[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 120 (Friday, September 11, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10245-S10247]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

                                 ______
                                 

                             KIRK O'DONNELL

 Mr. MOYNIHAN. Mr. President, Kirk O'Donnell, succinctly 
described by Albert R. Hunt in the Wall Street Journal as ``one of the 
ablest and most honorable people in American politics,'' died suddenly, 
much too young, this past Saturday.
  He epitomized the honor and dignity to which all of us engaged in the 
political life of our Nation should aspire. He served for more than 7 
years as chief counsel to then-Speaker Thomas P. ``Tip'' O'Neill, Jr. 
He has been active in politics even since, as indeed he was in the 
years before Washington too.
  I knew Kirk from my earliest days in the Senate. He and his lovely 
wife Kathy have dined with Liz and me at our home. His cousin, Lawrence 
O'Donnell, served in my office for many years as chief of staff and as 
the staff director of the Finance Committee when I became Chairman in 
1993. Our thoughts certainly are with Kathy, her children, and the 
O'Donnell family as they cope with this sudden, terrible news.
  To begin, one must know that Kirk was a fellow Irishman and the great 
and indispensable achievement of the Irish is that they made it 
American to be ethnic. On the contribution of the Irish I have written:

       What did the Irish do? First, they stayed in the cities, 
     remaining highly visible. Next, they kept to their faith. 
     Thus the Roman Catholic Church became a major American 
     institution. Then they went into politics.


[[Page S10246]]


  Kirk O'Donnell, embodied all of these noble traits. He began his 
political career in 1970, working on Kevin H. White's campaign for 
governor of Massachusetts. That bid failed, but when Mr. White later 
became mayor of Boston, he hired Kirk to run the Fields Corner Little 
City Hall, in essence, a field station of the city hall. In the words 
of Speaker O'Neill, ``All politics is local'' and this grassroots view 
of Massachusetts, coupled with Kirk's astute political sense, made him 
an ideal choice when the Speaker needed a new counsel here in 
Washington.
  It is then that I first came to know Kirk O'Donnell. He was an Irish-
American who saw early on the danger of the financial support which 
some others were providing the IRA. In 1977, Tip O'Neill, Hug Carey, 
Edward M. Kennedy, and I joined together at Kirk O'Donnell's initiative 
to oppose such activities. We issued a joint appeal on St. Patrick's 
Day, 1977, which stated:

       We appeal to all those organization engaged in violence to 
     renounce their campaigns of death and destruction and return 
     to the path of life and peace. And we appeal as well to our 
     fellow Americans to embrace this goal of peace, and to 
     renounce any action that promotes the current violence or 
     provides support or encouragement for organizations engaged 
     in violence.

  Now, finally, one of the oldest conflicts in Europe has the potential 
of healing and being resolved. A courageous agreement has been reached 
in Northern Ireland and is being implemented. The United States played 
a role in reaching this agreement. And the seeds for American support 
of a peaceful resolution to the conflict in Northern Ireland were sown 
in the late 1970's, when principled people such as Kirk O'Donnell stood 
up to say that violence was not the answer to this problem.
  Mr. President it is with great sorrow that I have risen today to 
thank Kirk O'Donnell for his lifetime of public service and again to 
offer my sincere condolences to his family.
  At this point, I ask to have printed in the Record the obituaries 
from the New York Times and the Boston Globe, as well as a tribute to 
Kirk O'Donnell by Albert R. Hunt, which appeared in The Wall Street 
Journal.
  The material follows:

             [From The Wall Street Journal, Sept. 10, 1998]

            The Loss of a Talented, Decent and Honorable Man

                          (By Albert R. Hunt)

       Kirk O'Donnell, one of the ablest and most honorable people 
     in American politics, died suddenly last weekend at the 
     altogether too young age of 52. Even in grieving, it's 
     somehow hard not to think how different the Clinton 
     presidency might have been if Kirk O'Donnell had been a top 
     White House adviser starting in 1993.
       He combined the best virtues of the old and the new 
     politics. Raised in the rough-and-tumble environs of Boston 
     tribal warfare, he never saw politics as anything but a 
     contact sport. But he always practiced it with decency and 
     civility.
       He was a great student of political history, which better 
     enabled him to appreciate contemporary changes. There was a 
     pragmatism to Kirk O'Donnell that never conflicted with his 
     commitment and total integrity.
       Success never changed him. He founded the influential 
     Center for National Policy (his successor as its chair was 
     Madeleine Albright) and then became a partner in the high-
     powered law firm of Vernon Jordan and Bob Strauss. But his 
     values and devotion to family, friends and country were 
     remarkably constant.
       ``He was a big oak tree of a friend,'' notes Stanley Brand, 
     a Washington lawyer, of the former Brown University football 
     star, a description which Mr. O'Donnell used to joke, was an 
     ``oxymoron.''
       He cut his political teeth working for Mayor Kevin White in 
     Boston in the mid-70s, running the neighborhood city halls, 
     developing an appreciation of the relationships between 
     common folks and government that would serve him well for the 
     next quarter century. Then there were more than seven years 
     as chief counsel to House Speaker Tip O'Neill.
       There was an exceptional triumvirate of top aides to the 
     speaker: Leo Diehl, his longtime colleague who was the link 
     to the past and the gatekeeper who kept away the hangers-on; 
     Art Weiss, although only in his twenties, unrivaled as a 
     policy expert; and Kirk O'Donnell, in his early thirties, who 
     brought political, legal and foreign policy expertise to the 
     table, always with superb judgment.
       Though it may seem strange in today's Congress, he 
     commanded real respect across the aisle. ``Kirk was really a 
     tough, bright opponent; he was a great strategist because he 
     didn't let his emotions cloud his judgment,'' recalls Billy 
     Pitts, who was Mr. O'Donnell's Republican counterpart working 
     with GOP House Leader Bob Michel. ``But he always was a 
     delight to be around and his word was gold.''
       When the Democrats were down, routed by the Reagan 
     revolution in 1981, it was Kirk O'Donnell who put together a 
     strategy memorandum advising the party to lay off esoteric 
     issues and not to refight the tax issues but to focus on 
     social security and jobs. It was the blueprint for a big 
     Democratic comeback the next year. When then-Republican 
     Congressman Dick Cheney criticized the speaker for tough 
     partisanship, Mr. O'Donnell immediately turned it around by 
     citing a book that Rep. Cheney and his wife had written on 
     House leaders that praised the same qualities that he now was 
     criticizing.
       Few operated as well at that intersection of substance and 
     politics, or understood both as well. He played a major role 
     in orchestrating a powerful contingent of Irish-American 
     politicians, including the speaker, to oppose pro-Irish 
     groups espousing violence. ``Kirk put the whole Irish thing 
     together,'' the speaker said.
       He was staunchly liberal on the responsibility of 
     government to care for those in need of equal rights. But he 
     cringed when Democrats veered off onto fringe issues, and 
     never forgot the lessons learned running neighborhood city 
     halls in his 20s. Family values to Kirk O'Donnell wasn't a 
     political buzzword or cliche, but a reality of life; there 
     never has been a more loving family than Kirk and Kathy 
     O'Donnell and their kids, Holly and Brendan.
       The Clinton administration made job overtures to Kirk 
     O'Donnell several times but they were never commensurate with 
     his talents. He should have been either Chief of Staff or 
     legal counsel from the very start of this administration. He 
     would have brought experience, expertise, maturity, judgment, 
     toughness--intimate knowledge of the way Washington works--
     that nobody else in that White House possessed.
       But sadly, that's not what this president sought. For Kirk 
     O'Donnell wouldn't have tolerated dissembling. He never was 
     unfaithful to those he worked for but ``spinning''--as in 
     situational truths--was foreign to him. When working for the 
     speaker or Michael Dukakis in 1988, he would dodge, bob, 
     sometimes talk gibberish but never, in hundreds of interviews 
     with me, did he ever dissemble.
       The contrast between this and someone like Dick Morris, who 
     Mr. Clinton continuously turned to, is striking. This was 
     brought home anew when Mr. Morris, the former top Clinton 
     aide, wrote a letter seeming to take issue with a column I 
     wrote a few weeks ago.
       For starters, he erroneously denied that he suggested 
     Hillary Clinton is a lesbian. More substantially, Mr. Morris 
     says that Mr. Clinton called him when the Lewinsky story 
     broke and had him do a poll to gauge reaction. He did that 
     and told Mr. Clinton the public wouldn't accept the truth. 
     Although Mr. Morris turned over what he says is that poll to 
     Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr, some of us question 
     whether the survey was genuine.
       The infamous political consultant swears he sampled 500 
     people, asked 25 to 30 questions and did it all out of own 
     pocket for $2,000. If true, it was a slipshod survey upon 
     which the president reportedly decided to stake his word. 
     (Only days later, Mr. Clinton swore at a private White House 
     meeting that he hadn't spoken to Mr. Morris in ages.)
       There was no more an astute analyst of polls than Kirk 
     O'Donnell. He would pepper political conversations with 
     survey data. But because he understood history and had such 
     personal honor he always understood a poll was a snapshot, 
     often valuable. But it never could be a substitute for 
     principle or morality or integrity.
       Those were currencies of his professional and personal 
     life. These no longer are commonplace commodities in 
     politics, which is one of many reasons that the passing of 
     this very good man is such a loss.
                                  ____


                [From the New York Times, Sept. 7, 1998]

      Kirk O'Donnell, 52, Lobbyist And an Aide to a House Speaker

                          (By Irvin Molotsky)

       Washington, Sept. 6.--Kirk O'Donnell, a lawyer and lobbyist 
     for a leading Washington law firm and the former chief aide 
     to former Speaker Thomas P. O'Neill Jr., died on Saturday 
     near his weekend home in Scituate, Mass. He was 52 and lived 
     in Washington.
       A family friend, Robert E. Holland, said that Mr. 
     O'Donnell, who did not have a history of health problems, 
     collapsed after jogging. Mr. O'Donnell was pronounced dead at 
     South Shore Hospital.
       The White House issued a statement tonight in which 
     President Clinton said: ``Kirk O'Donnell was a gentleman and 
     a patriot who brought wit, common sense and a genuine 
     humanity to his public and private life. He was a very good 
     man and has left us much too soon.''
       Mr. Holland, a boyhood friend of Mr. O'Donnell's and for a 
     time his law partner in Boston, said that in his role as 
     chief counsel to Mr. O'Neill, Mr. O'Donnell always acted 
     behind the scenes in the Speaker's behalf, except on one 
     issue, the running of guns to elements of the Irish 
     Republican Army.
       At the time, Irish-Americans were divided on the question 
     of providing guns and many politicians supported groups that 
     were shipping the weapons. The group that Mr. O'Donnell 
     helped form to oppose the weapon shipments included Democrats 
     like Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan of New York, Senator 
     Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, Mr. O'Neill and Hugh L. 
     Carey, then the Governor of New York.

[[Page S10247]]

       Mr. O'Donnell was born in Boston and graduated from the 
     Boston Latin School, Brown University and Suffolk Law School. 
     He taught history at a Somerset (Mass.) High School and then 
     took a job with Mayor Kevin H. White of Boston and ran Mr. 
     White's successful re-election campaign.
       After leaving the Speaker's office, Mr. O'Donnell was 
     president of the Center for National Policy, a Democratic 
     advisory group, and he was a leader in the unsuccessful 
     Democratic Presidential campaign of Michael S. Dukakis in 
     1988. He was a senior partner in the Washington law firm of 
     Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld.
       Mr. O'Donnell is survived by his wife of 26 years, Kathryn; 
     his daughter, Holly, and his son, Brendan, all of Washington.
                                  ____


                 [From the Boston Globe, Sept. 7, 1998]

      Kirk O'Donnell, 52; top adviser to national, Mass. Democrats

                            (By Beth Daley)

       Kirk O'Donnell, 52, a prominent Washington lawyer who once 
     worked with Boston's most colorful politicians, died Saturday 
     after collapsing while jogging near his Scituate summer home.
       Known for his morality as much as his dedication to the 
     Democratic cause, Mr. O'Donnell entered the political world 
     after a brief stint as a history teacher to work on former 
     mayor Kevin H. White's failed 1970 gubernatorial bid.
       He went on to serve as general counsel to US House Speaker 
     Thomas P. ``Tip'' O'Neill Jr., for eight years and quickly 
     gained the reputation in Washington as a skilled strategist 
     and a straight-talker.
       Although he held key Democratic positions that included 
     White House adviser and former president of the Center for 
     National Policy, Mr. O'Donnell relished quiet time with his 
     family at their summer home in Scituate at least as much as 
     being near the center of power in the nation's capital.
       ``He was politics at its best,'' said US Representative 
     Barney Frank, who first worked with Mr. O'Donnell during 
     White's gubernatorial bid. ``Talented and principled, he 
     really worked to make the world better and fairer.''
       Most well-known for his advice, Mr. O'Donnell was a highly 
     sought-after adviser to the Democratic party and served in 
     that role for former Massachusetts governor Michael S. 
     Dukakis's failed presidential campaign in 1988.
       President Clinton said yesterday Mr. O'Donnell ``was a 
     gentleman and patriot who brought wit, common sense, and a 
     genuine humanity to his public work and private life. He was 
     a very good man and left us much too soon.''
       The son of a Dorchester investment adviser and a homemaker, 
     Mr. O'Donnell attended Boston Latin School and graduated in 
     1964 with a passion for history and football. At Boston 
     Latin, he remains in the Sports Hall of Fame for his football 
     exploits.
       After graduating from Brown University, where he also 
     played football, he was a history teacher at Somerset High 
     School.
       With the 1970 governor's race sparking a lifelong interest 
     in politics and law, Mr. O'Donnell taught while he attended 
     Suffolk Law School, graduating in 1975. When then-mayor White 
     pledged to bring City Hall to the neighborhoods--literally--
     Mr. O'Donnell was hired to run the Fields Corner Little City 
     Hall and worked from a trailer parked beside Town Field. 
     There he helped residents navigate the downtown City Hall 
     bureaucracy while studying politics and human nature at close 
     quarters.
       Years later, while serving as one of the top strategists 
     for the Democratic leadership of the US House, he said, ``If 
     you can understand Fields Corner, you can understand 
     Congress.''
       In 1975, he set up one of the first computerized voting 
     lists for the White campaign. On the day of the election, in 
     a Boylston Street office building, he checked every polling 
     place in the 22 wards to see how light or heavy the turnout 
     was in pro-White precincts. The White political organization 
     had Chicago-sized ambitions, and Mr. O'Donnell harnessed its 
     resources to provide telephone reminders and transportation 
     to the mayor's supporters.
       Mr. O'Donnell's encyclopedic knowledge of Boston politics 
     brought him to the attention of Speaker O'Neill after White 
     was re-elected to a third term.
       Since the mayor had been considered vulnerable, his 
     relatively easy victory prompted a call from O'Neill, who was 
     seeking a new counsel to succeed Charles D. Ferris, the 
     Dorchester native who had just been named by President Carter 
     to head the Federal Communications Commission. The man who 
     popularized the phrase ``All politics is local'' wanted 
     someone at his side who knew the similarity between Fields 
     Corner and Congress.
       At first, Mr. O'Donnell was reluctant. He had left City 
     Hall to start a law practice with his friend, Robert Holland. 
     But the fabled O'Neill charm suggested to him brighter vistas 
     in Washington than in Boston.
       After the election of President Reagan in 1980, Tip O'Neill 
     became the best-known Democrat in the nation. Mr. O'Donnell's 
     aim was to prepare the House speaker strategically and 
     tactically for dealing with the White House. The president's 
     popularity made difficult the chore of holding House 
     Democrats together.
       Mr. O'Donnell, a gregarious man with a booming voice, spoke 
     in a straightforward manner to House members, with the same 
     determination as he did while dealing with the foot soldiers 
     of the Kevin White organization.
       After O'Neill retied, Mr. O'Donnell worked as head of a 
     Washington think tank, the Center for National Policy, aimed 
     at reviving the Democratic party. In conferences and 
     seminars, he sought to focus the intellectual energy of a 
     party that had consistently lost presidential elections while 
     continuing its domination of Congress.
       After he left the center, he was succeeded as director by 
     Madeleine Albright, now secretary of state. An old Washington 
     hand and a former chairman of the Democratic National 
     Committee, Robert S. Strauss, recruited Mr. O'Donnell to his 
     Washington law firm, Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld. As a 
     senior partner, Mr. O'Donnell represented a variety of 
     clients, from Liberty Mutual to the government of Puerto 
     Rico.
       One lasting friendship that came from his legal work was 
     with a partner of Salomon Brothers, now Salomon Smith Barney. 
     After Robert Rubin, now secretary of the treasury, asked Mr. 
     O'Donnell for political advice in Washington, a close 
     friendship developed. He also advised another Cabinet member, 
     Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Andrew Cuomo.
       Mr. O'Donnell leaves his wife of 26 years, Kathryn Holland 
     O'Donnell, and two children, Holly of Washington, D.C., and 
     Brendan of Scituate.
       A funeral Mass will be said at 11 a.m. Thursday in Holy 
     Name Church in West Roxbury.

                          ____________________