[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 118 (Wednesday, September 9, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10093-S10094]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       TRIBUTE TO KIRK O'DONNELL

  Mr. KERRY. Mr. President, I want to pause for a few moments to 
acknowledge that many of us, particularly those of us from 
Massachusetts, are feeling the loss this week of one of our Nation's 
most savvy political strategists and one of our most contributing and 
admirable citizens. Kirk O'Donnell was a man who lived his life in a 
way that proved not only can you work in politics without losing your 
soul but that politics from Fields Corner in Dorchester to city hall in 
the heart of Boston, all the way up to the lofty office of the Speaker 
of the House of Representatives, can in fact be a most honorable 
profession.
  Mr. President, we all know that we live in very difficult political 
times, where endless cynicism seems to find too many citizens turning 
away from political dialog that they seem to find disappoints them. But 
Kirk O'Donnell, through every fiber of his body and in every step that 
he took in life, reminded us that political parties can stand for a set 
of ideals and that politics can still be an art form mastered in order 
to advance the common good--not individual good, but the common good. 
That is what Kirk always fought for.
  Like so many of us in Massachusetts--and many are Republicans--Kirk 
O'Donnell was a Democrat by birth. But through his decades in public 
service he became a Democrat by conviction and a Democrat by sacrifice 
and by life work. The young man who fell in love with football at the 
Boston Latin School and at Brown University--so much so that at Boston 
Latin he was enshrined in their sports hall of fame--found his passions 
attracted him to an equally rough and tumble game on the field of 
Boston politics.
  Kevin White's 1970 campaign for Governor in Massachusetts inspired 
Kirk to get involved in politics for what he thought was a ``brief 
stint.'' That ``brief stint'' became a remarkable career. When Kevin 
White made good on his promise as mayor of Boston to ``bring city hall 
to the neighborhoods,'' he turned to Kirk O'Donnell to run his Fields 
Corner little city hall. From his office in a trailer, Kirk brought 
city government to street corners, to newsstands, and to neighborhood 
picnics. He knew how important it was to show his fellow Bostonians 
that government worked for them, if only they knew how to work within 
the system. And within that system, Kirk was their devoted guide. Tip 
O'Neill could not have chosen a more dedicated or more skillful 
individual to be his counsel than Kirk O'Donnell, a man who said, in 
his own unassuming way, ``if you can understand Fields Corner, you can 
understand Congress.'' Kirk was right--and Tip O'Neill knew it. For 8 
years, it was Kirk O'Donnell who gave the Speaker the extra set of eyes 
and ears he needed to hold a Democratic majority together in spite of 
all of the force of President Reagan and the Reagan era. Kirk talked 
with Members of Congress the same way he would with a friend of 20 
years or a constituent in Fields Corner or West Roxbury--warm, honest, 
straightforward. Tip O'Neill knew that in Kirk O'Donnell he had found a 
true friend.

  Thousands of people to this day will tell you they were friends with 
Tip O'Neill, the Speaker. Tip O'Neill was a politician who never forgot 
a name and

[[Page S10094]]

loved to talk with everyone he met. He had more than his share of 
friends and acquaintances. But Kirk O'Donnell was a special kind of 
friend and so it was that he was one of the few asked to help carry Tip 
O'Neill's casket when our beloved Speaker passed away. That gesture 
alone spoke volumes about the kind of relationship forged between the 
older, wiser, more experienced Tip O'Neill and the younger, idealistic, 
and committed Kirk O'Donnell.
  Even after he lost his friend, Tip O'Neill, Kirk kept fighting for 
the Democratic Party and the causes in which he believed so strongly. 
He breathed life into the Center for National Policy, leading seminars 
and meetings with Democratic activists, supporters, and even with those 
who Kirk believed might someday run for office. His message always came 
from the heart--Democrats stand for something, something real, 
something which could not be measured alone in an election. And he 
cared passionately about that something. On the darkest days for our 
party--and he went through some--Kirk reminded us to never give up the 
fight. He knew the importance of staying involved, of staying 
committed. He understood the full measure of democracy--and tried to 
bring it to others starving for freedom through his work in the 
National Democratic Institute for Foreign Affairs. Wherever, Kirk went, 
his message was the same; find out what matters to you and never stop 
fighting for it.

  Kirk O'Donnell never forgot what really mattered in life. More than 
anything that was his devotion to his family--to his wife of 26 years, 
Kathryn Holland O'Donnell and their children, Holly and Brendan. That 
devotion was absolute.
  I am proud to say that Brendan was going to join us as an intern in 
our office. Now that may be somewhat delayed, but, obviously, we look 
forward to the day when he will be there with us continuing in his 
father's footsteps.
  Whenever I ran into him either in Washington, DC, or in 
Massachusetts, Kirk's first question wasn't about politics; he always 
asked me how my daughter was enjoying her education in his alma mater, 
Brown University. And he was always quick to share with me his latest 
story about his own daughter--Holly's experience on that same campus, 
or the story of the last trip to Foxboro Stadium with his son Brendan 
to watch Patriots football. It goes without saying that as much as all 
of us will miss him, obviously we feel the special pain that Kathryn, 
Holly, and Brendan feel at this time with their lost which is so much 
greater.
  Today, we remember Kirk O'Donnell with words that cannot do any 
justice to a life that was both tragically short and joyfully filled 
with meaning and with accomplishment. We will miss Kirk O'Donnell, a 
friend and an adviser to all of us in Massachusetts politics and in the 
Democratic Party. But we know that his spirit will continue to inspire 
us with the faith that he had in our common ideals as Americans and in 
his commitment to working to make life better for other people.
  I thank the President.
  Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, will the Senator yield?
  Mr. KERRY. I yield to the Senator from Massachusetts.
  Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, I thank our friend and colleague for his 
superb recollections and comments about this son of Massachusetts, Kirk 
O'Donnell. Kirk O'Donnell was really a committed public servant right 
from the earliest days. He started out as a schoolteacher. He came from 
a working-class family. He entered politics. He served with great 
distinction, as the Senator has pointed out, with a great friend of 
both of us, Congressman O'Neill, in a very significant time in the 
history of this country. And then after our friend and colleague, 
Speaker O'Neill, left, Kirk O'Donnell went to run the Center for 
National Policy. He kept his interest in public policy, believing that 
public policy can make a difference in people's lives.

  He really was an extraordinary human being in his common sense, his 
good judgment and his real desire to advance the common interests of 
working families in our State.
  So I wish to commend my colleague, Senator Kerry, for bringing this 
matter to the Senate. This man was a very rare human being, a rare 
individual, a very loving person, certainly for his wife and his family 
but also to his friends. He also cared very deeply about the condition 
of the people that he met over his journey of life. He had a strong 
commitment to make this world a better world and our State of 
Massachusetts a better State.
  I thank my colleague for bringing these remarks to the Senate. I 
commend these remarks to our colleagues and to his family because we 
miss him not only as a friend, but as an extraordinary public servant. 
We should not let his name and his memory leave us. Those who knew him 
and loved him will certainly carry his memory in their hearts 
throughout their lives.
  I thank the Senator.
  Mr. KERRY. Mr. President, I thank my colleague. We both benefited 
enormously from the generous friendship of Kirk O'Donnell and from the 
remarkable quality of wisdom he had well beyond his years, great common 
sense, great roots in the streets, the city that he worked for, and of 
the State that he loved, and we will both miss him. I thank the Chair.

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