[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 176 (Tuesday, December 18, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Pages S13460-S13461]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

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                    TRIBUTE TO JAMES KEVIN O'CONNELL

 Mr. DODD. Mr. President, I rise today to recognize and submit 
for the Record the eulogy delivered by my colleague from Connecticut, 
Senator Joe Lieberman, at the December 5 funeral mass for his beloved 
friend, James Kevin O'Connell. I urge all my colleagues to take the 
time to read this heartfelt tribute to a man who so touched Senator 
Lieberman, as well as anyone else who had the pleasure to have known 
him, as did I.
  Jimmy O'Connell was best known as Senator Lieberman's driver for 30 
years, but as Senator Lieberman makes clear in his beautiful tribute, 
Jimmy was much, much more than that. One could not have known Jimmy 
without thinking him a friend, someone to whom you could turn for a 
quick joke, or a deep philosophical insight.
  Jimmy, born and raised in New Haven, was truly a great Nutmegger, and 
a fine American. He spent his life caring for his family, his friends, 
and his community, Jimmy served for 3 decades as a proud member of the 
New Haven Police force.
  Senator Lieberman's tribute reminds us of the value of life, the 
value of relationships, and the special place in our hearts for Jimmy 
O'Connell.
  The eulogy follows.
       I want to thank Mrs. Agnes O'Connell, Brother Kevin 
     O'Connell and the rest of Jimmy's family for giving me the 
     honor of speaking at this funeral mass for him. And, I also 
     want to thank the O'Connell family for all they did to make 
     James Kevin the wonderful man he was.
       When a newspaper reporter called on Sunday and asked how I 
     would describe what Jimmy did for me, the words that came out 
     of my mouth were that Jimmy's friendship was one of God's 
     greatest gifts to me. That is how I would describe what he 
     did for me. Jimmy was my friend.
       For more than three decades, 31 years, I benefitted from 
     Jimmy's wise counsel, his extraordinary intelligence, his 
     warm wit, and his absolute loyalty. I didn't like it when 
     someone referred to Jimmy as my driver because he was so much 
     more than that. But he did drive, and together we had quite a 
     ride over these three decades and met quite a variety of 
     people along the way. We extended each other's reach. From 
     his original political hero Dick Lee to Donald Trump, from 
     Arthur Barbieri to Ariel Sharon, from Vinnie Mauro to Teddy 
     Kennedy. From Hank Parker to Hosni Mubarak, from Jose 
     Cabranes in his Federal Court Chambers in New Haven to Joe 
     Dougherty at his Federal prison cell in New York. Before I 
     left for Washington to become a U.S. Senator in 1989, Jimmy 
     took me for blessings from Archbishop Whalen in Hartford to 
     Rabbi Schneerson in Brooklyn. Together we went from 
     Ridgefield to Riverdale, Westville to Washington, from Legion 
     Avenue to Los Angeles, from Fairhaven to Florida. Now, I can 
     hear Jimmy saying, ``if there were a few more Fairhaveners 
     counting votes in Florida, you would have flown up here this 
     morning on Air Force Two.''
       Every now and then during our travels, I would ask Jimmy 
     whether he was following the right directions, and he would 
     quickly and decisively instruct me as to my role in our 
     relationship. ``You take care of war and peace, and I'll get 
     us safely to our next stop.''
       And he always did. In all our years and thousands of miles 
     on the road together, Jimmy never had an accident. Now, when 
     one considers how rapidly James drove and how often he drove 
     with one hand at most on the wheel, that safety record is 
     just one more proof of the existence of a caring God.
       Yes, God watched out for Jimmy O'Connell, and Jimmy 
     O'Connell watched out for God.
       His faith anchored his life. It gave him perspective, and 
     purpose, and humor and the courage and strength to face and 
     overcome the troubles and challenges he faced, as he did so 
     successfully and inspiringly. Jimmy didn't just go to church 
     faithfully; he lived a life of faith. You could see it in 
     this strength and in his selflessness, in the way he 
     treated everyone he met with the respect and interest and 
     joy due to each of God's children. He loved people. He 
     particularly loved talking to people. Part of that, of 
     course, was the Irish gift with language. But talking was 
     also Jimmy's way of connecting with people, of engaging 
     them, of sharing what he knew and learning what others had 
     to teach him. And, in that, he taught us all a lot about 
     life.
       In the days since Jimmy's death, I have been impressed and 
     touched by how many people he knew and how many people knew 
     Jimmy, and by how many of them remember how interested he was 
     in them, and how much he cared about them.
       Jimmy was a devoted and loving son and brother, a good and 
     trustworthy friend, and a generous and involved uncle, to his 
     own nieces and nephews, of whom he was so proud, and to so 
     many others he adopted, including my own children and 
     grandchildren for whom he became ``Uncle Jimmy.'' Warm, 
     caring, fun, I cannot remember an important event in the 
     lives of any of them or us, happy or sad, when Jimmy was not 
     there.
       Jimmy's faith also helped to shape his politics. Of course, 
     he loved politics as process and got much pleasure from the 
     rich mix of people in it. But Jimmy also had a philosophy, a 
     point of view that I believe came from the social ethics of 
     his Church, and I learned it well in the thousands of 
     conversations we had in the car over the years. He respected 
     people of wealth, particularly those who made it on their 
     own, but Jimmy's heart was with the working men and women, 
     with people in need, particularly children, with poor people 
     trying hard to move up and build a better life for their 
     children. As our mutual friend, Jim Kennedy said, ``Some 
     politicians pay consultants to tell them what people are 
     thinking. Jimmy O'Connell was the voice of the people.'' He 
     wanted government to be there for them when they needed it, 
     as Jimmy himself was there for them when they needed him. He 
     was a doer of good deeds and was so proud of the work his 
     elementary school, St. Francis in Fairhaven, was doing to 
     educate the next generation of America's children who are 
     working their way up.
       Jimmy was devoted to the Roman Catholic Church, as he liked 
     to call it, but he also had the greatest respect for, and 
     interest in other people's faith. I often said that James 
     Kevin O'Connell knew more about Judaism than most Jews. Over 
     the years he also taught me a lot about Catholicism, its 
     rituals and rules, and its history and heroes. In fact, 
     Jimmy's love of this church and love of his politics came 
     together in a great fascination with movements within the 
     church hierarchy.
       For instance, when Edward Egan became the Bishop of 
     Bridgeport, Jimmy wryly prohesized to me that Bishop Egan 
     would not be buried in Bridgeport. In other words, that 
     Bridgeport would not be his last stop. And, of course, this 
     is the very same Edward Egan who is now Cardinal Egan of New 
     York.
       Jimmy's love for politics was joined naturally with his 
     belief in public service and civil service. For almost three 
     decades he served the city of his birth with skill and honor 
     as a proud member of its police department, rising to the 
     rank of Lieutenant at his death. He loved his New Haven 
     Police colleagues and greatly enjoyed our meetings with 
     police around the state, and throughout the country, who 
     were members of what he thought of as a great fraternity.
       Jimmy's passing early Sunday morning came much too soon. 
     But I can assure you, as a matter of faith, that he was more 
     prepared for his death than we were. The loss of Jimmy is 
     very painful to me. I will miss him deeply as will so many 
     others who are here today. But as we experience our grief, we 
     should remember Jimmy's faith and Jimmy's words.
       He said to me more than once, ``Remember none of us is 
     getting out of here alive.'' And he believed with a perfect 
     faith that this life, as enjoyable as he found it, was just a 
     bridge to an even better place, and so he did not fear death.
       Jimmy often asked me to do something for somebody else, but 
     he never asked me to do much of anything for himself. Years 
     ago a mutual friend told me that he had asked Jimmy what he 
     really wanted from me, and Jimmy said, ``I want to be there 
     to turn the lights off when he leaves the office for the last 
     time.'' That was Jimmy.
       Well, if the good Lord gives me the privilege of exiting 
     the office on my own for the

[[Page S13461]]

     last time, I'm going to leave the lights on, for Jimmy.
       Once in the car we were talking about our visions of the 
     world to come, and I thought I would end the conversation 
     when I said that I would probably go first because I was 
     older, and so I would send him a report on what it was like 
     up there. But Jimmy, as usual, had the last word.
       ``You never know,'' he said, ``I might go first. And if I 
     do, when you get to the gates, just give me a call, and I'll 
     drive over and pick you up.''
       I will do that, James, and I know we'll have a lot to talk 
     about.
       The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh. Blessed be the Name of 
     the Lord.

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