[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 47 (Thursday, April 13, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2769-S2770]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. BROWNBACK (for himself, Mr. Abraham, Mr. Akaka, Mr. 
        Allard, Mr. Ashcroft, Mr. Bingaman, Mr. Breaux, Mr. Bunning, 
        Mr. Burns, Mr. Campbell, Mr. L. Chafee, Ms. Collins, Mr. 
        Conrad, Mr. Coverdell, Mr. Craig, Mr. Crapo, Mr. Daschle, Mr. 
        DeWine, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Dodd, Mr. Domenici, Mr. Edwards, Mr. 
        Enzi, Mrs. Feinstein, Mr. Frist, Mr. Fitzgerald, Mr. Grams, Mr. 
        Grassley, Mr. Gregg, Mr. Hagel, Mr. Helms, Mr. Hollings, Mr. 
        Hutchinson, Mrs. Hutchison, Mr. Inhofe, Mr. Inouye, Mr. 
        Johnson, Mr. Kennedy, Mr. Kerrey, Mr. Kerry, Ms. Landrieu, Mr. 
        Leahy, Mr. Lieberman, Mr. Levin, Mr. Lott, Mr. Mack, Mr. 
        McCain, Mr. McConnell, Ms. Mikulski, Mr. Moynihan, Mr. 
        Murkowski, Mrs. Murray, Mr. Roberts, Mr. Roth, Mr. Santorum, 
        Mr. Schumer, Mr. Sessions, Mr. Shelby, Mr. Smith of New 
        Hampshire, Mr. Smith of Oregon, Ms. Snowe, Mr. Specter, Mr. 
        Stevens, Mr. Thomas, Mr. Torricelli, Mr. Voinovich, and Mr. 
        Warner):
  S. 2453. A bill to authorize the President to award a gold medal on 
behalf of Congress to Pope John Paul II in recognition of his 
outstanding and enduring contributions to humanity, and for other 
purposes; to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.


             congressional gold medal for pope john paul ii

  Mr. BROWNBACK. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce legislation 
awarding the Congressional Gold Medal to Pope John Paul II.
  Mr. President, Pope John Paul II is the most recognized person in the 
world, having personally visited tens of millions, in almost every 
continent and country. He has been one of the greatest pastoral leaders 
of this century, fearlessly guiding the Catholic Church into the new 
millennium. Due to his tremendous faith and leadership he was elected 
bishop at a very early age, and elected to the papacy on October 16, 
1978, at the age of 58.
  Though many people see the Pope as an important statesman, diplomat, 
and political figure, Pope John Paul II is much more than that. As 
spiritual leader to the world's 1 billion Catholics, the Pope has 
commenced a great dialog with modern culture, one that transcends the 
boundaries of political or economic ideology.
  As have his predecessors of happy memory, he stands boldly as an ever 
vigilant sign of contradiction to a culture that is darkened by the 
clouds of death. In the face of this mounting storm, he has tirelessly 
proclaimed the need for a culture of life.
  In what is now one of the Pope's most famous encyclicals, and the one 
which he regards to be the most significant of this pontificate, 
Evangelium Vitae (the Gospel of Life), the argues powerfully for an 
increased respect for all human life:

       Thirty years later, taking up the words of the Council and 
     with the same forcefulness I repeat that condemnation in the 
     name of the whole Church, certain that I am interpreting the 
     genuine sentiment of every upright conscience: ``Whatever is 
     opposed to life itself, such as any type of murder, genocide, 
     abortion, euthanasia, or willful self-destruction, whatever 
     violates the integrity of the human person, such as 
     mutilation, torments inflicted on body or mind, attempts to 
     coerce the will itself; whatever insults human dignity, such 
     as subhuman living conditions, arbitrary imprisonment, 
     deportation, slavery, prostitution, the selling of women and 
     children; as well as disgraceful working conditions, where 
     people are treated as mere instruments of gain rather than as 
     free and responsible persons; all these things and others 
     like them are infamies indeed. They poison human society, and 
     they do more harm to those who practice them than to those 
     who

[[Page S2770]]

     suffer from the injury. Moreover, they are a supreme dishonor 
     to the Creator.''

  That is from the Pope's Evangelium.
  Mr. President, the urgency of this message--the Pope's message--
becomes more acute by the day; particularly at the beginning of the new 
millennium.
  The Pope, having witnessed first-hand the brutal inhumanity of Nazi 
and Communist regimes, understands, in a way few of us can appreciate, 
the true dignity of each and every human being. He is a crusader 
against the offenses against human dignity that have transpired in the 
20th century. More than any other single person this century, Pope John 
Paul II has worked to protect the rights of each individual.
  As well, John Paul II has addressed almost every major question posed 
by the modern mind at the turn of the millennium.
  As noted by the biographer of the Pope, George Weigel, the Pope has 
provided answers to the questions and desires facing today's world: The 
human yearning for the sacred, the meaning of freedom, the quest for a 
new world order, the nature of good and evil, the moral challenge of 
prosperity, and the imperative of human solidarity in the emerging 
global civilization. Through his teaching, the Pope has brought the 
timeless principles of truth contained in the gospel into 
active conversation with contemporary life and thought. The Pope has 
started a peaceful dialogue between ideas of the modern world and the 
age-old truths contained in the Gospel message.

  One of the gospel messages emphasized by the Pope is the need for 
forgiveness and reconciliation with God, and with our sisters and 
brothers. A week before his historic personal pilgrimage to the Holy 
Land the Pope asked forgiveness from God on behalf of Christians who 
were inactive, or who were not active enough in opposing the forces of 
evil that have ravaged humanity during the past century.
  This apology preceded his recent personal pilgrimage to the Holy 
Land; a pilgrimage in which the Pope opened up yet another dialog--this 
time with the people of the Middle East--a region ripped apart by 
centuries old conflict, bitterness, and war. Again, in the Holy Land, 
he empathized with those who suffered under the tyranny of the Nazi 
regime. The Pope highlighted during his trip, and he has on other 
occasions, his deep compassion for those who suffered under the 
brutality of Hitler's Germany and their genocidal war.
  In the midst of the conflict in the Holy Land, the Pope again shone 
through as a beacon of light and peace as he proclaimed yet again to 
the people of the Middle East and the World, the universal calls to 
holiness.
  As the New York Times so eloquently noted after the Pope's visit to 
Jerusalem's Yad Vashem:

       John Paul has done more than any modern pope to end the 
     estrangement between Catholics and Jews. He was the first 
     pope to pray in a synagogue, the first to acknowledge the 
     failure of individual Catholics to deter the Holocaust and 
     the first to call anti-Semitism a sin ``against God and 
     man.''
       There is a valedictory quality to the Pope's actions and 
     travels as the church approaches its third millennium. He 
     seems determined to trace the birth of Christianity in this 
     epochal year, to right the wrongs of the church and to bring 
     a spirit of conciliation to the Middle East. Not long ago he 
     went to Egypt and visited Mount Sinai, where Moses received 
     God's law. This week he stood atop Mount Nebo in Jordan and 
     looked across the Promised Land. He prayed in silence near 
     the places where Jesus was born and baptized. Most people as 
     infirm as John Paul would not dare make such strenuous trips. 
     But he seems to be a man on a mission, and the world is 
     better for it.

  That was from the New York Times.
  He is indeed a man on a mission. His message was peacefully conveyed 
in the Middle East to peoples with whom he has obvious deep religious 
differences. His serenity in the midst of such turmoil, as well as his 
obvious love for all people should be a model for us all as we 
encounter people in our daily life with whom we radically disagree, or 
with whom we have had a difficult relationship.
  His epoch journey to the Holy Land will be remembered by history. 
And, I have no doubt that his presence there will leave a lasting 
impression, and I hope that it will work to bring about true peace as 
well.
  His trip to the Middle East is just one particular example. The 
Pope's dialog with the modern era has taken him across the world, and 
has brought the Church into active conversation with people that many 
in the modern world have chosen to either forget or to ignore. It is a 
dialog that is ultimately a challenge to the people of the United 
States as well.
  For example, his trip to Cuba initiated a dialog between politically 
opposed forces both here in America and in Cuba.
  Also, Pope John Paul II's recent call to forgive the debt incurred by 
Third World countries during the past century, was and is, a challenge 
to the industrialized nations of the world to join hands in an effort 
to begin lifting the forgotten people of heavily indebted countries 
into the next millennium by providing some of the economic relief that 
they need. This is the challenge presented to those in industrialized 
countries, to remember and to help those who are less fortunate.
  The legislation I just introduced has been cosponsored by 66 of my 
Senate colleagues, and I am hopeful that we can pass this legislation 
quickly in order to honor so great a man who has done such great 
things.
                                 ______