[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 60 (Thursday, April 29, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4422-S4423]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    IN HONOR OF SENATOR DAVID PRYOR

  Mrs. LINCOLN. Mr. President, I rise today to do something that I know 
my fellow colleagues in the Senate will be very interested in, and that 
is to pay tribute to one of the Senate's esteemed graduates and a role 
model for all Americans, former Senator David Pryor.
  As a young woman and a former Congresswoman from Arkansas, I have 
always looked up to Senator David Pryor for his intelligence, his 
dedication, his tenacity and his compassion for his fellow man.
  Now, I have found a new reason to admire my former colleague and 
long-time friend. For those of you who don't know, last week David 
Pryor left his current post at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government.
  No, he didn't take a job at Yale or even an Ambassadorship. He has 
gone to Kosovo. Not as a diplomat or as a U.S. official, not even as a 
Harvard professor, but as a hands-on volunteer who is helping care for 
Kosovo refugees in Albania.
  I am sure that many of you who served with David Pryor and already 
know him as a great humanitarian are not in the least bit surprised by 
this.
  Senator Pryor recently signed on with the International Rescue 
Mission, a New York based group which was started by Albert Einstein to 
help those suffering under Hitler's regime. The organization is 
currently building shelters and assembling sanitation systems to 
improve living conditions for thousands of displaced Albanians.
  Senator Pryor loaded up his suitcase with gifts for the refugee 
children--candy bars and crayons. And he told the International Rescue 
Mission that he was going there to work for 30 to 60 days.
  Some may ask what prompted David Pryor to take this step. By all 
accounts, he has had a remarkable career--serving as a Senator and the 
Governor of my home state and the state legislature as one of its 
youngest members.
  He has been able to continue his love of politics by teaching young 
people at

[[Page S4423]]

Harvard's esteemed school of Government. And he has a wonderful family, 
who he enjoys immensely and who loves him dearly. It all sounds like a 
pretty full life.
  When asked by a friend why he made the decision to go to Kosovo, 
Pryor responded that he was too young to fight in World War II and he 
was too involved in his own career during the civil rights struggle to 
contribute much in that event.
  Now, later in life he was struck by the reports and pictures coming 
out of the Yugoslav region. He was concerned for the thousands of 
children and families who were in need and who he wanted to do 
something for. So, after a week of deliberating within himself, he woke 
his wife in the middle of the night and said, ``Honey, we've got to 
talk.'' A week later, off he went.
  Since he has been in Albania, Senator Pryor has reported once back to 
his family and sent a fascinating letter to friends, family and former 
staff. He works in a camp digging latrines and assisting the Red Cross 
efforts to secure supplies. Last Saturday he bought 5,000 bars of soap 
and diapers for 1,000 babies.
  ``Being here a week makes me wonder about our world and how people 
can do such unthinkable, brutal things to other humans,'' Senator Pryor 
wrote. ``It is a world of unreality.''
  He says of the men ``All their incentive and pride has been stripped 
from them and they having nothing left.''
  About half of the dislocated refugees in the camp where Senator Pryor 
works are children. They are scared. They are tired. They are hungry. 
And above all, they are devastatingly sad. They mourn lost loved ones 
and ache to return to their homeland.
  Senator Pryor also shared with his family the stories of two women, 
one whose daughter had been raped at the hands of a Serb police 
officer; the other a young mother has been separated from her three 
children, all under the age of 5, for more than a month. She was forced 
to flee her home, abandon her life and possessions in Yugoslavia, and 
now continues to desperately search for her family, her small children.
  These are just some of the images Senator David Pryor is seeing on 
his trip. They are even more heart wrenching than any of us could 
imagine.
  Whether or not you support U.S. involvement in the Kosovo region, 
none of us can imagine or ignore the human tragedy that is unfolding 
along its borders. Every day our televisions and newspapers carry new 
images of the suffering--new reports of atrocities by Yugoslav troops.
  I, for one, feel better about the humanitarian conditions and the 
thousands who are suffering, knowing that David Pryor is lending a hand 
and leading with his heart.
  My generation has yet to see the kind of nationwide mobilization and 
spirit of volunteerism that swept our country during World War II and 
the Korean War. My mother has often told me of rationing gas and 
preserving food. She told me of joining together with friends and 
family to plant a victory garden and to make morale-boosting gifts to 
send to our troops overseas.
  I have such enormous respect for the efforts of all Americans during 
that time and I hope we as a nation can join together in support of our 
troops and the humanitarian efforts to help the Kosovo refugees now.
  I commend Senator David Pryor's efforts, wish him well, and urge all 
of us to take note of his selfless example.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Fitzgerald). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.

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