[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 15 (Wednesday, February 25, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E230-E231]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    IN MEMORY OF DAVID M. CAWTHORNE, JR., TRANSPORTATION JOURNALIST

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. BUD SHUSTER

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, February 25, 1998

  Mr. SHUSTER. Mr. Speaker, I wish to acknowledge with great sadness, 
the passing of a widely known and respected transportation journalist, 
Mr. David M. Cawthorne, Jr. His untimely passing at the age of 49 in 
January of this year has left a great gap in the Washington 
transportation community. Dave spent more than two decades covering 
regulatory issues at the Department of Transportation and the old 
Interstate Commerce Commission, as well as its successor, the Surface 
Transportation Board. It is probably safe to say that there is not a 
transportation lawyer, executive, or Washington representative who had 
not encountered Dave during his distinguished career. Many of the 
people he first met as Congressional staff or agency personnel have now 
risen to highly responsible executive positions in government and in 
the private sector. One small measure of this was the large number of 
his friends in the transportation community who recently attended his 
funeral in Washington. Rather than attempt to encapsulate Dave's career 
myself, I think that his personal legacy was better captured by the 
Chairperson of the Surface Transportation Board, Linda Morgan--herself 
a former Congressional staffer--in her memorial address at Dave's 
funeral. As a tribute to Mr. Cawthorne and the highest of journalistic 
standards he always stood for, I ask that her remarks be reprinted 
here.

               In Remembrance of David M. Cawthorne, Jr.


 Comments by Linda J. Morgan, Chairman, Surface Transportation Board, 
                            January 21, 1998

       Today we are gathered to celebrate our association with 
     Dave, and in particular the many ways in which he inspired us 
     and the many gifts that he gave us. I am truly honored to be 
     able to share some of my thoughts about a very special friend 
     and colleague.
       I have thought a great deal about Dave over the last couple 
     of days, as I know all of you have. In thinking about Dave, I 
     am reminded that, in a town where there is so much focus on 
     what titles people have or what job accomplishments people 
     can claim, it is important to remember that what is a true 
     test of a person is not so much what that person has done, 
     but how that person has done it, or who that person really 
     is.
       Dave was quite a person. He was an individual of 
     immeasurable human decency, profound inner strength, deep 
     intellectual curiosity and commitment to thoroughness, 
     impressive personal and professional integrity, and an 
     unforgettable uniqueness.
       All of us can relay our own experiences with Dave's 
     decency. There was the call to congratulate you on something 
     or the offer of support when you needed it, or the way he 
     completed almost every contact with ``sorry to disturb you'' 
     or ``thanks so much for your time.'' Recently, my 12-year old 
     daughter was with me at the office, and we ran into Dave 
     and had a conversation. When I told her that my friend 
     Dave had died, she said: ``I remember Dave. He was that 
     man we met at your office who seemed so nice.'' Dave, seen 
     clearly through the unjaded eyes of a 12-year old, was a 
     person who always remembered mutual respect and common 
     courtesy.
       And then there was his inner strength. No matter what 
     personal or professional challenge he faced, he kept on 
     going. He seemed to understand that life in its fullest is 
     one challenge after another to tackle, one obstacle after 
     another to overcome. And perhaps because of that awareness, 
     he never stopped trying, and he never lost his spirit, his 
     good humor, and his compassion for others. Wish that we all 
     could struggle with such grace.
       And then there was his intellectual curiosity and 
     thoroughness. I have worked in the transportation arena for 
     almost 20 years and

[[Page E231]]

     had the fortune of dealing with Dave as a transportation 
     reporter throughout that time. I always admired Dave's 
     commitment to a full understanding of all sides of the issues 
     and dedication to accuracy and enlightenment. He cared about 
     the subject matter, and he wanted his reporting to be 
     constructive and to make a positive difference. I always had 
     great confidence in Dave's work.
       And then there was his personal and professional integrity. 
     In a town where integrity sometimes seems to be an 
     afterthought, if a thought at all, Dave always thought about 
     that first. Speaking as someone who has spent a great deal of 
     time watching her back, and the backs of others, I can say 
     that I never had that problem with Dave. In fact, Dave was 
     one of those rare people who tried to protect other people's 
     backs. There was never a worry that he would use information 
     to harm others for his own interest. There was never a worry 
     that he would compromise your wishes to suit his own. Dave 
     taught us that so much more can be accomplished with mutual 
     trust.
       And then finally there was his unforgettable uniqueness. 
     There was the way he opened up a telephone conversation--I 
     will not try to do that injustice by attempting to imitate 
     it. Or there was the funny tidbit that he always passed on. 
     Or there was the insightful analysis of what was really going 
     on. Or there was the kind word when you needed it.
       Let me now share a reading that I think puts Dave's 
     uniqueness in the proper perspective.
       ``Give Your Unique Gift. Each of us, as we journey through 
     life, has the opportunity to find and to give his or her 
     unique gift. Whether this gift is quiet or small in the eyes 
     of the world does not matter at all--not at all; it is 
     through the finding and the giving that we may come to know 
     the joy that lies at the center of both the dark times and 
     the light.'' (Helen M. Luke in Kaleidoscope) \1\
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     \1\ ``100 Ways to Keep Your Soul Alive,'' Living Deeply and 
     Fully Every Day, edited by Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, 
     1994.
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       Dave certainly found and gave his unique gift of himself to 
     all of us.
       A while back, Dave called me to talk about various matters, 
     and in the course of that conversation he thanked me for my 
     friendship. He commented that I had always been a friend, 
     even when he felt he was not deserving or when others seemed 
     to have forsaken him, and he thanked me for that.
       I have thought about that call a lot recently, and I want 
     to say to you, Dave, that you had it all wrong.
       We are the ones who should say thank you to you--for your 
     decency, for your inner strength, for your intellectual 
     curiosity, for your integrity, and above all for being you.
       You have shown us the way. You have shown us the right way. 
     We are all eternally grateful.

                          ____________________