[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 167 (Thursday, October 26, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2044-E2045]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           A MESSAGE FROM HIS EMINENCE JOHN CARDINAL O'CONNOR

                                 ______


                         HON. CHARLES B. RANGEL

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, October 26, 1995

  Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to the inspiring words 
and moral leadership of His Eminence John Cardinal O'Connor, the 
Catholic Archbishop of New York. Throughout the debate over balancing 
the budget and cutting taxes, both unfortunately at the expense of the 
most vulnerable of our citizens, Cardinal O'Connor has been a voice in 
the wilderness, crying out on behalf of the children, the poor, the 
aged, the sick and the afflicted.
  The Cardinal's statement, so desperately needed today as we prepare 
to vote on the budget reconciliation bill, is in the spirit of the 
great humanitarian message left with us by Pope John Paul II on his 
recent visit to the United States. It was a message beyond partisan 
politics and personal or commercial greed, a plea for compassion and 
the highest principles of America.
  It is a message shared by all of the great religions, but one that 
has been missing in much of this debate over Medicare and Medicaid. it 
is a message that should be heeded by all of us as we address political 
issues which carry with them the greatest moral implications. 
Therefore, I am offering for the edification of my colleagues, the 
following message from John Cardinal O'Connor, which first appeared in 
the New York Post on October 25, 1995.

                [From the New York Post, Oct. 25, 1995]

                      Health Care Is About People

                      (By John Cardinal O'Connor)

       It is immensely difficult today for hospital and nursing-
     home administrators--even doctors and nurses--to avoid 
     becoming commercialized, to avoid becoming caught up in the 
     marketing terminology, in quantitative competitiveness.
       There is even immense pressure on administrators, doctors 
     and nurses to think of departments and clinics and even 
     patients as ``cost centers,'' to determine how long a patient 
     needs medical or nursing attention strictly in terms of how 
     much the government or an insurance carrier will pay for. 
     There is a grave temptation for health care to become just 
     another industry.
       I know the problems. The annual operating costs of 17 
     Catholic hospitals and 15 Catholic nursing homes in the 
     Archdiocese of New York is $1.7 billion. Why do we struggle 
     to keep our doors open? In order to compete with an industry? 
     Of course not--it's because we care about the human person.
       Why did we pioneer in taking care of persons with AIDS, so 
     that shortly after this tragedy struck our city, we rapidly 
     became the largest private-sector caretaker of persons with 
     AIDS in the United States? Why do influential men and women 
     of the Knights of Malta visit and care for persons with AIDS 
     in our Catholic hospitals? Why did we open the first 
     Huntington's Unit to take care of people with a dread disease 
     not reimbursed by the government?
       Why did I announce in October, 1984 and many, many times 
     since that any woman--of any religion, of any color, of any 
     ethnic background--who is pregnant and in need could come to 
     us from wherever and we would insure her medical care, her 
     hospitalization, her legal assistance if she needed it, so 
     that she could either keep the baby or have the baby 
     adopted?
       Why did we continue doing that, year after year? Because 
     there are thousands and thousands of women in such need who 
     have been helped.
       Why do we do whatever we do for the retarded, the 
     handicapped? Why do we did whatever we do for the poor? Why 
     do we specialize in the needs of the poor in our Catholic 
     health-care system? Because of our very passionate belief 
     that every human person is sacred, is precious in the eyes of 
     God, whatever his or her religious belief, ethnic or racial 
     origin. All are persons. All are welcome in our Catholic 
     health-care system.
       The ease with which health care can become depersonalized 
     is little short of terrifying, particularly when dealing with 
     the most vulnerable: the unborn, the frail elderly, the 
     comatose, the cancer-ridden. I have told this story before, 
     but I feel compelled to tell it again because it is a 
     shocking reminder of what can happen:
       Our own Calvary Hospital is considered by professional 
     observers to be one of the finest hospitals in the U.S. for 
     those ill with cancer which is, from a human perspective, 
     incurable. Until not too many years ago, patients referred to 
     Calvary from acute-care hospitals had an average length of 
     stay of approximately six weeks. They lived for those six 
     weeks in great comfort and love, given tender, gentle care by 
     incredibly warm and dedicated doctors, nurses, administrators 
     and staff.
       Now, thanks to various new wonder drugs, patients may live 
     six months or longer in the same loving and virtually pain-
     free environment, with added time to prepare both materially 
     and spiritually for the death they know is coming, often 
     strengthening bonds with families and finding peace at the 
     end. I have never known a relative or friend of a Calvary 
     patient who has not been deeply grateful for the 
     extraordinary care given their loved one.
       Some time back, however, the storm clouds gathered. A major 
     insurance carrier called the leadership of Calvary Hospital 
     to say. ``You are keeping your patients alive too long. If 
     you continue to do this, we will discontinue your 
     insurance.''
       What a chilling effect on people trying to do good. It is 
     so much easier to do evil than good, isn't it? Yet if we give 
     up trying to do good, we lose our very reason for existence--
     we shrivel up and die.
       William Lindsey White, in his ``Captives of Korea,'' gave 
     us all a grim reminder in his study of American Prisoners of 
     war in Korea. Many were beaten and starved--but they cared 
     enough about life to survive. Some prisoners, however, were 
     not similarly tortured--yet they withdrew from all their 
     fellow prisoners, curled into a fetal position and died of no 
     medically identifiable cause.
       White puts it startly. ``Those who believed in Nothing, 
     died of Nothing at all.''
       Catholic health care will continue its struggle to survive 
     because we believe in the sacredness of all human life at 
     every stage of existence. We believe in the individual human 
     person, the true heart of this city and every city, made in 
     the Image and Likeness of God, precious infinitely beyond 
     fiscal calculations or financial compensations.
       We will struggle to survive because we care. We refuse to 
     be depersonalized. We care too much to compromise our moral 
     and ethical principles, to abandon human persons to 
     inexorable economic forces. We will never withdraw from our 
     obligations to the poor--or to anyone else who needs us. We 
     will not curl up into a fetal position out of fear of hostile 
     forces that may surround us.
       We will not shrivel up and die--because we believe.
       New York City is still basking in the magnificent glow of 
     the visit of Pope John Paul II. I have received more phone 
     calls and letters than about any other event I have ever 
     experienced, from Jews, Protestants, Catholics, Muslims and 
     people of no religious persuasion. Millions never got near 
     the Pope--but they sat glued to their television sets, 
     watching and listening.
       And what are they talking about now? The glamour, the air 
     of power, the immense amount of security, the pageantry? 
     No--that's not what they're writing to me and talking to 
     me about. They are telling me over and over that this man 
     has moved them deeply--even changed their lives--because 
     they have seen how much he cares for everyone. He breathes 
     love, he inspires hope--because he cares.
       I conclude with the moving words the same Pope uttered in 
     Central Park. They are equally and beautifully applicable to 
     Catholic health care--indeed, to all of the activities in 
     this great city, which this Pope calls ``the capital of the 
     world.'' I quote him:
       ``In our bodies, we are a mere speck in the vast created 
     universe, but by virtue of our 

[[Page E2045]]
     souls we transcend the whole material world. I invite you to reflect on 
     what makes each one of you truly marvelous and unique. Only a 
     human being like you can think and speak and share your 
     thoughts in different languages with other human beings all 
     over the world, and through that language express the beauty 
     of art and poetry and music and literature and the theater 
     and so many other uniquely human accomplishments.
       ``And most important of all, only God's precious human 
     beings are capable of loving. Love makes us seek what is 
     good; love makes us better persons . . . Love makes you reach 
     out to others in need, whoever they are. Every genuine human 
     love is a reflection of love that is God Himself . . .''

                          ____________________