[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 140 (Tuesday, October 7, 2003)]
[House]
[Page H9260]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        HONORING MILLIE O'NEILL

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Frank) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. FRANK. Mr. Speaker, sometimes the cliches come true. I thought 
about that when I got a phone call last night telling me the death of 
Millie O'Neill. I was profoundly sorry.
  She was an extraordinary woman of warmth and strength and humor, a 
genuine believer in and participant in this American political system 
through the real partnership she had with her husband, the late Speaker 
Tip O'Neill.
  All of the cliches we summon up about the partnership of marriage, 
about a woman who could combine toughness when it was appropriate with 
gentleness at other times, all of those Millie O'Neill exemplified.
  I had a great privilege when I came here in 1981 as a Member of the 
House from Massachusetts. I became, particularly as a Massachusetts 
Member, but not only those of us from Massachusetts, a member of that 
extended family that the O'Neills presided over. I had known other 
members, Tom O'Neill, the oldest son who was a legislative classmate of 
myself, the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Markey), the gentleman 
from Massachusetts (Mr. Delahunt), and a former member, Mr. Donnelly, 
we were all elected to the legislature that same year, and so we came 
to know each other then.
  I got to know over the over the years other members of that family, 
the O'Neills' son, Kip, the daughters, Susan and Rosemary, the son, 
Michael, who sadly passed away a few years ago. And I interacted with 
them and did a lot of work together with them.
  Millie O'Neill was not always a presence here. She came down when her 
husband became the Speaker, but once she did, she became a vital part 
of this city. I was privileged as a Massachusetts Member from time to 
time to be at the events where we were celebrating any number of 
holidays or other important political functions. Sometimes you go to 
those things reluctantly. Sometimes you finish a day here and just want 
to go home. But, Mr. Speaker, when you knew that Tip and Millie O'Neill 
were going to be at an event, then you wanted to go because you knew it 
would be suffused with laughter and warmth and all of the best things 
about people coming together. Because separately Millie O'Neill and Tip 
O'Neill were wonderful people of strength and of great commitment; 
together there was a synergy. They brought out in each other the best 
of the best.

                              {time}  2030

  They enjoyed each other's company, and they made it impossible to be 
in their company and not to share in that enjoyment.
  When we mourn, Mr. Speaker, we mourn for the person who has passed 
away. We mourn also for ourselves. We mourn for our lost memories, for 
the good times we once had and will not have again; and as I said when 
I learned of the death of Millie O'Neill, I was profoundly saddened by 
the passing of that wonderful woman, and I was also saddened myself to 
realize that never again would I be in her company, never again would I 
be one of the beneficiaries of what she radiated.
  So, Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the chance to come say to Tom and Kip 
and Rosemary and Susan how sorry I am; but I am confident that very 
soon, having had the privilege to be the children of that wonderful 
woman, that the very, very good memories of their mother, just as they 
have of their father, will crowd out the pain.

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