, By the People and For
the People,'' Beyond the Looking Glass: Papers from a
National Symposium on Teacher Education Policies, Practices,
and Research, March 1985 and Journal of Teacher Education,
January-February 1985;
``The Fight Over Orphanages,'' Newsweek, January 1995;
``The War on America's Children,'' New York Newsday, March
12, 1995;
``Investing in Sisterhood,'' The Washington Post, May 14,
1995.
Honors and Awards:
Honorary Doctor of Law: University of Arkansas at Little
Rock, 1985; Arkansas College, Batesville, Arkansas, 1988;
Hendrix College, Conway, Arkansas, 1992; University of
Michigan, 1993; University of Pennsylvania, 1993; University
of Sunderland, England, 1993; University of Illinois, 1994;
University of Minnesota, 1995; San Francisco State
University, 1995.
Honorary Doctor of Public Service: The George Washington
University, 1994; Who's Who in the World, 1995; Who's Who in
America, 1995; Who's Who in American Law, 1994-95; Who's Who
of Emerging Leaders in America, 1993-94; Who's Who of
American Women, 1993-94; International Who's Who, 1994-95.
Honorary Life Member, The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi
Arkansas Bar Association and Arkansas Bar Foundation Award,
1985
Arkansas Woman of the Year, 1983
Phi Delta Kappa Award for Outstanding Layman of the Year,
1984
Pulaski County Bar Association Lawyer Citizen Award, 1987
Gayle Pettus Pontz Award, Women's Law Student Association,
University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, 1989
Director's Choice Award, National Women's Economic Alliance
Foundation, 1991
Outstanding Lawyer-Citizen Award, Arkansas Bar Association,
1992
Lewis Hine Award, National Lawyer and Child Labor
Committee, January 26, 1993
Albert Schweitzer Leadership Award, Hugh O'Brian Youth
Foundation, May 10, 1993
The Iris Cantor Humanitarian Award, July 19, 1993
1993 Charles Wilson Lee Citizen Service Award, Committee
for Education Funding
1993 Awareness Achievement Award, National Breast Cancer
Awareness Month
Claude D. Pepper Award, The National Association for Home
Care, October 19, 1993
Distinguished Service Award, National Center for Health
Education, November 18, 1993
Healthcare Advocacy Award, National Symposium of Healthcare
Design, November 19, 1993
National Public Service Award 1993, The Bar Association of
the District of Columbia, December 4, 1993
[[Page S 12359]]
Fannie Lou Hamer Human Rights Award, Clergy and Laity
Concerned, December 16, 1993
Distinguished Pro Bono Service Award, San Diego Volunteer
Lawyer Program, 1994
Commitment to Life Award, AIDS Project Los Angeles, January
27, 1994
Distinguished Service Health Education & Prevention Award,
National Center for Health Education, February 2, 1994
First Annual Eleanor Roosevelt Freedom Fighter Award,
Alachua County Democratic Executive Committee, March 21, 1994
Social Justice Award, United Auto Workers, March 22, 1994
Brandeis Award, School of Law, University of Louisville,
April 1, 1994
Benjamin E. Mays Award, A Better Chance, Inc., April 4,
1994
Ernie Banks Positivism Trophy, Emil Verban Memorial
Society, April 6, 1994
Humanitarian Award, Alzheimer's Association, April 11, 1994
Elie Wiesel Foundation Award, April 14, 1994
International Broadcasting Award, Hollywood Radio and
Television Society, April 26, 1994
Ellen Browning Scripps Award, Scripps College, April 26,
1994
Legislator of the Year Award, The American Physical Therapy
Association, April 27, 1994
HIPPY USA Award, May 6, 1994
Women of the Year Award, Yad B'Yad Award, May 7, 1994
C. Everett Koop Medical for Health Promotion and Awareness,
American Diabetes Association, May 17, 1994
Distinguished Pro Bono Service Award, San Diego Lawyer's
Program, May 17, 1994
Humanitarian Award, Chicago Chapter, Hadassah Medical
Organization, May 26, 1994
Coalition of Labor Union Women 20th Anniversary Award, May
20, 1994
Women of Distinction Award, National Conference for College
Women Student Leaders, June 2, 1994
Mary Hatwood Futrell Award, National Education Association,
June 14, 1994
Woman of Achievement Award, B'nai B'rith Women, June 15,
1994
Claude Pepper Award, National Association for Home Care
Board of Directors, June 19, 1994
Women's Legal Defense Fund Award, June 23, 1994
Shining Star Award, Starlight Foundation, August 2, 1994
Martin Luther King, Jr. Award, Progressive National Baptist
Convention, Inc., August 12, 1994
Children's Diabetes Foundation Brass Ring Award, October
28, 1994
Women's Media Group Award, Women's Media Group, November 1,
1994
American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers Family Advocate of
the Year Award, Greenfield & Murphy, November 4, 1994.
Woman of Distinction Award, Women's League for Conservative
Judaism, November 13, 1994
30th Anniversary of Women at Work Award in Public Policy,
National Commission on Working Women, December 6, 1994
Boehm Soaring Eagle Award for Excellence in Leadership,
National Women's Economic Alliance Foundation, December 12,
1994
National Woman's Law Center Award, 1994
Award for Excellence in Communication, Capital Speakers
Club, January 18, 1995
National Federation of Black Women Business Owners Black
Women of Courage Award to Hillary Rodham Clinton, February 8,
1995
Greater Washington Urban League Award, March 8, 1995
Golden Acorn Award, Child Development Center, March 9, 1995
Servant of Justice Award, New York Legal Aid Society, March
23, 1995
Health Educator of the Year Award, The Ryan White
Foundation, April 8, 1995
Golden Image Award, Women at Work, April 9, 1995
1995 Outstanding Mother Award, National Mother's Day
Committee, April 13, 1995
Eleanor Roosevelt Award, Citizen's Committee For Children
of New York, Inc., April 24, 1995
United Cerebral Palsy Humanitarian Award, 1995
World Health Award, American Association for World Health,
World Health Day, April 24, 1995
Brooklyn College, Presidential Medal, 1995
Memberships and Associations:
Member, Arkansas Bar Association
Member, Arkansas Trial Lawyers Association
Member, Pulaski County Bar Association
Founder and President, Arkansas Advocates for Children and
Families, Founder, President and Member of Board of
Directors, 1977-84
Chair, Arkansas Rural Health Committee, 1979-80
Chair, Board of Directors, Children's Defense Fund,
Washington, D.C., 1986-91, Member, Board of Directors, 1976-
92
Chair, Arkansas Education Standards Committee, 1983-84
Yale Law School Executive Committee, New Haven, CT, 1983-
88, Treasurer, 1987-88
Member, Southern Governors Association Task Force on Infant
Mortality, 1984-85
Member, Commission on Quality Education, Southern Regional
Education Board, 1984-1992
Member, Youth and America's Future: The William T. Grant
Foundation Commission on Work, Family, and Citizenship, 1986-
88
Board of Directors, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 1986-92
Board of Directors, Child Care Action Campaign, New York,
NY, 1986-92
Board of Directors, Southern Development Bancorporation,
1986-92
Chair, Board of Directors, New World Foundation, New York,
1987-88, Member, Board of Directors, 1983-88
Board of Directors, Co-Chair for Implementation, Commission
on Skills of the American Workforce, National Center for
Education and the Economy, 1987-92
Board of Directors, ``I Have a Dream'' Foundation, 1988-89
Board of Directors, Arkansas Children's Hospital, 1988-92
Board of Directors, New Futures for Little Rock Youth,
1988-92
Member, HIPPY USA Advisory Board, 1988-92
Board of Directors, Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt
Institute, 1988-93
Charter Member, Business Leadership Council, Wellesley
College, 1989
Board of Directors, Children's Television Workshop, 1989-92
Board of Directors, TCBY Enterprises, Inc., 1989-92
Board of Directors, National Alliance of Business Center
for Excellence in Education, 1990-91
Board of Directors, Public/Private Ventures, 1990-92
Arkansas Business and Education Alliance, 1991-92
President, Board of Directors, Arkansas Single Parent
Scholarship Fund Program, 1990-92
Chair, National Board of the Claudia Company, 1991-93
Honorary President of the Girl Scouts of America, 1993-
present
Member, Visiting Committee, University of Chicago Law
School, 1991-92
Alumnae Trustee, Wellesley College, 1992-93
dedicatees of annual survey of american law
1942 Harry Woodburn Chase
1943 Frank H. Sommer
1944 Manley O. Hudson
1945 Carl McFarland
1946 Robert M. LaFollette, Jr., A.S. Mike Monroney, George
B. Galloway
1947 Roscoe Pound
1948 Arthur T. Vanderbilt
1949 Herbert Hoover
1950 Bernard Baruch
*1951 Robert P. Pattersonn
1952 Phanor J. Eder
1953 Edward S. Corwin
1954 Arthur Lehman Goodhart
1955 John Johnston Parker
1956 Henry T. Heald
1957 Herbert F. Goodrich
1958 Harold H. Burton
1959 Charles E. Clark
1960 Whitney North Seymour
1961 Austin Wakeman Scott
1962 Fred H. Blume
1963 Laurence P. Simpson
*1964 Edmond Cahn
1965 Charles S. Desmond
1966 Tom C. Clark
1967 Francis J. Putman
1968/69 Russell D. Niles
1969/70 Jack L. Kroner
*1970/71 Frank Rowe Kenison
1971/72 Robert A. Leflar
1972/73 Justine Wise Polier
1973/74 Walter J. Derenberg
1974/75 Robert B. McKay
1976 Herbert Peterfreund
1977 Charles D. Breitel
1978 Henry J. Friendly
1979 David L. Bazelton
1980 Edward Weinfeld
1981 William J. Brennan, Jr.
1982 Shirley M. Hufstedler
1983 Thurgood Marshall
1984 Hans A. Linde
1985 J. Skelly Wright
1986 William Wayne Justice
1987 Frank M. Johnson, Jr.
1988 Bernard Schwartz
1989 Barbara Jordan
1990 Harry A. Blackmun
1991 Martin Lipton
1992/93 John Paul Stevens
1994 Judith S. Kaye
1995 Hillary Rodham Clinton
*In memoriam.
____________________