[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 137 (Monday, October 5, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1903-E1904]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                         EULOGY FOR MEG DONOVAN

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. LEE H. HAMILTON

                               of indiana

                    in the house of representatives

                        Monday, October 5, 1998

  Mr. HAMILTON. Mr. Speaker, over the week-end Secretary of State 
Madeleine Albright delivered a eulogy for Meg Donovan, who departed 
this world on October 1. I ask that Secretary Albright's eulogy for Meg 
be included in the Congressional Record.

                             Eulogy for Meg

       Father D'Silvo; Duffy, Colin, Emma, Liam, Mr. Daniel 
     Donovan, Patrick, Paula, Mary Ellen, and other members of Meg 
     Donovan's family; colleagues, friends and acquaintances of 
     Meg:
       There are times when it seems more fitting just to stammer 
     with emotion than to speak with finely turned phrases.
       It does not seem fair; it is not fair that Heaven, which 
     already has so much, now has so much more. And that we here 
     on Earth, who need so much, have lost someone who is 
     irreplaceable in our hearts.
       This we know. Meg could not pass from one world to the 
     other without changing both.
       We are crushed with grief. But the scriptures say that 
     those who mourn are blessed for they shall be comforted; and 
     we are comforted by the knowledge that, somewhere up above, 
     God is getting an earful on human rights.
       I did not become acquainted with Meg Donovan until I went 
     to the State Department in 1993. Like her, I was a mother of 
     three, including twins. I felt I understood better than some 
     others might the choices and challenges she faced. But many 
     of you knew her longer and more intimately than I. I cannot 
     capture her personality or her career in full.
       To me, if there is one word that sums up Meg, it is 
     ``completeness.''
       There are others in this town who are smart and good at 
     their jobs; others with a commitment to causes that are right 
     and just; others who bargain shrewdly and hard; others with a 
     warm and wonderful sense of humor; others who understand the 
     obligations of friendship; others who are devoted and loving 
     to their families; others who have the discipline to live 
     their faith.
       There may even be others with Christmas sweaters that light 
     up and play jingle bells. But rarely have the elements of 
     true character been so artfully mixed as they were in Meg 
     Donovan. Van Gogh is arriving in Washington; but a human 
     masterpiece is gone.
       When I was designated by President Clinton to serve as 
     Secretary of State, I did what my predecessor, Warren 
     Christopher, did. I turned to the person with the best 
     instincts in Washington on how to deal with our friends on 
     Capitol Hill. That was Meg. We began preparing in December.
       Now, naturally, I thought the President had made a 
     brilliant choice for the job, but I had to wonder, as we went 
     along in practice, and Meg corrected and improved upon my 
     every answer on every subject, whether there was anyone more 
     qualified to be Secretary of State than she.
       Of course, that being December, the birthday of the twins 
     came along. And naturally, Liam and Emma didn't understand 
     why their mother couldn't promise to attend the party. Their 
     proposal, passed on and advocated by Meg, was that we adjourn 
     our practice session and re-convene at Chuck E. Cheese. It is 
     typical that, when the hour of the party drew near, Meg 
     excused herself, and did not ask but told her new boss, that 
     she was heading for Chuck E. Cheese.
       When he was Secretary of State, George Marshall used to 
     tell his staff ``don't fight the problem, decide it, then 
     take action.'' I suspect he would have like Meg a lot 
     because, all her life, Meg was a doer.
       Like quite a few others, she came to Washington committed 
     to the fight for tolerance and respect for basic human rights 
     for all people. What set her apart is that she could still 
     make that claim after having worked here 25 years.
       Whether at the Helsinki Commission, or the House Committee 
     on International Relations, or the Department of State, Meg 
     was one of the good guys. She could out-talk anyone, but talk 
     isn't what she was after. She wanted change.
       She wanted Soviet Jews to be able to exercise their right 
     to emigrate. She wanted Tibetans to be able to preserve their 
     heritage. She wanted prisoners of conscience to breathe the 
     air of freedom. She wanted women to have the power to make 
     choices that would determine the course of their lives.
       Above all, she wanted to draw on and draw out the best in 
     America: the America that would use its resources and power 
     to help others achieve the blessings we all too often take 
     for granted.
       There were her ideals, but Meg was more than a dreamer. No 
     one was more effective than she at creating the coalitions, 
     marshaling the arguments and devising the strategies that 
     would yield concrete results.
       One of Meg's big problems was that she knew the system 
     better and played it better than anyone else. So, whenever we 
     found ourselves in a real legislative mess, which was not 
     more than three or four times a week, we turned to Meg to 
     help get us out.
       Around the Department and earlier in her years on Capitol 
     Hill, Meg's energy and wisdom added sparkle to every meeting. 
     When she spoke, people listened. When she listened, people 
     chose their words with care. She was thoughtful and patient 
     with those who, by virtue of experience or ability, needed 
     her help. She brought out the best in others; just as she 
     demanded the best from herself.
       In our collective mind's eye, we can still see her striding 
     purposefully down a hall with her arms full of folders, 
     trailed by some hapless Ambassadorial nominee whose future 
     had been entrusted to Meg's capable hands.
       We see her, hugely pregnant, maneuvering around swivel 
     chairs and outthrust elbows on the cramped dais of the House 
     International Relations Committee.
       We see her serious and firm, forearms chopping the air for 
     emphasis, persuading us with eloquence and passion that doing 
     the right thing is also the smart thing.
       We see her relaxing at an office party, gold bracelets 
     flashing, surrounded by flowers from her garden, a cherub's 
     face aglow with health and life, 100 megawatt smile turned on 
     full.
       We see her where she most belonged, with Duffy, her partner 
     of 24 years, and with their children.
       And as we see her, we also hear that inimitable laugh, 
     which was not exactly musical, but which conveyed a love and 
     enjoyment of

[[Page E1904]]

     living that somehow makes what happened even harder to 
     believe and accept.
       Meg knew the impermanence of life. She lost her mother to 
     cancer and a sister to cystic fibrosis. So she made the most 
     of every single day.
       The poet, William Blake, wrote that:

     He who binds himself to a joy
     Does the winged life destroy
     But he who kisses the joy as it flies
     Lives in eternity's sunrise.

       No force, not even life itself, could bind Meg Donovan or 
     ground her flight. She was only 47. But, in that time, her 
     gifts to those of us who are gathered here and to those from 
     around the world who have benefited directly or indirectly 
     from her commitment, were full and rich.
       This morning, as she looks down upon us, I know that she 
     would expect us to cry and that, if she could, she would 
     herself hand us the tissues. But she would also want us to be 
     thankful for our time together, and to dedicate ourselves to 
     improving our own lives by helping others.
       We are sad today, but our sorrow is accompanied by the 
     abundance of joy in the memories we share, the life we 
     celebrate and the love that surrounds us.
       May that joy melt, over time, the clouds of our grief.
       May Meg's family, especially, draw comfort from our 
     affection and from the deep respect we held for her.
       And may Meg Donovan rest in peace, for we will never, never 
     forget her.

     

                          ____________________