[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 151 (Monday, November 3, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S11581-S11583]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
52ND ANNUAL AL SMITH DINNER
Mr. MOYNIHAN. Mr. President, for half of our century--52 years--one
of the notable events in the life of New York City has been the annual
dinner of the Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation, sponsored by the
Archdiocese of New York, and presided over by the cardinal archbishop,
most recently by His Eminence John Cardinal O'Connor. The foundation
supports the hospitals of the archdiocese.
The centerpiece, if you will, of the evening is the dinner speaker.
Over the years, truly great men and women of our age have appeared in
the ballroom of the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. Kings, prime ministers--
Winston S. Churchill was the 1947 speaker, in the company of James V.
Forrestall--and Presidents or Presidential candidates by the score. It
fell to me to write the first draft of Averell Harriman's address when
he was Governor of New York; it was, I do believe, a distinction he
treasured ever after. And now we have had Buffalo's gift to the Nation,
Timothy J. Russert.
This year the speaker was Timothy J. Russert, Moderator of ``Meet The
Press,'' which, come to think, is celebrating its 50th anniversary just
now. Mr. Russert was by turns irreverent and riotous. But his purpose
was profoundly serious and, if you will, reverent. It is something Al
Smith would very much wish to have had said. We are just now in a phase
of considerable self-congratulation about American society. A world
away from the slums and factories that Smith, with his Tammany
colleagues Robert F. Wagner and James A. Foley, along with Frances
Perkins and, of course, Franklin D. Roosevelt helped transform. A world
at once vastly improved, and grossly degraded. For in the course of
resolving so many difficulties in our public life, we have seen a near-
to-incomprehensible collapse in our family lives. As Mr. Russert
states:
At the turn of this century, just three short years from
now, there will be seventy million children under the age of
eighteen living in the United States. More than a third of
them, one in three, nearly twenty-five million, will have
been born into single parent households.
This is the central challenge to American institutions in the
generation to come. Doubly so in that Congress and the President have
chosen to eliminate the Social Security Act provision for dependent
children, a drop-dead date not 4 years away.
Can anyone imagine Al Smith or his Industrial Commissioner Frances
Perkins doing such a thing! One suspects that neither can Mr. Russert,
but this is an unnecessary speculation. What is necessary is that his
urgent and cogent words be read and absorbed as widely as possible.
To this end, Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the full
text of this year's address to the Al Smith dinner be printed in the
Record.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:
Address by Timothy J. Russert
What an honor to be here. The roster of previous speakers
is filled with luminaries. They are from a world I report
on--the world of Washington politics.
But for some curious reason, a strange fate seems to befall
those who have spoken from this podium. For example, in 1991,
your speaker was former White House Chief of Staff, John
Sununu. I should note, six weeks after appearing here, he was
forced to resign. As he was contemplating his future, legend
has it, he approached the revered First Lady, Barbara Bush,
poured out his heart. ``Why is
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it,'' he asked, ``that people seems to take such an instant
dislike to me?'' The First Lady looked at him solemnly and
said, ``Because it saves time John.''
In 1993, Bob Dole addressed the Al Smith dinner. Months
later, he attended a White House function for former
Presidents. He observed a remarkable scene. Three of your
former speakers, engaged in private conversation. Jimmy
Carter, Gerald Ford, Richard Nixon. That's right. Jimmy
Carter, Gerald Ford and Richard Nixon actually talking to one
another. In his customary stage whisper, Senator Dole blurted
out, ``Look at those three. See No Evil, Hear No Evil, and
Evil.''
In 1950, the year I was born, your speaker was Vice
President Alben Barkley. Five short years later, he was the
keynote speaker at Washington and Lee University's mock
political convention, where he concluded his inspirational
address by bellowing, ``I would rather be a servant of the
Lord than sit in the seat of the mighty.'' Which was a
prudent thing to say, because he promptly dropped dead of a
heart attack. But nothing can equal your stellar line up in
1972. Your guest speakers, Kurt Waldheim and Spiro Agnew. Who
booked that one? What were you thinking of?
A quick news update. I can report tonight that President
Clinton is feeling a little better about Chelsea going off to
college. He just figured out it freed up another bedroom for
fund raising. It's not fair just to poke fun at politicians.
We in television news certainly have our shortcomings. It
seems we reduce everything to sound bites, devoid of content
or nuance. David Brinkley recently observed, the way
television news would report the unveiling of the Ten
Commandments in 1997, would be as follows:
``Moses came down from the mountain top today with the Ten
Commandments. Here's Sam Donaldson with the three most
important.''
Yogi Berra said it best after flunking his English exam for
the third time. I guess he wanted to go to journalism school.
The teacher ran down the aisle, shook him and said, Yogi,
don't you know anything? He looked up and said, ``I don't
even suspect anything.'' I've had a few of my own humbling
experiences. I am a recovering Buffalo Bills fan. For four
years I took Meet the Press to the site of the Super Bowl. At
the last game, in the Georgia Dome, the studio director was
saying in my ear piece, ``You have thirty seconds, fill.'' So
I looked into the camera and I said, ``Well, now it's in
God's hands. And God is good and God is just. Please God, one
time, go Bills!''
As I walked off the set, my colleague Tom Brokaw said,
``You Irish Catholics are shameless. You can't pray on the
air.'' I said, I just did, Tom, and you'll see. Well, the
Dallas Cowboys snuck by the Bills, 52 to 17. As I moped back
to the hotel, Tom looked up and said, ``Hey Russert, I guess
God's a Southern Baptist.'' But by far, the most
extraordinary event in my life was when I first joined NBC in
1984 as the executive in charge of the Today program. I had
grown up in Buffalo, watching a flickering black and white TV
set with then Today cast of Dave Garroway and J. Fred Muggs.
I was determined to reinvigorate the Today Show--to travel
the program around the world, to bring people to places they
couldn't afford to go, or never see in their lifetime. Steve
Friedman, the Executive Producer at that time said, you're
right. Where should we go? I said, in the Spring, nothing
better than Italy. The vibrancy, the fashion, the music, the
art. And if we time it right, perhaps we could bring our
viewers behind the walls of the Vatican--where Catholics and
non-Catholics would have an opportunity to see the mysteries
of that remarkable institution.
Friedman said, ``You're right. Get the Pope.'' I said,
``Get the Pope? Friedman, that's a big booking. I used to be
an alter boy, but there are a few steps in between.'' So I
wrote a letter to the Pope, and heard nothing back. I then
faxed it to our bureau in Warsaw and had it translated into
Polish. I journeyed to Philadelphia and met with the late
Joseph Cardinal Krol, God bless him. A close friend of the
Pope who is also of Polish descent. He read my letter, was
very taken that it was written in vernacular Polish and said,
``Are you Polish?''
I realized it would be inappropriate to respond with
anything but the truth. And I said, ``No, but I'm from
Buffalo, some of my best friends are!'' Suddenly the phone
rang and Cardinal Krol said, ``Would you like to come to the
Cathedral? The young Diocesan Boy's Choir is preparing for
Christmas.'' I said, ``There's nothing I'd rather do than
listen to those little cherubs lift the rafters of the
Cathedral.'' We went and they were magnificent. After about
fifteen minutes, Cardinal Krol turned to me and said, ``You
know, Mr. Russert, my dream is to one day have these young
men sing for the Holy Father.'' And I said, ``This is a
Cardinal!''
And having been trained by the Jesuits and the Sisters of
Mercy, I quickly amended my letter to say, if His Holiness
accepts our invitation, NBC will of course be accompanied by
the Arch Diocesan Boy's Choir of Philadelphia. Who else? Two
weeks later the phone rang. It was Cardinal Krol. He asked me
to come to Rome and to meet with the Pope's advisors. And it
was an extraordinary week as we went from meeting to meeting
and ultimately I was lead into a room about this size. It was
empty, but for myself. And suddenly the door opened, and
there stood, dressed on white, the Holy Father, in my church,
the Vicar of Christ.
And as he approached me, my mind quickly turned from NBC's
ratings and Bryant Gumbel's career to the prospect of
salvation. And you heard this tough, hard-hitting, no-
nonsense moderator of Meet the Press begin by saying, ``Bless
me Father.'' He approached me, took me by the arm and said,
``You are the man called Timothy from NBC.''
I said, ``Your Holiness, please don't ever forget this
face.''
He said, ``They tell me you're an important man.''
I said, ``Your Holiness, with all due and deep respect,
there are only two of us in this room--and I'm a most distant
second.''
He put his hand on my shoulders, looked me in the eyes and
said, ``Right.''
His Holiness agreed to greet the Today Show on live
American television, a first. And I told Bryant Gumbel and
Jane Pauley that this would be different. That they had met
Presidents and Kings and Queens and Senators and Governors,
but never the Pope. Bryant, who happened to be Catholic said,
``Don't worry, I can handle it.''
Suddenly the Pope appeared on television. It was Bryant's
chance to ask him a question--direct to the people of
America. And Bryant said, ``Your Holiness, these are pictures
of my children. Would you please bless them?''
And Jane Pauley jumping in said, ``I have twins!''
An extraordinary week from the Vatican for NBC. I was
accompanied by my wife who was pregnant. The Holy Father
blessed her womb and said, ``Please bring your baby back to
Rome next year.'' We did just that, and as we stood in the
first row of the Papal audience, we proudly held our son
Luke, who was wearing a white T-shirt with red letters, Totus
Tuus. All Yours. That is the Pope's personal motto, which he
uttered to the blessed Virgin after being shot. ``Blessed
Mother,'' He said, ``if I live, I will rededicate my life to
you. Totus Tuus.'' All Yours.
The Pope spotted Luke, rushed towards him, took him in his
arms, held him high, admiring his face, his shirt. Exclaimed
over and over again, very nice, very nice. I of course, had
an NBC crew standing by, taping the entire event. I dubbed it
into slow motion and shipped it to my Italian mother in law.
After sharing it with her friends for several hours, even she
is willing now to admit, there is some value in having an
Irish son in law. But my wish that day in Rome is the same I
have tonight. That all our children in New York will be as
blessed and loved as my own, as your own.
Tonight you have taken an important first step. Your dinner
tickets will fund pre and post natal care for teenage moms
and their babies. But this must only be the beginning of our
efforts. At the turn of this century, just three short years
from now, there will be seventy million children under the
age of eighteen living in the United States. More than a
third of them, one in three, nearly twenty-five million, will
have been born into single parent households. Many of them
kids having kids. And we all know what that means for most of
them. Your Senator Pat Moynihan warned about this thirty-five
years ago, but the nation did not listen.
And now we have a generation of children who will not have
a life of love and discipline and values, but an existence of
drugs and gangs and sickness, and too often, death. Fifteen
children a day are shot dead in the United States of America.
The health care facilities of this nation, of this diocese,
are going to be overwhelmed by these children. Oh how I wish
we could change behavior, and try we must. For these children
will either be our future work force who respect people and
property and get to work on time, or they will be our future
crime statistics.
Hopefully someday our society will proclaim its central
mission is to convince our young people to finish school,
learn a skill, get a job, get married and then have a baby.
In that order. This, I believe, is the most important
economic, national security and moral issue facing our
nation. But in the meantime, we cannot just ignore the
children in need. That is what Al Smith told us. It's what
John Cardinal O'Connor has shown us. You won't read about it
in the tabloids or see it on TV. He has refused to publicize
his compassion, but your Cardinal has personally cared for
more than one thousand people with AIDS.
Going alone at night, he holds their hands, empties their
bed pans, combs their hair. Simply sitting with them in the
final days of their life. It is called living the gospel.
Helping the poorest of the poor, the sickest of the sick.
That's what Al Smith did, and it's what John O'Connor does.
And so must we all. I was hungry and you gave me food. I was
thirsty and you gave me drink. I was sick and you took care
of me. Words to reflect on as we return tonight to the
comfort of the Upper East Side, Westchester, Long Island or
wherever. Let us count our blessings but let us share our
blessings with vigor and new urgency.
Tutoring, mentoring, being even more generous to the Al
Smith Foundation. Catholic charities, the inner city
scholarship fund. Together we can redirect lives and probably
even save a few souls. Embrace the spirit of the happy
warrior, Al Smith, and the holy warrior, John O'Connor. Two
men it will always be said, who fought the good fight and who
kept the faith. By the quiet eloquence of their example, they
have defined our mission here tonight. To nurture and protect
the uniqueness, the dignity, and the preciousness of life
from beginning to end.
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To care and to share. That is our charge. That is our
challenge. As we leave the 52nd Annual Al Smith dinner, we
remember the words of your speaker from 1960. ``Let us go
forth asking His blessing and His help, but knowing that here
on Earth, God's work must truly be our own.'' Thank you.
Mr. MOYNIHAN. I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Allard). The clerk will call the roll.
The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for
the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
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