[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 31 (Thursday, March 11, 2004)]
[Senate]
[Page S2700]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    MIKE O'CALLAGHAN: A TRUE PATRIOT

  Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, I rise to bring to the attention of my 
colleagues the passing of a true American patriot and hero--Mike 
O'Callaghan. While I mourn Governor O'Callaghan's passing, I am 
heartened that we here in this Chamber will continue to feel the impact 
of this great man through the service of his protege and former 
student--Assistant Democratic Leader Harry Reid.
  The essence of Governor O'Callaghan is perhaps best captured by an 
effort he undertook in Nicaragua in 1996. He was in that war-torn 
country to observe elections that would mark its first ever peaceful 
transition of power between democratically elected presidents.
  At 66, Governor O'Callaghan could have asked to observe elections in 
the nation's capital or its second city, but he insisted on going north 
to the Honduran border to observe elections among some of the most 
marginalized people in a country of marginalized people. He had to go 
there in a battered truck over rained out roads because, he said, these 
were his people whom he had gotten to know in the 1980s, and he wanted 
to be with them as they celebrated the democracy they had earned.
  That determination and generosity of spirit marked Governor 
O'Callaghan's life. He was highly decorated--with the Purple Heart, the 
Bronze Star with a V for valor, and the Silver Star--during the Korean 
War, during which he lost a leg.
  Aware of that bravery and personal strength, Sargent Shriver reached 
out to Mike O'Callaghan to make him a point man in President Kennedy's 
and President Johnson's fight against poverty.
  Also aware of that bravery and strength of character, the people of 
Nevada made him their Governor from 1971 to 1979.
  It was Harry Reid's awareness of O'Callaghan's bravery and character 
that led me, with great pride, to recommend him just last month to 
serve on the Veterans Benefit Commission.
  Governor O'Callaghan died last Friday morning doing what he did each 
and every morning of his life attending daily mass before he went to 
work at the Las Vegas Sun. He also fought for the poor and the 
disenfranchised--from Korea to Nicaragua to Nevada--each and every day 
of his life.
  While we are saddened by the loss of Mike O'Callaghan, we can take 
comfort in the knowledge that his generosity of spirit, his strength of 
character, and his devotion to his State and country will not soon be 
forgotten, and that his values and commitment to public service live on 
in our colleague, and his close friend, Harry Reid.

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