[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 120 (Monday, October 2, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Page S9561]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         REMEMBERING CARL ROWAN

  Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, recently, a great voice was silenced when 
Carl Thomas Rowan passed away. As a newspaper columnist, he articulated 
the problems and predicaments of working Americans. As a Presidential 
advisor, Mr. Rowan spoke for the rights not only of minorities but also 
for all Americans who were getting the short end of the stick, as we 
say back in the West Virginia hills.
  Carl Rowan and I came from similar backgrounds. We both grew up in 
poor coal-mining communities and we never forgot our roots. Carl often 
talked about growing up without running water, without electricity, 
without those basic amenities that so many people take for granted 
today. As they did for me, those humble beginnings provided Carl Rowan 
with the burning desire to make a difference in his community and in 
his country. And make a difference he did.
  The only thing stronger than Carl Rowan's voice was his conviction. 
He stood for basic principles--equality and freedom--and those 
principles guided him at every step in his life. Earlier this year, 
Carl Rowan wrote:

       Men and women do not live only by what is attainable; they 
     are driven more by what they dream of and aspire to that 
     which might be forever beyond their grasp.

  That ideal resonated not only in his columns but also in his life. 
Instead of simply bemoaning the fact that a college education was too 
expensive for many underprivileged children, Mr. Rowan in 1987 created 
the Project Excellence Foundation, which has made nearly $80 million 
available to students for academic scholarships. Instead of allowing 
the amputation of part of his right leg to slow him down, Mr. Rowan 
walked--and even danced; even danced--faster than doctors expected, and 
he then pushed for greater opportunities for the disabled. When others 
saw obstacles, Carl Rowan saw challenges. When others saw 
impossibilities, Carl Rowan saw opportunities. Instead of cursing the 
darkness, Carl Rowan lighted the candles.
  Mr. Rowan wrote:

       Wise people will remember that the Declaration of 
     Independence and the Preamble to our Constitution are mostly 
     unattainable wishful thinking or make-believe assertions that 
     were horizons beyond the reality of life at the time they 
     were written.

  Carl Rowan always reached beyond the horizon--he always went beyond 
the horizon--and he helped others to aspire to do the same. With the 
passing of Carl Rowan, journalism has lost one of its best, the 
underprivileged have lost a friend, and the Nation has lost a part of 
its social conscience.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor and 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. SPECTER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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