[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 51 (Friday, April 19, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3709-S3711]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          TRIBUTE TO RON BROWN

  Mr. DODD. Mr. President, just 2 weeks ago, this Nation was saddened 
and anguished by the tragic death of Commerce Secretary Ron Brown and 
32 other Government and business leaders in Croatia. As a very close 
personal friend of Ron Brown's, I regret deeply, Mr. President, that I 
could not be here to console his widow, Alma, and his children, Michael 
and Tracy, in their time of grief. My thoughts and prayers today, as 
they have been over the last several weeks, are with the Brown family 
and with the families of all of the victims of this terrible tragedy.
  Although we have many pressing issues before us in this body, Mr. 
President, I want to take just a few minutes, if I can, to reflect and 
remember the extraordinary and distinguished legacy of Ron Brown. As I 
stand before the Senate here today, many thoughts come to mind, Mr. 
President, about Ron Brown--civil rights activists, Democratic Party 
chairman, Commerce Secretary, bridge builder, and certainly a very 
close and dear personal friend.
  Beyond my great sense of personal loss, Mr. President, when I think 
of Ron Brown I also think of public service and public servant. From 
all the time that I knew Ron Brown, from when he was a trusted aide to 
our colleague, Senator Kennedy, to when he was chairman of the 
Democratic Party and his last role as Secretary of Commerce, Ron Brown 
epitomized, in my view, what public service is all about. Ron Brown 
labored tirelessly for what he believed in. It seemed that no obstacle 
could prevent him from attaining his goals.
  At a time when respect for public service and public servants has 
diminished, when pundits too often cynically demean those who serve 
America, Ron Brown presented the quiet dignity that comes with superb 
public servants. Ron believed that one person committed to a task with 
conviction in their heart could make a difference, and he certainly 
did. His labors were the embodiment of George Bernard Shaw's timeless 
words, ``You see things, and you say why; but I dream things that never 
were and say why not.''
  On April 3, when Secretary Brown's plane crashed in Croatia, Mr. 
President, I was in Ireland to fulfill a long-standing commitment. 
Together with Ambassador Jean Kennedy Smith and Prime Minister Bruton, 
we attended and participated in a wonderful memorial service dedicate 
to Ron Brown's memory at St. Patrick's Cathedral.
  I say as an aside, Mr. President, we anticipated 30 or 40 people 
would show up, maybe from the Embassy staff, to come by and pay their 
respects. In fact, over 500 people unannounced showed up at the 
cathedral that morning to participate in that service. I want to thank 
Dean Stewart, who was in charge of St. Patrick's Cathedral, along with 
other members of the clergy from throughout Ireland who participated 
that morning, as well as some very distinguished people who sang and 
purchased musical pieces in memory of Ron Brown, not to mention the 500 
people that came from across the island of Ireland to express their 
sense of loss.
  For all of us there that morning, Mr. President, our remembrances of 
Ron Brown hearken back to the visit he had made to Ireland 2 years ago, 
to which I was a member, a trip not unlike the one to Croatia, 
involving some 15 chief executive officers of businesses in this 
country, as well as others from the House and the Senate that were part 
of an economic mission to Northern Ireland.
  A visit, Ambassador Smith reminded us, which led to President Clinton 
to dub Ron Brown an ``honorary Irishman,'' and it was mentioned again 
by her that morning at St. Patrick's Cathedral. Ron Brown, Mr. 
President, had come to Ireland with an ambitious but challenging goal: 
To make the dream of peace during the formal cease-fire in Northern 
Ireland a reality. Certainly, it was no easy task, as we know, even 
today.
  For anyone who knew Ron Brown, there were not too many challenges 
that phased him. While I had known him for many years, it was on that 
trip to Ireland that I had the opportunity to see firsthand the 
enthusiasm and optimism that infused him.
  Remarkably, Mr. President, I watched an African-American man, born 
and raised in Harlem, with no ethnic or religious connection to 
Ireland, come to that island and champion the peace process and the 
opportunities for economic development. While on that trip, Ron Brown 
became the first U.S. Cabinet secretary to make an official visit to 
Belfast.
  The success of Ron's trip to Ireland prompted President Clinton to 
send Ron on many other missions across the globe, including the one to 
the former Yugoslavia, a mission which ended so tragically on that 
rainy and wind-swept mountain in Croatia. This final mission, Mr. 
President, was one of many that Ron tirelessly made to the world's 
troubled spots promoting American companies and American workers.

  As Secretary of Commerce, on one level, Ron's job, of course, was to 
promote U.S. business interests, which he did very, very well. But for 
all who knew Ron Brown well, his interests ran much deeper than that. 
Ron Brown used the legitimate goal of increasing U.S. economic 
opportunities as a means of advancing other interests as well.
  Ron traveled to many places that are beginning the difficult journey 
toward reconciliation and economic revitalization because, as a public 
man, a public servant, he believed that the dynamism of private 
enterprise could help bring lasting peace to regions that, for years, 
had known only violence and hatred.
  But Ron Brown understood that these trips were about more than just 
helping business or free enterprise. As Ambassador Smith noted in her 
eulogy in Dublin a week ago, these trips were truly--to use her words--
``peace and democracy missions, too, missions of hope and idealism.''
  Mr. President, these trips were about promoting the importance of 
work, and the notion that through economic opportunity, the process of 
political reconciliation could begin and, more importantly, could last.
  In the absence of it, of course, no permanent healing will ever 
occur.
  From Ron Brown's earliest days, at his first job carrying records and 
reading public service announcements at WLIB-AM, a radio station in 
Harlem, he understood the critical importance of work. He understood 
that there is nothing as rewarding, for individuals or a nation, as 
waking up in the morning, going to work, and coming home in the evening 
knowing that you have earned a true wage.
  That is why Ron Brown went to Ireland and so many other places, and 
it is why he was in the Balkans on that tragic evening.
  Ron Brown knew that after the peace treaties were signed and when the 
guns were finally laid to rest, the possibility of a truly lasting 
peace anyplace around the globe would depend on every person having the 
same opportunity to realize today the dream of a far better tomorrow 
for themselves and their families.
  When Ron Brown journeyed to the Balkans, he took with him the 
unquenchable spirit of American optimism. He sought to use American 
enterprise and the American can-do spirit to promote economic 
development as a means of bringing a truly lasting peace. And he sought 
to heal the lingering anguish of ethnic violence with a promise of a 
brighter future for all the peoples of the region.
  Ron Brown leaves this world, Mr. President, with an amazing legacy. 
He was the first African-American to head a major political party in 
our country. He was the first African-American to be Secretary of 
Commerce. He rebuilt the Democratic Party, and he certainly

[[Page S3710]]

helped to elect President Clinton in 1992. He used the Commerce 
Department to create millions of jobs for American workers and spread 
the doctrine of economic development and cooperation across the globe.
  Ron Brown enjoyed a full and all-too-brief life on this Earth and 
must be a source of inspiration to all of us, in not just Government, 
but in our Nation as a whole.
  In Ireland, Prime Minister Bruton described Ron Brown in these words, 
which I think bear repeating--as a role model ``for those looking for 
inspiration as to how a life can be led for the good of others.''
  Ron Brown understood, Mr. President, that our lives must have purpose 
and direction. And we can best remember him by emulating the way he 
lived his life. Mr. President, I think the poet Ralph Waldo Emerson 
said it well when he said, ``I expect to pass through this world but 
once. Any good therefore that I can do or any kindness that I can show 
for any fellow creature, let me do it now. Let me not defer or neglect 
it, for I shall not pass this way again.''
  Ron Brown's life symbolized these solemn words. While he passed 
through our world, Mr. President, he did good. He showed kindness and, 
regrettably--so regrettably--he will not pass this way again.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the comments of our 
Ambassador, Jean Kennedy Smith, along with an article that appeared in 
the Irish Times, which captured, as well, the remarks of Prime Minister 
Bruton, who spoke at the memorial service in Dublin, be printed in the 
Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

   Remarks by Ambassador Jean Kennedy Smith at Memorial Service for 
           Secretary of Commerce Ron Brown and His Delegation

       Taoiseach, distinguished guests, and friends of Ron Brown, 
     of Chuck Meissner, and of the other brave pioneers for peace 
     whose lives of courage and service were so tragically cut 
     short last week.
       This has, indeed, been a sad week for America, a sad week 
     for Ireland. We have lost friends. But today, we gather not 
     only to mourn them, but to celebrate their lives.
       Last night, I spoke with Alma Brown and told her of the 
     memorial service we were holding today. She was so pleased 
     that Ron was to be remembered in this way by the people of 
     Ireland, because this country was so important to him.
       I first met Ron Brown in the fall of 1979. My brother, Ted, 
     was about to begin a campaign for President of the United 
     States in 1980. My husband, Steve, was to manage the 
     campaign, as he had done for my brothers, Jack and Bob. Steve 
     needed a deputy campaign manager for civil rights, and 
     everyone said that Ron Brown was the perfect choice--a new 
     young leader in the civil rights movement, and a worthy heir 
     of the Reverend Martin Luther King.
       We all loved Ron from the start. He served far above and 
     beyond the call of duty in the campaign. He gave his heart to 
     Ted and Steve and all of us in the Kennedy family gave our 
     hearts to Ron.
       In the years since, I saw him often, most recently during 
     his frequent visits to Ireland. He once told me that he felt 
     a special welcome and sense of humanity in Ireland, even for 
     those who are not of Irish descent. In fact, he enjoyed his 
     time here so much that President Clinton dubbed him an 
     honorary Irishman.
       Ron Brown was an original. I never met a person who had 
     greater ability to go into a hornet's nest, come out with the 
     honey, and leave all the bees laughing. No tunnel was too 
     long or too dark for Ron to not see the light at the end. His 
     warmth, and wit, and optimism were inspiring and infectious.
       He was a charismatic leader, who was good at every job he 
     ever took on--as a leader in the civil rights movement, 
     chairperson of the Democratic National Committee, and as the 
     Secretary of Commerce. A son of Harlem, he was a remarkable 
     American success story, and he dedicated his life to helping 
     others achieve their potential and their dreams, as he had 
     one.
       He brought that same spirit of optimism to Ireland. As he 
     said during President Clinton's historic visit, he found a 
     ``belief in self that wasn't here before.''
       ``We are on a path,'' he said, ``and we won't be denied.''
       Ron was deeply committed to public service, and he 
     instilled that commitment in all who worked for him; in Chuck 
     Meissner, his tireless assistant secretary of commerce, who 
     felt very strongly the pulse for peace in Northern Ireland, 
     and in all those from the Department of Commerce who are here 
     today. The mission Ron Brown led to South Africa and China, 
     to the Middle East and Northern Ireland, and, finally, to 
     Bosnia, were more than trade missions. They were peace and 
     democracy missions too, missions to hope and idealism. The 
     understood that peace, prosperity, and economic justice go 
     hand in hand.
       As President Clinton has said, ``Ron Brown walked and ran 
     and flew through life. He was a magnificent life force.''
       In the wake of that force, in the wake of that remarkable 
     life, all of us who knew Ron Brown, Chuck Meissner, and the 
     members of the delegation, all of us who were fortunate to be 
     touched by their warmth and share their vision must try to 
     carry on their work for peace, for that is their legacy to 
     us.
                                                                    ____


                 [From the Irish Times, Apr. 11, 1996]

     Bruton Says Brown Was a Model for All Who Want To Help Others

                           (By Mark Brennock)

       Politicians, business people and many others who knew Ron 
     Brown gathered in Dublin's St. Patrick's Cathedral yesterday 
     to honour an African-American whom President Clinton had 
     dubbed ``an honorary Irishman.''
       As one who had not known him the Dean of St. Patrick's the 
     Very Rev Maurice Stewart, said he had two images of the late 
     U.S. Commerce Secretary in his mind.
       The first was of a man who had been praised after his death 
     by Northern Irish politicians of both persuasions.
       The second was that when Mr. Brown was seen on television, 
     ``he always seemed to be smiling. He was a happy man, and 
     these days, that is as good an image as any politician could 
     project.''
       Mr. Brown was among 33 people killed last week when their 
     plane crashed in Crostia. He had been on a trade and aid 
     mission to Bosnia and Crotia, He was also a key figure in the 
     US Administration's involvement in the Northern Ireland peace 
     process.
       The US Ambassador, Ms. Jean Kennedy Smith, told the 
     congregation Mr. Brown had once said he felt ``a special 
     welcome and sense of humanity in Ireland, even for those who 
     are not of Irish descent. In fact, he enjoyed his time here 
     so much that President Clinton dubbed him an honorary 
     Irishman.
       ``The missions Ron Brown led to South Africa and China, to 
     the Middle East and Northern Ireland and, finally, to Bosnia, 
     were more than trade missions. They were peace and 
     democracy missions too, missions of hope and idealism. He 
     understood that peace, prosperity and justice go hand in 
     hand.''
       She said everyone who had known Mr. Brown, Mr. Chuck 
     Meissner and the others who died in the plane crash ``must 
     try to carry on their work for peace, for that is their 
     legacy to us.''
       US Senator Chris Dodd, who had travelled to Ireland with 
     Mr. Brown in recent years, said on one level he had been in 
     Ireland to promote US business, but ``Ron Brown understood 
     that these trips were about far more than promoting business.
       ``He knew that after the peace treaties were signed and the 
     guns laid to rest, the possibility of a truly lasting peace 
     depended on each person having the same opportunity to 
     realize their dreams of a better tomorrow. He sought to heal 
     the lingering anguish and ethnic violence with the promise of 
     brighter opportunities.
       ``On the trip to Ireland, I . . . watched an African-
     American born and raised in Harlem with no ties here come and 
     champion the cause of peace and economic opportunity in 
     Ireland.''
       The Taoiscach, Mr. Bruton hailed Mr. Brown as a role model 
     ``for those looking for inspiration as to how a life can be 
     led for the good of others''. He said Mr. Brown had brought 
     his experience of a Harlem upbringing and his involvement in 
     the civil rights movement to work towards the creation of ``a 
     structure of peace'' in the world.
       ``As head of the Irish Government I want to thank him for 
     the enormous interest he took in peace and prosperity on this 
     small island.''
       Ireland was not a major strategic interest for the US, he 
     said. The US could have confined itself to expressing pious 
     words and the occasional reference to Ireland at election 
     time. But the Clinton Administration had gone far beyond 
     that.
       The President, who is in the west of Ireland, was 
     represented at the service by her aide-decamp, Col. Bernard 
     Howard. The attendance included the Lord Mayor of Dublin, Mr. 
     Sean D. Dublin Bay Loftus.
       The Government was also represented by the Minister for 
     Finance, Mr. Quinn; the Minister for Enterprise and 
     Employment, Mr. Bruton; and the Minister for Tourism and 
     Trade, Mr. Kenny. Ministers of State present included Mr. Pat 
     Rabbitte and Mr. Austin Currie.
       Other politicians attending included the ?ianna ??il deputy 
     leader, Ms. Mary O'Rourke, the Progressive Democrats leader, 
     Ms. Mary Harney, and the former PD leader, Mr. Desmond 
     O'Malley Sinn Fein was represented by Monaghan, counsellor 
     Mr. * * *
       There was a large representation from the US Embassy. Among 
     the other diplomatic missions represented were those of 
     Norway, Thailand, Nigeria and Israel.
       A large contingent from the Department of Foreign Affairs 
     included the second secretary, Mr. Sean O hUiginn, the Chief 
     of Protocol, Mr. John O. Burke and Mr. Brendan Scannell of 
     the Anglo-Irish division. The Taoiscach's programme manager. 
     Mr. Sean Donlon, and representatives of a number of other 
     government Departments were also present.

  Mr. FEINGOLD addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Wisconsin is recognized.

[[Page S3711]]

  Mr. FEINGOLD. Mr. President, I appreciate the unanimous consent to 
speak for 20 minutes. Let me associate myself strongly with both sets 
of remarks by the Senator from Connecticut--first, as to our good 
friend and great loss with regard to Secretary Brown, who we will miss 
greatly. And, second, nothing could be more on our minds today than the 
horror of last year in Oklahoma City. The moments of silence here and 
across the country were a fitting reminder of that tragedy, but also a 
time to feel some real gratitude toward the employees of our Federal 
Government, who do not always get treated with all the respect and 
admiration they deserve. They had a very rough year in 1995. I, for 
one, want to thank them for their services and the sacrifices of their 
families throughout the country, particularly with regard to those who 
suffered the loss in Oklahoma City.
  I thank the Senator from Connecticut for his remarks.

                          ____________________