[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 116 (Friday, September 5, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1667]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

[[Page E1667]]



                             DIANA'S LEGACY

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. JOHN JOSEPH MOAKLEY

                            of massachusetts

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, September 5, 1997

  Mr. MOAKLEY. Mr. Speaker, I would like to take this opportunity to 
bring to your attention an editorial written by our colleague, Rep. Jim 
McGovern of the Third District of Massachusetts, regarding Princess 
Diana's role in the fight against landmines. I think that Congressman 
McGovern's piece eloquently depicts Princess Diana's compassionate 
commitment to banning these terrible killing devices, and highlights 
the importance of our continuing the effort to ban landmines forever.
  At this time I would like to place Congressman McGovern's words in 
today's Record.

                 [From the Boston Globe, Sept. 5, 1997]

          Diana's Legacy--She Reached Out to Land Mine Victims

                         (By James P. McGovern)

       This week, at a conference in Oslo convened to forge an 
     international agreement banning land mines, delegates from 
     more than 100 nations rose and stood silent for one minute to 
     remember the work that Princess Diana had done on behalf of 
     victims of land mines.
       Like the rest of the world, they had awakened Sunday to 
     learn the terrible news of her death. And like all of us 
     engaged in the international campaign to ban land mines, we 
     felt the grievous loss of one of our most effective and 
     compassionate champions.
       In the space of 22 minutes--about the amount of time it 
     took to read and absorb the details of Princess Diana's 
     tragic accident--someone is killed or maimed by a land mine: 
     more than 26,000 men, women, and children each year. In at 
     least 68 countries there are more than 110 million unexploded 
     land mines lying in fields, deserts, roads, along rivers and 
     streams, in forests, and on footpaths.
       In June Princess Diana attended a benefit organized by the 
     American Red Cross in Washington that raised more than 
     $650,000 for victims of land mines. Later that month, she 
     traveled to Boston to raise funds on behalf of land mine 
     survivors and declare support for the international movement 
     to ban these terrible weapons.
       Unlike many others of her social standing and celebrity, 
     Princess Diana was not content to limit her work to appearing 
     at posh charity events for causes she supported. She felt 
     compelled to reach out and literally touch those individuals 
     confronting life's greatest challenges.
       Never satisfied to learn about issues solely from news 
     accounts, Diana cared to witness firsthand the stories of 
     those most affected by land mines: children injured and in 
     pain from land mine explosions; families who had lost loved 
     ones; and those unable to return to their ancestral homes 
     because the land was sown with the death, destruction, and 
     danger of antipersonnel land mines.
       In the field she learned how these weapons do not 
     distinguish between the foot of a soldier and the foot of a 
     child at play. In the field she saw how land mines are 
     designed to kill or badly maim anyone who triggers them and 
     that they keep on killing long after hostilities are ended. 
     The average lifespan of an antipersonnel land mine is 50 to 
     100 years. At the current rate, it would take more than a 
     thousand years to rid the world of all the land mines in 
     place.
       That is why Princess Diana declared her support for an 
     immediate ban on these terrible and indiscriminate weapons. 
     This is why she traveled to Angola and Bosnia to bring 
     comfort, support, and hope to the families of victims and 
     survivors. And this is why she used her celebrity--and the 
     horde of video cameras and photographers who shadowed her 
     every move--to bring human faces into the living rooms of 
     families across the world.
       Just three weeks ago, Princess Diana visited Bosnia to hear 
     personal stories from families of victims and survivors. She 
     was determined that their stories would galvanize the 
     international community to embrace a worldwide ban on these 
     weapons.
       Princess Diana clearly stated that her interests were 
     humanitarian, not political. While international experts like 
     General Norman Schwarzkopf can thoughtfully address how 
     banning land mines makes for effective foreign policy, Diana 
     understood that no one could express the human tragedy of 
     these weapons to an international audience better than the 
     victims themselves.
       This June, legislation was introduced in the Senate calling 
     for an international ban on land mines; similar legislation 
     will be introduced in the House. In December, representatives 
     from more than 100 nations will gather in Ottawa to sign a 
     binding treaty to ban the use, manufacture, export, and 
     stockpiling of these weapons. I hope that the United States 
     will join this effort.
       Princess Diana was perhaps the jewel in the crown of the 
     international movement to ban land mines; her compassion and 
     involvement helped to focus the world's attention on this 
     issue. But no one acknowledged more gratefully than she that 
     the crown itself is constructed from the lives and work of 
     millions of people.
       When the nations of the world gather in December to sign 
     the international treaty, Diana will be remembered. And 
     decades--perhaps centuries--from now, when the last land mine 
     is cleared from the earth, her legacy and work will be 
     complete.

     

                          ____________________