[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 1 (Tuesday, January 27, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Pages S63-S64]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           DANIEL J. KEARNEY

 Mr. KERRY. Mr. President, today I with to recognize and mourn 
a loss for the working men and women of this country.
  On Friday, January 2d, 1998, Mr. Daniel J. Kearney of Cohasset, 
Massachusetts, passed away. On that day the Commonwealth of 
Massachusetts and the United States of America lost an individual who 
embodied and protected the most cherished principles of this nation.
  From his military service to his fervent support of the labor 
movement, Mr. Kearney led a quintessentially American life, one that 
contained family and sacrifice, struggle and victory. He married the 
late Mary A. MacGrath, and together they raised daughters Gail and 
Linda. His distinguished service in the U.S. Navy spanned the period 
from World War II through Korea, and he maintained this commitment to 
his nation through leadership and service in the Veterans of Foreign 
Wars and the American Legion.
  Mr. Kearney began his long career in the labor community as an 
apprentice blacksmith at the Boston Naval Yard in 1946, where he 
graduated from the Boston Naval Shipyard Apprentice School. In 1952, he 
served as a program

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engineer for the Navy, and this resulted in his becoming a contract 
negotiator for shipbuilding in 1956. In this position, Mr. Kearney 
worked on the construction and conversion of nuclear attack and 
ballistic missile submarines, helping navigate our nation's defense 
through a historic and complex transition.
  His largest contribution to this country, however, was his relentless 
and passionate advocacy on behalf of working men and women, and his 
early posts in the Navy yards of Massachusetts were the origin of his 
life-long campaign for organized labor.
  He went on to organize, and to serve as a union officer and local 
president of, various American Federation of Government Employees 
locals, lead the Philadelphia Council of the AFGE and serve as 
President of the Massachusetts State Council of Locals. He served as 
National Vice President of the AFGE, and later as Vice President 
Emeritus of AFGE's New England District.
  Dan Kearney's faith in the electoral processes of this country, both 
local and national, was another passion. Beginning back when John F. 
Kennedy was first elected to Congress, and continuing through Senator 
Edward Kennedy's re-election in 1994 and my own re-election in 1996, 
Mr. Kearney was a welcome fixture in the Democratic campaigns of 
Massachusetts. For him, coordination of grass roots politics was 
another tool to help people improve their lives, and he gave it his 
all.
  In later years, the issues facing senior Americans became his 
campaign, and his sincere advocacy of fairness and decency resulted in 
an appointment to the White House Council on Aging. As recently as 
several weeks ago, he dropped by my Boston office with thoughts on 
issues facing seniors, retired government employees, and the labor 
movement as a whole.
  He leaves a loving family and many friends, and he leaves the world 
better for his efforts. As we celebrate his life, we offer our 
condolences and sympathy to all who knew and loved him.

                          ____________________