[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 54 (Thursday, May 4, 2000)]
[House]
[Page H2513]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          THE PASSING OF HIS EMINENCE, JOHN CARDINAL O'CONNOR

  (Mr. GILMAN asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, it is with deep regret that I rise to honor 
an outstanding American, one who I was especially pleased and honored 
to call a friend.
  His Eminence John Cardinal O'Connor's accomplishments as a priest, as 
a chaplain, as a humanitarian made him one of the most respected 
Americans of our time.
  In my congressional district in New York, Cardinal O'Connor was 
always on hand for school graduations, for cornerstone dedications, for 
religious services with his message of hope. He was known for promoting 
racial and religious harmony and for advocating the best education 
possible for the children, regardless of race, religion or financial 
status.
  We must not forget that Cardinal O'Connor welcomed AIDS patients into 
the Catholic hospitals of New York back at a time when other 
institutions of medicine were turning them away. He ministered to the 
sick, to the disabled, and was a great friend of the poor.
  All Americans join in expressing condolences to the residents of the 
New York Archdiocese, to Cardinal O'Connor's family and friends, and to 
all who were touched by this remarkable individual.

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