[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 118 (Tuesday, September 9, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8952-S8958]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF THE SENATE ON THE DEATH OF MOTHER TERESA

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report Senate Resolution 120.
  The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       A resolution (S. Res. 120) expressing the sense of the 
     Senate on the occasion of the death of Mother Teresa of 
     Calcutta.

  The Senate proceeded to consider the resolution.
  Mr. ROTH. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. BROWNBACK. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. BROWNBACK. Mr. President, I am here today to address the 
resolution introduced in the Senate by the Senator from Oklahoma on 
Mother Teresa. Last week, we lost a saint when Mother Teresa passed 
away at age 87. We are poorer, but Heaven is richer.
  She died owning, as I have read in the news accounts, very few things 
here. She owned about two pairs of sandals, three robes, rosary beads. 
That was here. But in Heaven, she has a mountain of gold. She had 
touched so many different lives on this Earth. It is an incredible 
definition of a successful life: a loving, caring, compassionate, 
selfless, child of God, caring for, in many cases, the most downtrodden 
of God's children. Would that I could live my life as well.
  I have been struck by some of her writings and things that she has 
spoken about. They have been accumulated in different books. Some of 
the statements are absolutely precious. I want to give a couple of them 
here in the Senate today because I think they are so touching of 
indicative of what a successful life is. A successful day isn't 
necessarily when you pass a bill in the Senate, or that you have a 
successful business transaction, or you pass a test, or you win a game. 
But a successful day is when you positively touch another life. She did 
that thousands of times, millions of times, across this globe. She 
cared for the poorest of the poor. She said this at one point in time:

       I see God in every human being. When I wash the leper's 
     wounds, I feel I am nursing the Lord himself. Is it not a 
     beautiful experience?

  Imagine if each of us, every day, if we saw everything that we did as 
nursing and touching the Lord himself. Here she is talking about caring 
for the least of God's children in that way, and she sees it as serving 
the Lord himself. What about us here in the Senate? If we did something 
similarly, saw ourselves as touching other lives in the most positive 
way we possibly could, what sort of world would that make?

  Think of another quote that she gave in one of her speeches where she 
said this:

       Our mission is to convey God's love--not a dead God but a 
     living God, a God of love.

  And then she added:

       I am just a little pencil in his hand.

  But what a beautiful picture he drew with that little pencil. What if 
each of us looked at ourselves as that little pencil, but being used to 
draw a beautiful picture, a panorama for others to see and to be able 
to enjoy, and for others to be able to grow by, for others to be able 
to be loved by that picture that we draw.
  I have this quote posted in my office, which I think particularly is 
apropos giving her just passing this week:

       At the moment of death, we will not be judged by the amount 
     of work we have done, but by the weight of love we have put 
     into our work.

  You just think about that in measuring each day, not by the success 
of whether or not we did things like a bill passing through or, again, 
whether we passed a test, but by the weight of love that we put into 
our actions and what we actually did that very day and how we touched 
people. Did we do it in a positive, loving fashion? Would that the 
world operated that way.
  My own experiences with Mother Teresa were here in the Senate. The 
only time that I had a chance to meet her was when she came here and 
received the congressional gold medal this year. We were all nervous 
about whether she would actually be able to physically get here because 
she had been ill, in poor health. She was able to make it here and she 
shared an hour and a half with us here in the House and in the Senate, 
in the rotunda area, meeting with different people. I remember so much 
going through that experience and thinking of reading these quotes, 
these pearls of wisdom she had laid out on how to live life, thinking 
she was going to put forward another one that day. I was holding onto 
each word to see, is there going to be another line like ``I am just a 
little pencil that you can guide one's life by.'' But it didn't seem to 
come that day. She would talk about a number of different things, but 
there, seemingly, were no pearls.
  Then I remember walking her out to the car, and there were throngs of 
people excited to see her as she waved and touched different people. 
The motorcade was waiting to get away. She was sitting in the car, and 
I went over to thank her one last time for coming in and honoring us by 
being here and receiving the presentation. She grabbed my hand with 
both of hers and stared at me with those deep eyes of hers and that 
little frame that she had, and she looked up at me and just said three 
words, and she said them four times. She said:

       All for Jesus.

  We can all have different faiths and views of the world, but that was 
a driving focus for her, serving her Lord. How she did it each day is a 
testimony to each of us of how we should live.
  We lost a saint, but the tragedy isn't that she died; the tragedy 
would have been had she never lived. She lived fully and gave us so 
much in raising our consciousness, lowering our line of sight, and 
redefining compassion for an entire planet. For that, I thank her and I 
am thankful for her life. I think we

[[Page S8953]]

should all consider and contemplate what we can add to our own lives by 
the model that she gave.
  So I am delighted to support this resolution of recognition for 
Mother Teresa for all that she has done for this world and for the 
example she has lived.
  I yield the floor.
  Mr. NICKLES addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Oklahoma.
  Mr. NICKLES. I ask unanimous consent Senator Ashcroft be added as 
cosponsor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. NICKLES. Mr. President, I am pleased to sponsor this resolution 
with Senator Lott, Senator Daschle, Senator Brownback, and Senator 
Hutchinson.
  I want to compliment Senator Brownback for his outstanding statement, 
and also thank Senator Brownback and Senator Hutchinson for their work 
to award Mother Teresa the Congressional Gold Medal. Earlier this year, 
when she spoke to both the House and the Senate, and, frankly, to the 
country, we had a real honor, a real pleasure, maybe of seeing a real 
saint in our presence.
  I have had the pleasure of greeting Mother Teresa two or three times 
in my Senate career: Once in 1985, when she received the Presidential 
Medal of Freedom, and then also when she addressed the National Prayer 
Breakfast, I believe it was in 1994.
  At the conclusion of my remarks, Mr. President, I ask unanimous 
consent to have printed in the Record Mother Teresa's statement, her 
speech to the National Prayer Breakfast. It was an outstanding speech; 
a moving speech.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  (See exhibit 1.)
  Mr. NICKLES. Mr. President, Senator Brownback used the word 
``saint.'' And I can't recall too many living individuals that I ever 
referred to as a saint. But I remember during Mother Teresa's life, 
after meeting her in 1985 and subsequent to her speech at the National 
Prayer Breakfast, I referred to her as ``a living saint.''
  The very fact is that her life touched other lives in letting them 
know that they are loved by God. Looking at her speeches and at her 
statements, she truly did make this world a better place. She did love 
people who were downtrodden. She did love the people that no one else 
would love. She did reach out to protect all individuals. Her love for 
the ailing and for the sick is well known. Her love for the unborn is 
well known. In her speeches at the National Prayer Breakfast, she was 
talking about abortion and what a terrible cruelty it is. Then she 
ended up, and concluding said, ``Well, send me your children. If you do 
not want your child, I will take your child.'' Again we are talking 
about a real missionary of love.
  So, Mr. President, it is with sadness that we note Mother Teresa's 
passing. But we did want to recognize her great contributions to 
mankind throughout the world.
  And so it is with a sense of sadness that the Senate today will be 
voting on this after lunch today, but we wanted to recognize the 
wonderful expression of love that Mother Teresa of Calcutta has had and 
the impact she has had on our lives, and really the lives of countless 
people throughout the world.
  I yield the floor.

                               Exhibit 1

        Whatever You Did Unto One of the Least, You Did Unto Me

                     (By Mother Teresa of Calcutta)

       On the last day, Jesus will say to those at his right hand,
       ``Come, enter the Kingdom. For I was hungry and you gave me 
     food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was sick and you 
     visited me.''
       Then Jesus will turn to those on his left hand and say.
       ``Depart from the because I was hungry and you did not feed 
     me, I was thirsty and you did not give me drink, I was sick 
     and you did not visit me.''
       These will ask him,
       ``When did we see you hungry, or thirsty, or sick, and did 
     not come to your help?''
       And Jesus will answer them,
       ``Whatever you neglected to do unto one of the least of 
     these, you neglected to do unto me!''
       As we have gathered here to pray together, I think it will 
     be beautiful if we begin with a prayer that expresses very 
     well what Jesus wants us to do for the least. St. Francis of 
     Assisi understood very well these words of Jesus and his life 
     is very well expressed by a prayer. And this prayer, which we 
     say every day after Holy Communion, always surprises me very 
     much, because it is very fitting for each one of us. And I 
     always wonder whether eight hundred years ago when St. 
     Francis lived, they had the same difficulties that we have 
     today. I think that some of you already have this prayer of 
     peace, so we will pray it together.
       Let us thank God for the opportunity he has given us today 
     to have come here to pray together. We have come here 
     especially to pray for peace, joy, and love. We are reminded 
     that Jesus came to bring the good news to the poor. He had 
     told us what that good news is when he said,
       ``My peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you.''
       He came not to give the peace of the world, which is only 
     that we don't bother each other. He came to give peace of 
     heart which comes from loving--from doing good to others.
       And God loved the world so much that he gave his son. God 
     gave his son to the Virgin Mary, and what did she do with 
     him? As soon as Jesus came into Mary's life, immediately she 
     went in haste to give that good news. And as she came into 
     the house of her cousin, Elizabeth, Scripture tells us that 
     the unborn child--the child in the womb of Elizabeth--leapt 
     with joy. While still in the womb of Mary, Jesus brought 
     peace to John the Baptist, who leapt for joy in the womb 
     of Elizabeth.
       And as if that were not enough--as if it were not enough 
     that God the Son should become one of us and bring peace and 
     joy while still in the womb, Jesus also died on the Cross to 
     show that greater love. He died for you and me, and for the 
     leper and for that man dying of hunger and that naked person 
     lying in the street--not only of Calcutta, but of Africa, of 
     everywhere. Our Sisters serve these poor people in 105 
     countries throughout the world. Jesus insisted that we love 
     one another as he loves each one of us. Jesus gave his life 
     to love us, and he tells us that he loves each one of us. 
     Jesus gave his live to love us, and he tells us that we also 
     have to give whatever it takes to do good to one another. And 
     in the Gospel Jesus says very clearly, ``Love as I have loved 
     you.''
       Jesus died on the Cross because that is what it took for 
     him to do good for us--to save us from our selfishness and 
     sin. He gave us everything to do the Father's will, to show 
     us that we too must be willing to give everything to do God's 
     will, to love one another as he loves each of us. If we are 
     not willing to give whatever it takes to do good for one 
     another, sin is still in us. That is why we too must give to 
     each other until it hurts.
       Love always hurts.
       It is not enough for us to say, ``I love God.'' But I also 
     have to love my neighbor. St. John says that you are a liar 
     if you say you love God and you don't love your neighbor. How 
     can you love God whom you do not see, if you do not love your 
     neighbor whom you see, whom you touch, with whom you live? 
     And so it is very important for us to realize that love, to 
     be true, has to hurt. I must be willing to give whatever it 
     takes not to harm other people and, in fact, to do good to 
     them. This requires that I be willing to give until it hurts. 
     Otherwise, there is no love in me and I bring injustice, not 
     peace, to those around me.
       It hurt Jesus to love us. We have been created in his image 
     for greater things, to love and to be loved. We must ``put on 
     Christ,'' as Scripture tells us. And so we have been created 
     to love as he loves us. Jesus makes himself the hungry one, 
     the naked one, the homeless one, the unwanted one, and he 
     says, ``You did it to me.'' On the last day he will say to 
     those on his right, ``whatever you did the least of these, 
     you did to me,'' and he will also say to those on his left, 
     ``whatever you neglected to do for the least of these, you 
     neglected to do it for me.''
       When he was dying on the Cross, Jesus said, ``I thirst.'' 
     Jesus is thirsting for our love, and this is the thirst for 
     everyone, poor and rich alike. We all thirst for the love of 
     others, that they do out of their way to avoid harming us and 
     to do good to us. This is the meaning of true love, to give 
     until it hurts.
       I can never forget the experience I had in visiting a home 
     where they kept all these old parents of sons and daughters 
     who had just put them into an institution and, maybe, 
     forgotten them. I saw that in that home these old people had 
     everything: good food, comfortable place, television--
     everything. But everyone was looking toward the door. And I 
     did not see a single one with a smile on his face.
       I turned to Sister and I asked, ``Why do these people, who 
     have every comfort here--why are they all looking toward the 
     door? Why are they not smiling? '' (I am so used to seeing 
     the smiles on our people.'' Even the dying ones smile.) And 
     Sister said, ``This is the way it is, nearly everyday. They 
     are epxecting--they are hoping--that a son or daughter will 
     come to visit them. They are hurt because they are 
     forgotten.''
       See, this neglect to love brings spiritual poverty. Maybe 
     in our family we have somebody who is feeling lonely, who is 
     feeling sick, who is feeling worried. Are we there? Are we 
     willing to give until it hurts, in order to be with our 
     families? Or do we put our own interests first? These are the 
     questions we must ask ourselves, especially as we begin this 
     Year of the Family. We must remember that love begins at 
     home, and we

[[Page S8954]]

     must also remember that ``the future of humanity passes 
     through the family.''
       I was surprised in the West to see so many young boys and 
     girls given to drugs. And I tried to find out why. Why is it 
     like that, when those in the West have so many more things 
     than those in the East? And the answer was, ``Because there 
     is no one in the family to receive them.'' Our children 
     depend on us for everything: their health, their nutrition, 
     their security, their coming to know and love God. For all of 
     this, they look to us with trust, hope, and expectation. But 
     often father and mother are so busy that they have no time 
     for their children, or perhaps they are not even married, or 
     have given up on their marriage. So the children go to the 
     streets, and get involved in drugs, or other things. We are 
     talking of love of the child, which is where love and peace 
     must begin. There are the things that break peace.
       But I feel that the greatest destroyer of peace today is 
     abortion, because it is a war against the child--a direct 
     killing of the innocent child--murder by the mother herself. 
     And if we accept that a mother can kill even her own child, 
     how can we tell other people not to kill one another? How do 
     we persuade a woman not to have an abortion? As always, we 
     must persuade her with love, and we remind ourselves that 
     love means to be willing to give until it hurts. Jesus gave 
     even his life to love us. So the mother who is thinking of 
     abortion, should be helped to love--that is, to give until it 
     hurts her plans, or her free time, to respect the life of her 
     child. The father of that child, whoever he is, must also 
     give until it hurts. By abortion, the mother does not learn 
     to love, but kills even her own child to solve her problems. 
     And by abortion, the father is told that he does not have to 
     take any responsibility at all for the child he has brought 
     into the world. That father is likely to put other women into 
     the same trouble. So abortion just leads to more abortion. 
     Any country that accepts abortion is not teaching the people 
     to love, but to use any violence to get what they want. That 
     is why the greatest destroyer of love and peace is abortion.
       Many people are very, very concerned with the children of 
     India, with the children of Africa, where quite a few die of 
     hunger, and so on. Many people are also concerned about all 
     the violence in this great country of the United States. 
     These concerns are very good. But often these same people are 
     not concerned with the millions who are being killed by the 
     deliberate decision of their own mothers. And this is what is 
     the greatest destroyer of peace today: abortion, which brings 
     people to such blindness.
       ``I want this child!''
       And for this I appeal in India and I appeal everywhere: 
     ``Let us bring the child back.'' The child is God's gift to 
     the family. Each child is created in the special image and 
     likeness of God for greater things--to love and to be loved. 
     In this Year of the Family we must bring the child back to 
     the center of our care and concern. This is the only way that 
     our world can survive, because our children are the only hope 
     for the future. As other people are called to God, only their 
     children can take their places.
       But what does God say to us? He says, ``Even if a mother 
     could forget her child, I will not forget you. I have carved 
     you in the palm of my hand.'' We are carved in the palm of 
     his hand; that unborn child has been carved in the hand of 
     God from conception, and is called by God to love and to be 
     loved, not only now in this life, out forever. God can never 
     forget us.
       I will tell you something beautiful. We are fighting 
     abortion by adoption--by care of the mother and adoption for 
     her baby. We have saved thousands of lives. We have sent word 
     to the clinics, to the hospitals, and police stations: Please 
     don't destroy the child; we will take the child.'' So we 
     always have someone tell the mothers in trouble: ``Come, we 
     will take care of you, we will get a home for your child.''
       And we have a tremendous demand from couples who cannot 
     have a child. But I never give a child to a couple who has 
     done something not to have a child. Jesus said, ``Anyone who 
     receives a child in my name, receives me.'' By adopting a 
     child, these couples receive Jesus, but by aborting a child, 
     a couple refuses to receive Jesus.
       Please don't kill the child. I want the child. Please give 
     me the child. I am willing to accept any child who would be 
     aborted, and to give that child to a married couple who will 
     love the child, and be loved by the child. From our 
     children's home in Calcutta alone, we have saved over 3,000 
     children from abortions. These children have brought such 
     love and joy to their adopting parents, and have grown up so 
     full of love and joy! I know that couples have to plan their 
     family, and for that there is natural family planning. The 
     way to plan the family is natural family planning, not 
     contraception. In destroying the power of giving life, 
     through contraception, a husband or wife is doing something 
     to self. This turns the attention to self, and so it destroys 
     the gift of love in him or her. In loving, the husband and 
     wife must turn the attention to each other, as happens in 
     natural family planning, and not to self, as happens in 
     contraception. Once that living love is destroyed by 
     contraception, abortion follows very easily.
       The greatness of the poor
       I also know that there are great problems in the world--
     that many spouses do not love each other enough to practice 
     natural family planning. We cannot solve all the problems in 
     the world, but let us never bring in the worst problem of 
     all, and that is to destroy love. This is what happens when 
     we tell people to practice contraception and abortion.
       The poor are very great people. They can teach us so many 
     beautiful things. Once one of them came to thank us for 
     teaching them natural family planning, and said: ``You 
     people--who have practiced chastity--you are the best people 
     to teach us natural family planning, because it is nothing 
     more than self-control out of love for each other.'' And 
     what this poor person said is very true. These poor people 
     maybe have nothing to eat, maybe they have not a home to 
     live in, but they can still be great people when they are 
     spiritually rich. Those who are materially poor can be 
     wonderful people. One evening we went out and we picked up 
     four people from the street. And one of them was in a most 
     terrible condition. I told the Sisters: ``You take care of 
     the other three, I will take care of the one who looks 
     worse.'' So I did for her all that my love can do. I put 
     her in bed, and there was a beautiful smile on her face. 
     She took hold of my hand, and she said one thing only: 
     ``Thank you,'' Then she died.
       I could not help but examine my conscience before her. I 
     asked, What would I say if I were in her place?'' And my 
     answer was very simple. I would have tried to draw a little 
     attention to myself. I would have said, ``I am hungry, I am 
     dying, I am cold, I am in pain,'' or something like that. But 
     she gave me much more--she gave me her grateful love. And she 
     died with a smile on her face.
       Then there was the man we picked up from the drain, half-
     eaten by worms. And after we had brought him to the home, he 
     only said, ``I have lived like an animal in the street, but 
     am going to die as an angel, loved and care for.'' Then, 
     after we had removed all the worms from his body, all he 
     said--with a big smile--was: ``Sister, I am going home to 
     God.'' And he died. It was so wonderful to see the greatness 
     of that man, who could speak like that without blaming 
     anybody, without comparing anything. Like an angel--this is 
     the greatness of people who are spiritually rich, even when 
     they are materially poor.
       A sign of care
       We are not social workers. We may be doing social work in 
     the eyes of some people, but we must be contemplatives in the 
     heart of the world. For we must bring that presence of God 
     into your family, for the family that prays together, stays 
     together. There is so much hatred, so much misery, and we 
     with our prayer, with our sacrifice, are beginning at home. 
     Love begins at home, and it is not how much we do, but how 
     much love we put into what we do.
       If we are contemplatives in the heart of the world with all 
     its problems, these problems can never discourage us. We must 
     always remember what God tells us in the Scripture: Even if 
     the mother could forget the child in her womb--something that 
     is impossible, but even if she could forget--I will never 
     forget you. And so here I am talking with you. I want you to 
     find the poor here, right in your own home first. And begin 
     love there. Bear the good news to your own people first. And 
     find out about your next-door neighbors. Do you know who they 
     are?
       I had the most extraordinary experience of love of a 
     neighbor from a Hindu family. A gentleman came to our house 
     and said, ``Mother Teresa, there is a family who have not 
     eaten for so long. Do something.'' So I took some rice and 
     went there immediately. And I saw the children, their eyes 
     shining with hunger. (I don't know if you have ever seen 
     hunger, but I have seen it very often.) And the mother of the 
     family took the rice I gave her, and went out. When she came 
     back, I asked her, ``Where did you go? What did you do?'' And 
     she gave me a very simple answer: ``They are hungry 
     also.'' What struck me was that she knew. And who were 
     ``they?'' A Muslim family. And she knew. I didn't bring 
     any more rice that evening, because I wanted them--Hindus 
     and Muslims--to enjoy the joy of sharing.
       But there were those children, radiating joy, sharing the 
     joy and peace with their mother because she had the love to 
     give until it hurts. And you see this is where love begins: 
     at home in the family. God will never forget us, and there is 
     something you and I can always do. We can keep the joy of 
     loving Jesus in our hearts, and share that joy with all we 
     come in contact with. Let us make that one point: that no 
     child will be unwanted, unloved, uncared for, or killed and 
     thrown away. And give until it hurts--with a smile.
       Because I talk so much of giving with a smile, once a 
     professor from the United States asked me, ``Are you 
     married?'' And I said, ``Yes, and I find it sometimes very 
     difficult to smile at my spouse--Jesus--because he can be 
     very demanding--sometimes this is really something true. And 
     there is where love comes in--when it is demanding, and yet 
     we can give it with joy.
       One of the most demanding things for me is traveling 
     everywhere, and with publicity. I have said to Jesus that if 
     I don't go to heaven for anything else, I will be going to 
     heaven for all the traveling with all the publicity, because 
     it has purified me and sacrificed me and made me really ready 
     to go to heaven. If we remember that God loves us, and that 
     we can love others as he loves us, then America can become a 
     sign of peace for the world. From here, a sign of care for 
     the weakest of the weak--the unborn child--must go out to the 
     world. If you become a burning light of justice and peace in 
     the world, then really you will be true to what

[[Page S8955]]

     the founders of this country stood for. God bless you!

  Mr. NICKLES. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that Senator 
Domenici be added as a cosponsor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, I am pleased to join my colleagues in 
offering this resolution to establish a National Day of Recognition for 
the humanitarian works of Mother Teresa.
  This past Friday the world suffered a great loss with the death of 
Mother Teresa, a woman called not only to minister to those in the 
shadows of life, but to be among them and shed on them the light of 
love and human decency.
  Someone once asked St. Francis what a person needed to do to please 
God. He answered, ``Preach the Gospel every day. If necessary--use 
words.'' Mother Teresa lived just that sort of life. She was a living 
lesson to all of us that faith is more than words. It is the good deeds 
we do in this world. For that lesson, we owe Mother Teresa not only a 
tremendous debt of gratitude, but the resolve to carry on her difficult 
but extremely important work.
  Mother Teresa's life certainly was one of action and deeds. She was a 
tireless builder. She founded the Missionaries of Charity in 1950. An 
order that began with 12 members now has grown to a worldwide community 
of 4,000 nuns who administer orphanages, AIDS hospices, and other 
centers of charitable activity in the United States and around the 
world.
  Later, she founded the Nirmal Hriday Home for Dying Destitutes. From 
this beginning sprang numerous other facilities for the sick and dying 
shunned by traditional institutions. This dedication to those on the 
margins of life is perhaps Mother Teresa's most profound legacy.
  It is one thing--certainly important and meaningful--to give 
occasionally to charitable causes or lend valuable time to charitable 
work. These are personal sacrifices that give us a stronger connection 
to our community and more meaning to our own lives. It is quite another 
thing--nearly incomprehensible to those of us blessed with the material 
comforts of our modern American life--to give up all one has and to 
make this sacrifice and dedication to others the sole focus of one's 
life. To do this among conditions of squalor and misery--at risk to 
one's own health and life--and to focus on those on the margins of life 
shunned even by hospitals and other institutions dedicated to improving 
human life, that is the character of Mother Teresa's life that earned 
her the affectionate label, ``the Saint of the Gutter.''
  Mr. President, Mother Teresa was a tiny woman, but she was an 
enormous inspiration. The best way for us to honor Mother Teresa is to 
reach outside ourselves and try, each day, to show a little more 
compassion in our own lives. I hope this resolution serves to remind us 
of that goal and to signal to the world our tremendous gratitude, 
respect, and admiration for Mother Teresa--an extraordinary woman who 
has touched and enriched all our lives.
  Mr. CAMPBELL. Mr. President, I want to express my deep sorrow over 
the loss of Mother Teresa. At the age of 87, she had made infinite 
strides in promoting peace and goodwill throughout the world. In a long 
overdue gesture, the Senate recently bestowed upon Mother Teresa the 
Congressional Gold Medal for her role as head of the Missionaries of 
Charity. For a woman of her stature, it was a humble honor.
  As I listened this weekend to the many replays of interviews with 
Mother Teresa, I could not help but be stunned by endless depths of her 
compassion. Her desire to hug and touch people otherwise reviled by 
society, the strength of her hands and enormity of her presence despite 
her diminutive size, are just a few images which come to mind. Mother 
Teresa was a woman who measured and understood the rest of humanity in 
a way few, if any, others do. In recognizing her today, it is with 
reverence and the utmost respect for a person who labored as a living 
saint on behalf of mankind.
  She will never be forgotten. Her charitable mission will be carried 
on in her adopted home of India, as well as the dozens of countries 
where her works have been taken up by others. While Mother Teresa is 
irreplaceable, we can only hope to learn and live by her example in the 
future.
  Mr. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I rise as a cosponsor of this 
resolution honoring the memory of a woman who may be the 20th century 
world's greatest role model and humanitarian, Mother Teresa.
  Words cannot express the contribution she has made to humankind. By 
her selfless acts over the past five decades administering to the 
poorest of the poor, she has set an example for how we all should try 
to live. The world would be a far better place if all people followed 
the light of her shining example.
  I have heard the word ``Saint'' used in the same breath as the name 
Mother Teresa. It is hard to imagine any other person who has lived in 
this century to whom that appellation would better apply. Hers was 
truly a life of selflessness, where the totality of her identity comes 
through service to God.
  I have, in my life, met many people who have been major actors on the 
world stage--Presidents, Prime Ministers and other leading officials at 
home and abroad. This year, I had the opportunity to meet and briefly 
talk with this very frail nun in our Capitol. This was an honor that I 
will cherish throughout my life.
  It is not often that I have had the chance to be with someone whose 
very presence is so intensely humbling. That was the case with Mother 
Teresa. She truly was representative of the best in the human spirit 
and will be remembered for centuries to come.
  She will be sorely missed.
  Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, in a week already saddened by the loss 
of Diana, Princess of Wales, we were further grieved to learn Friday of 
the death of Mother Teresa. Her presence, that of a living saint, will 
be sorely missed.
  Mother Teresa has played the role of world conscience. Throughout her 
life, she has lived in the most pure and basic manner. While caring for 
the destitute and sick, she insisted on living in poverty herself. 
Mother Teresa believed that ``the more we empty ourselves, the more 
room we give God to fill us.'' She practiced what she preached.
  Mother Teresa's remarkable and selfless works have been recognized 
around the world. In 1979, she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. In 
1980, she was bestowed India's highest honor, the Jewel of India award. 
Last year, President Clinton conferred honorary American citizenship on 
Mother Teresa. Most recently, she was awarded a congressional Medal of 
Honor. Mother Teresa knew that these were merely earthly rewards.
  While she was an international figure, she remained focused and 
committed to her mission. She rejected the media attention these awards 
drew, saying that she must get back to her work. Any money that came 
with these awards was immediately given to the poor.
  Mother Teresa will be sadly missed but her work will continue. I pray 
that Sister Nirmala will be given the same strength and world support 
to continue the mission Mother Teresa founded in 1948, the Order of the 
Missionaries of Charity. I also pay tribute to Mother Teresa's life by 
recommiting myself to work for the poorest members of society. Mr. 
President, I yield the floor.
  Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, just as the world was recovering from the 
shock last week of the sad news about the tragic and untimely death of 
Princess Diana--including the disturbing discovery that alcohol may 
have been linked to the crash--it was again rocked by reports of the 
death of another of its beloved heroines. Mother Teresa, considered by 
many to be a living saint, died last Friday at the age of 87. Like 
Princess Diana, who dedicated much of her attention to the needs of the 
unfortunate, Mother Teresa was a beacon of hope for countless people 
who were all but abandoned by mainstream society. But, unlike Princess 
Diana, Mother Teresa chose to highlight the plight of the destitute by 
becoming destitute herself. Although a physically small woman, Mother 
Teresa was a colossus of inspiration. She had little more to offer than 
kindness, faith, and tenacity, but Mother Teresa ably provided the 
world with much, much more.
  Mother Teresa embodied hope. She served God by reaching out to the 
poor. She dedicated her life to humanitarian

[[Page S8956]]

aid, making personal sacrifices that most of us cannot easily 
understand. Mother Teresa traveled to areas where most would fear to 
go; she embraced AIDS patients and lepers, cradled dying babies, and 
brought a glimmer of hope to the hopeless. She rejected modern-day 
comforts, and when she left this world she owned little more than her 
sari and her rosary beads.
  Mother Teresa's name is recognized throughout the world, and her 
influence is immeasurable. In 1979, she was awarded the Nobel Peace 
Prize. Earlier this year she was presented the Congressional Medal of 
Honor. She is one of only five people ever to be awarded honorary 
citizenship to the United States. Mother Teresa shared her time with 
some of the world's most impoverished and unfortunate citizens. Her 
light burned with superhuman brightness to illuminate the darkness in 
others' lives.
  Born in 1910 in an Albanian region which later became a part of 
Yugoslavia, Mother Teresa's father died unexpectedly when she was a 
young girl, and she first learned to care for others while helping her 
mother look after her two sisters and others in the community. At the 
age of 18, she joined the Sisters of Our Lady of Loreto, an active 
mission in India, and spent two decades with the order, first as a 
teacher and then as a principal. In 1948, an inner voice told her it 
was time for a change. Sister Teresa left the convent with the vision 
of starting her own school, determined to dedicate her life to helping 
the most forsaken and abandoned. Possessing no capital, she first 
taught by scratching letters in the dirt with a stick. By 1950, she had 
established a new religious order, and named it the Missionaries of 
Charity.
  The vision that began with a tiny stick drawing on a gritty street, 
has grown into an assembly of 600 clinics, orphanages, soup kitchens, 
maternity homes, refugee centers, and havens for the poor, sick, and 
dying in more than 100 countries. These facilities are staffed by 4,500 
nuns, 500 brothers, and thousands of volunteers from around the globe.
  She refused to accept steady funding or fund-raising money from 
government, private, or religious institutions, relying instead on her 
faith in God. Yet, she soothed those in pain and brought smiles to 
cheerless faces, never forgetting the forgotten. The world is a better 
place because of the sacrifices she made and the warmth she radiated. 
Mother Teresa once said, ``To God there is nothing small. The moment we 
have given it to God, it becomes infinite.'' With her passing, Mother 
Teresa joins with God's infinity. May her acts of unselfishness and 
compassion be an inspiration to us all to strive, each in our own way, 
to make life better for all of those who lives we touch.
  Mr. NICKLES. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. BROWNBACK. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. BROWNBACK. Mr. President, I thought I might put in the Record, 
and in the resolution there is listed a number of things that Mother 
Teresa did, but just for the interest of the body, it might be 
interesting to note some of those things that happened.
  Mother Teresa expanded her personal dedication by founding the 
Missionaries of Charity, which people may not be familiar with but I 
think most are, which included well over 3,000 members of 25 countries 
who devote their entire lives to serving the poor without accepting any 
material reward in return. She has been recognized as a humanitarian 
around the world in various forms: The first Pope John XXIII Peace 
Prize in 1971; the Jawaharal Nehru Award for International 
Understanding in 1972; the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979; the Presidential 
Medal of Freedom in 1985; and the Congressional Gold Medal in 1997.
  She was born in 1910 in the former Yugoslavia, and received a calling 
on a train saying she should go serve the poorest of the poor, a 
calling, that was recently just celebrated, of nearly 50 years ago. 
That is when she went to India to start her Missionaries of Charity.
  There are a couple of things that also stand out in my mind. When she 
received the Nobel Peace Prize she refused a dinner, the banquet that 
they normally put forward for those who receive that, and asked that 
the cash equivalent instead be used for money to build more missions 
and help more people instead of having the lavish dinner.
  I know that in the discussions with her group on the Congressional 
Gold Medal she suggested that rather than presenting a Congressional 
Gold Medal to her could they just melt the medal down and give them the 
equivalent of that in money so they could use that to put up more 
buildings and help more people of the poorest of the poor.
  You look at some selfless things like that, and you just become 
amazed at what she did, and, yet, also what she could accomplish when 
there is that much selflessness that goes into it.
  I think one should recognize all of those accomplishments. And those 
are just the tip of the iceberg because those speak of kind of the big 
things that we can identify. But they don't speak of the faces that she 
has stared into, or the feet that she has washed, and the people she 
served, one at a time.
  I think that is worthwhile to add into the Record.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, I rise today to attempt something that I 
know will not fully succeed. I stand to speak to the legacy of Mother 
Teresa who in my opinion, was one of the greatest of all humanitarians 
and advocates for the poor, for the unclothed, the unhoused, the 
ignored, and the forgotten poor of the world--not only the forgotten 
poor of India but of the world at large.
  Many, of course, have remarked on the striking coincidence that last 
week we saw the passing of two of the world's most famous women--the 
Princess of Wales, and the guardian of India's poor, and really the 
poor of the world. Their association was coincidence. And those who 
again say that Diana's commitment to the poor, to the sick, and to the 
maimed simply ignored the profound friendship that had formed between 
these two remarkable women. As Diana was moved to even greater 
compassion by the small nun from Calcutta, so were all of us who knew 
Mother Teresa.
  I don't have a power wall in my personal office--pictures of me with 
other dignitaries. In my office you will find a lot of paintings. And 
the only photographs are of my family and one other individual. For 
years I have had a photo of Mother Teresa and me from one of the 
several meetings that I was most fortunate to have with her over the 
years. I met her here in Washington at least twice. And I visited her 
in Calcutta, and visited her orphanage there. In Washington one time 
was with a number of others. But the second time was just Mother Teresa 
and myself and one staff member.
  For me, Mother Teresa embodies the highest commitment to spiritual 
principles in this very imperfect world. And her memory I will always 
keep alive to remind me that we can in fact hold spiritual principles 
deeply relevant to this harsh world. That little nun from Calcutta held 
the greatest power that anyone can have--the power of love. She 
radiated it through her actions by serving the destitute, the maimed, 
and the forgotten.

  There have been some trivial criticisms about her--that she didn't 
address the root causes of the horrible poverty in which she lived. We 
should never forget the distinction between the abstractions of policy 
and the practice of charity. We must never lose the humility that 
recognizes that the policy attempts that governments and their leaders 
make often fall short while the commitment to love can be endless. And 
in the end the love given to a homeless child or to a dying street 
person cannot be legislated.
  I recently heard a particularly telling anecdote concerning Mother 
Teresa. She was in the ghetto of Calcutta

[[Page S8957]]

putting salves on the wounds of a desperately sick person. A devout 
priest who was accompanying her said, ``I wouldn't do that for 
$100,000.'' I think maybe it could have even been $100 million. ``I 
wouldn't either,'' the dear, wise woman responded. ``I do it for 
Christ.''
  I know that it is considered by some inappropriate to mention 
anything religious. But Mother Teresa reminded all of us of the great 
good that all religions do for man. And her Christian compassion will 
be an inspiration to me as long as I live.
  Mr. President, I will never forget seeing her emotional remarks about 
abortions and the heinous nature of abortion in our society and in our 
world today--30 million children aborted just in the history of our 
country since 1972. I remember her saying, ``If you do not want them, 
give them to me.'' She meant it. She took care of the poor, the sick, 
the maimed, the forgotten, those who were rejected by the rest of the 
world. She took them to her bosom. She took them to her best ability to 
help, and, because of her, literally thousands--hundreds of thousands--
of people have been helped around the world. And millions know what it 
is like to do charitable giving.
  Mr. President, God bless the memory of Mother Teresa, as he blessed 
all of those who knew this woman, who I think will be known as one of 
this century's most selfless and wonderful humanitarians.
  So I am happy to cosponsor any resolution that supports Mother 
Teresa. And I hope that all people throughout the world will take her 
example and realize that all of us in our own sphere, in our own little 
life, can do a little bit more for our fellow men and women than we 
have been doing, and use her as an example of one who gave her all for 
her fellow men and women and children.
  I thank her personally, and that is why I am making these remarks 
this day.
  I yield the floor.
  Mr. DOMENICI addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New Mexico.
  Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, first, let me say to Senator Hatch that 
I am pleased that I was present for his eloquent remarks. I thank him 
very much.
  Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
not go in recess until I have completed my remarks.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. DOMENICI. I ask the occupant of the chair. Is that too much of an 
inconvenience for him?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. I thank the Senator from New Mexico for his 
consideration. No, under my schedule I am willing to stay here until 
you finish your comments.
  Mr. DOMENICI. I thank the Chair.
  Mr. President, I had thought that sometime today or tomorrow I would 
sit down and write a series of remarks and reflections and thoughts 
about Mother Teresa. But I think it would be more appropriate that I 
not delay that and that I say a few words now so that it is 
incorporated into this Record as reference to this wonderful and quite 
appropriate resolution.
  Let me first say I am not one of the privileged Senators who has met 
Mother Teresa and been with her for any length of time, although I have 
met her once. But I believe it is fair to say that even while I have 
not met her, I have probably never, in my years of life and certainly 
my years in the Senate, observed from a distance such a remarkable 
person. That is what makes it difficult, because she is so remarkable, 
because she is so different from what the world talks about today and 
what the world espouses as success, as the way we ought to live our 
lives so we can be successful. She is so far removed from that and is 
yet great without any question, that sometimes it is hard to find words 
in our kind of world to talk about her.
  But I was thinking, from my own standpoint, over the weekend I was 
privileged as a member of my own family in Albuquerque, NM, to be 
present with our entire family and many hundreds of friends at the 50th 
jubilee of one of my own sisters being a Sister of Charity. She is a 
couple years older than I and has been a Sister of Charity for 50 years 
and has taught kids all across this country. She assumes she has 
touched and taught no less than 10,500. So I feel I could talk about 
her for a minute while we talk about the great sacrifices of Mother 
Teresa.
  But obviously, it was an interesting weekend in that regard, for 
while we are all grieving the death of this saint, I was privileged to 
be part of a family event where I think we have somebody very close to 
that title who is our own blood.
  Then, as I thought about what we ought to say here today, I hearkened 
back to a long, long time ago when we were taught a little bit about 
the Old Testament and the New Testament. What I was thinking about is 
that this is a pretty muddled up world. Things aren't going so well. 
There are a lot of people terribly worried about our value system and 
where are we going versus our Maker, where is this world apt to end up 
with what appears to be such an absence of what we understand is the 
right thing to do and the right way to go and right and wrong on a 
daily basis. I was thinking back to the Old Testament of Sodom and 
Gomorrah and Abraham negotiating with God. They had a very interesting 
negotiation. It shows that Abraham was a wonderful negotiator even in 
working things out with the Maker, for as you recall he talked about 
how many good people you have to find in Sodom and Gomorrah to save it. 
The negotiations started very high and ended up I believe at 10--10. I 
don't think they could find 10, so Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed.
  What does this have to do with Mother Teresa? Well, I guess I would 
say that it is pretty clear to me that the kind of relationship we were 
talking about back in the Old Testament is still a relationship with 
the Maker, with the God Almighty, and I believe it is imperative that 
the world give great confirmation and credence to someone whom we know 
is the kind of person that is so good and so much in touch with what 
the Almighty thinks and wants that they are clearly capable of 
intervening and saving us. So I don't think we should just praise her 
for the marvelous acts of love, but I think we should thank her, we 
should thank her from the bottom of our hearts for contributing in a 
very big way toward a more positive relationship between the Almighty 
and humankind.
  Now, having said that, I want to make just a couple of other points. 
I know it is very easy for people to talk about Mother Teresa and not 
want to talk about her faith, but I do not think you can do that. I do 
not think you can say she is a great humanitarian. In fact, I do not 
believe she would want to be called a humanitarian. Her faith is very 
simple, profound, and real. She believes what her faith tells her, and 
that is that the poor and the downtrodden, the sick, and those who are 
on their death beds with all kinds of infirmities present in their 
bodies and minds, that they are Jesus Christ.
  Now, I am not offended, nor am I concerned, about saying that right 
here on the Senate floor because that is true. So we must talk about 
her in that context, for to do otherwise is to deny her existence and 
why she did what she did.
  Now, having said that, it is very hard for most mortals to live their 
faith that way--very hard. Nonetheless, I think what I choose to honor 
today and to thank her for is that she did, as a matter of fact, live 
her faith, totally to the core. Every bit of her being was living that 
New Testament admonition, for we recall that Jesus Christ said, ``If 
you are taking care of somebody who is desperately hungry, you are 
taking care of me; if you are taking care of those who are suffering, 
you are taking care of me.''
  Now, most of us are not able to bridge that gap of faith that she 
bridged every day, every moment, for she literally lived her life fully 
aware of and practicing that admonition. So it seems to this Senator 
that it is most befitting, and in particular in the kind of world we 
live, in which just 2 weeks ago we had a poll of the American people 
and with the economy humming and with all the material things seeming 
to go well, huge numbers of Americans said we are on the wrong path. I 
think the wrong path did not have much to do with material wealth. I 
think they are frightened about the way we behave, and they are worried 
about what that is going to end up doing to us.
  So I think it is fair that we step back and say, well, here is one, 
the lady

[[Page S8958]]

from Calcutta, here is one who sees it completely different than we do, 
and yet look how many lives she affected, look how many people came 
within the yoke of this little, tiny, frail body, which probably at her 
death was not bigger than 75 to 80 pounds at the most.
  So I thank Senator Nickles and others, and I join as a cosponsor of 
this resolution, but it is again as you look at things really 
inadequate. As I look at the occupant of the chair and I think what do 
we really feel about this lady and we can't quite write it down, we can 
say with absolute assurance that she is the right kind of person to 
respect, that she is the right kind of person and personage for the 
U.S. Senate to pay tribute to.


                      Unanimous-Consent Agreement

  Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent, in behalf of 
the leader, that following the 2:15 p.m. vote on Senate Resolution 120, 
the pending resolution, the Senate begin 60 minutes of debate on the 
McCain Amendment 1091, and, at the expiration or yielding back of the 
time, the Senate vote on or in relation to amendment 1091.
  I understand this is cleared on the other side.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

                          ____________________