[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 114 (Wednesday, September 3, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1647]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        HONORING PRINCESS DIANA

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. SHEILA JACKSON-LEE

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, September 3, 1997

  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay my respect 
to Princess Diana, a woman the world will greatly miss. As a woman and 
a mother, I have been moved by her caring and her commitment to her 
sons and to those less fortunate than herself.
  Throughout the unremitting scrutiny of Princess Diana's life one 
thing has shone clearly--her love for her two children. It seems clear 
that she was devoted to her boys, as they were to her. She gave them 
her affection, loving attention, and her maternal love and support. My 
heart aches for those two young men today. I wish them strength and 
peace.
  Princess Diana was clearly a person of great caring and compassion. 
She chose to use the tremendous prestige afforded her by her station in 
life to touch the everyday world around her--not the world of wealth 
and power, but the world of poverty, war, and injustice. She was an 
advocate for the victims of violence and of poverty.
  Her commitment to the hungry, the sick, and the poor in England and 
around the world should serve as a model to us all. She has lent not 
just her name, but the strength and warmth of her spirit to a number of 
causes. She has reached out to extend comfort and an empathetic hand to 
people whom she felt had been rejected by society including AIDS and 
leprosy patients, battered women, and drug addicts. She shook hands 
with AIDS patients when many people were still afraid to touch them. 
She penned personal notes to families of hospitalized children she had 
met. She learned sign language to address an association of deaf 
persons. She hugged the dying in hospices and exchanged stories with 
women, like herself, who suffered from eating disorders.
  Most recently, Princess Diana turned her attentions to the land mines 
which have claimed the lives and limbs of so many. In particular, she 
waged a campaign against land mines in Bosnia and last month was in 
Sarajevo, mourning the victims of war in private talks with families of 
people maimed or killed by exploding mines. Her leadership on this 
issue has helped in moving it to the forefront of England's agenda and 
in moving even this Nation to a point of compromise.
  Princess Diana was a very special woman and the world deeply mourns 
her loss. She was a princess in more than just name, but in her grace 
and character. She should be long remembered by women the world over. 
She will be remembered with deep respect and affection. She truly was 
the people's princess.

                          ____________________