[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 68 (Thursday, May 23, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4837-S4838]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


 HONORING LILLIAN AND JACK BURRIS, JULIE AND CHARLES CAWLEY, JOAN AND 
                             STACEY MOBLEY

 Mr. BIDEN. Mr. President, last week I had the privilege of 
attending a dinner honoring six extraordinary Delawareans, three 
couples who have generously extended the success, spirit and strength 
of their own lives to the immeasurable benefit of our State. They were 
honored for, what I thought was a wonderful phrase, their 
``transformational leadership'' by the Delaware Region of the National 
Conference for Community and Justice, the NCCJ.
  Lillian and Jack Burris have volunteered for and contributed to more 
public service organizations than many of us could name. Last year, 
they were honored as a couple with the United Way's Alexis de 
Tocqueville Society Award.
  Among other endeavors, Lillian is a charter member of the Milford 
Housing Corporation, a trustee of Wesley College and a member of the 
board of the Kent and Sussex Counties Mancus Foundation, which serves 
disabled citizens. Perhaps most impressively, she was Delaware's Mother 
of the Year in 1992.
  Jack has been chairman of the State Integrity Commission for over a 
decade; he is a 35-year board member at Milford Memorial Hospital, a 
former trustee of the University of Delaware, and in 1994, was inducted 
into the Delaware Business Leaders Hall of Fame. He can still out-work 
colleagues half his age.
  Julie and Charlie Cawley have become remarkable leaders, both in the 
business community and personally, in supporting charitable and 
educational organizations through their Cawley Family Foundation and 
the MBNA Foundation, which coordinates the considerable volunteer 
efforts of the more than 10,000 MBNA employees in Delaware.
  Julie, a former special education teacher, is a leader in some of the 
most effective nonprofit organizations and educational efforts in our 
State, including the Ministry of Caring, Catholic Charities, Meals on 
Wheels, the Centreville School and Bayard House, a residential program 
for pregnant teenagers and young women.
  Charlie serves on the board executive committees of the University of 
Delaware and the Grand Opera House in Wilmington. His other board 
memberships, past and present, are too numerous to name I'm afraid I 
might leave out something important but I know he takes particular 
pride in his service on the board of the Metropolitan Wilmington Urban 
League. And Charlie not only serves, he truly leads, inspiring others 
to get involved.
  Joan and Stacey Mobley are one of those impressive doctor-lawyer 
couples, but despite all those advanced degrees, they have made good 
certainly as community leaders. They currently co-chair the capital 
campaign of the Delaware Art Museum, which is undertaking a major 
renovation and expansion.
  Joan Mobley, M.D., serves on the board of the University of Delaware, 
is an advocate for the Open College Door Program at Delaware State 
University, and serves on the board of overseers for the Delaware 
College of Art and Design. Joan also sits on the Board of Professional 
Responsibility of the Delaware Supreme Court, and chairs the nominating 
committee of our YWCA.
  Stacey Mobley, lawyer, chaired one of the most successful statewide 
charitable fund-raising campaigns in Delaware history, at a time when 
it wasn't easy, raising $27 million for the United Way. He, too, has 
served on numerous boards through the years, including his leadership 
here in Washington on behalf of the National Building Museum and the 
Arena Stage. Last year, Stacey was appointed by our Governor to chair 
the Delaware Strategic Economic Council again, taking the job when the 
challenge is considerable.
  Six extraordinary people, and perhaps the most extraordinary thing 
about them is that for every public effort, every board membership, 
every charitable contribution that I could name and document, each of 
them has undertaken many more private acts of generosity and 
``transformational leadership.'' It is my very great privilege to know 
all of them personally, and to be able to honor them as friends, as 
well as community leaders.
  I would like to put into the Record the comments made by Stacey 
Mobley, accepting the NCCJ award on behalf of all six honorees, and I 
ask that his remarks be printed in the Record.
  The remarks follows:

                       Remarks by Stacy J. Mobley

       On behalf of Joan and myself, let me say that we are 
     humbled to be honored by the NCCJ tonight--and to be honored 
     along with Lillian and Jack Burris and Julie and Charlie 
     Cawley. Considering their extraordinary contributions to 
     Delaware over the years, it's truly overpowering to be 
     included with them.
       The Cawleys and the Burrises have asked me--in the interest 
     of time--to deliver remarks for all six of us. So let me 
     begin by saying we all extend our thanks not only to the 
     NCCJ--which has so generously honored us--but to our family 
     and our friends who have bolstered us through the years, 
     often served with us, answered our pleas for contributions or 
     support, or just agreed to share their ideas at a focus 
     group. As Dr. King once said: ``Our destinies are tied 
     together. None of us can make it alone.'' We're all part of 
     an extended family--a community of friends--that nurtures 
     each other's dreams and shares each other's happiness. So the 
     six of us would like to take a moment to thank all of you who 
     have been such wonderfully supportive family, and great 
     companions through our lives.
       At the first meeting with Muriel Gilman and Barbie Riegel 
     to discuss this award, they explained that the NCCJ was 
     honoring us for what it calls ``transformational leadership'' 
     in bettering our communities. That seems a most appropriate 
     theme to focus on, considering the work of the NCCJ, itself. 
     For 75 years, the NCCJ has encouraged ``transformational 
     leadership'' across this nation as the organization has 
     helped fight bias, bigotry and racism, while promoting 
     understanding and respect among all peoples. The work has 
     never been easy--and I might suggest that it has never been 
     more important a task than it is today.
       Sadly, understanding and respect among all peoples seem to 
     be dwindling values in our world. Despite the advanced 
     telecommunications devices we invent, and despite the 
     Internet, which puts the wisdom of the greatest minds at our 
     fingertips, we still seem incapable of learning from the 
     past. As we look with empathy and helplessness at the 
     conflicts that tear apart peoples around the world, we wonder 
     why these twin values of understanding and respect for each 
     other's differences are so elusive. People of differing 
     religions, races and ethnicity's have caused each other 
     tremendous pain over centuries of recorded time because fear 
     and hatred have too often been instilled from infancy. And 
     regrettably, nobody seems above it. It has been true of 
     Protestants, Catholics, Jews, Muslims, Buddists, Serbs, 
     Croats . . . and the list goes on. In the places where there 
     is no understanding of each other, there is no mutual 
     respect. And as surely as night follows day, distrust and 
     hatred seem to follow.
       Conversely, in the places where there is an effort to 
     understand and respect each other's differences, people can 
     live and work side-by-side, gaining strength from their 
     diversity.
       As our world struggles with seemingly insoluble problems--
     in the Middle East, the Balkans, Northern Ireland, India, 
     Africa, and a dozen other global hot spots--we find ourselves 
     praying for an outbreak of peace. We all share such a 
     spectacularly beautiful little island in this massive solar 
     system, you wonder--as Rodney King asked: ``Why can't we all 
     just get along?''
       And while those of us in the comparatively little outpost 
     called Wilmington, Delaware, are not in the position to solve 
     the world's problems, we give thanks in our own community for 
     an organization such as NCCJ which has--as its reason for 
     existence--the goal of bringing people together. NCCJ helps 
     build ``communities of justice'' through an array of programs 
     that reach our young people, extend into the workplace, and 
     cross lines of faith. And events, such as this one, tonight, 
     remind us all how important it is for each of us to 
     strengthen our communities by ``giving back'' in some 
     meaningful way. Some of us ``give back'' with our time and 
     talents, enlivening Boards and Task Forces with our creative 
     energies. Some of us ``give back'' by writing generous checks 
     to support capital campaigns to expand our communities. 
     Others of us have chosen to build a business, to pursue 
     public service, or to mentor at-risk kids.
       But through our individual actions, we're all saying that 
     we understand the interpersonal bonds implied in the word 
     ``community''--and the commitment in the word ``friendship.'' 
     This room is filled with a community of people who are 
     remarkably different from each other--in gender, race, 
     national origin, sexual orientation, age, and religion. Yet 
     we treasure our community so deeply that we have made a 
     commitment to work together to make Delaware the kind of 
     peaceful place in which we'd be proud to raise our children 
     and our grandchildren. . . . A place that teaches not hatred 
     or intolerance, but understanding, and respect among all 
     peoples. Our community is not perfect, and our nation is not 
     perfect. But there's virtue in the ongoing commitment to make 
     it so--and the NCCJ is at the heart of that effort.
       Speaking for the Cawleys, the Burrises and the Mobleys, I 
     extend a very sincere thank

[[Page S4838]]

     you for honoring us tonight. And we, in turn, salute and 
     thank NCCJ for your tireless efforts at fostering a just and 
     inclusive society, and for enriching the community we all 
     cherish. Thank you.

                          ____________________