[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 138 (Thursday, October 2, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Page S12365]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       MOTHER TERESA OF CALCUTTA

  Mrs. Boxer. Mr. President, I rise to speak in praise of the late 
Mother Teresa of Calcutta, who will be canonized as a Roman Catholic 
saint later this month.
  Her life and work were a blessing to everyone, regardless of creed or 
religion. No one who ever saw her--even on television--will ever forget 
Mother Teresa: the tiny nun with the wrinkled face, beaming smile, and 
penetrating eyes filled with love and understanding. And no one who 
learned of her work among the poorest of the poor will ever forget her 
gentle challenge to us all to do more for our fellow human beings.
  Mother Teresa inspired us not only by her good works but by the 
spirit of love and respect for every individual that permeated her 
work. As she herself said in accepting the 1979 Nobel Peace Prize, 
``Love begins at home, and it is not how much we do, but how much love 
we put in the action that we do.'' She accepted the prize ``in the name 
of the hungry, the naked, the homeless, of the crippled, of the blind, 
of the lepers, of all those people who feel unwanted, unloved, uncared-
for throughout society, people who have become a burden to the society 
and are shunned by everyone.''
  In presenting the prize to Mother Teresa, Chairman John Sanness of 
the Norwegian Nobel Committee noted: ``The hallmark of her work has 
been respect for the individual's worth and dignity. . . . In her eyes 
the person who, in the accepted sense, is the recipient, is also the 
giver, and the one who gives most. Giving--giving something of 
oneself--is what confers real joy, and the person who is allowed to 
give is the one who receives the most precious gift.''
  In her final years, Mother Teresa focused her attention and 
prodigious energy on establishing hospice programs for people with 
AIDS. ``It is a terrible tragedy to have AIDS,'' she said, ``but it is 
worse to be unloved.'' Perhaps more than any other person, Mother 
Teresa changed the way that the world sees AIDS. The broad, bipartisan 
support for international AIDS programs that has emerged in the United 
States Congress is largely a result of her work and message of love and 
compassion.

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