[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 61 (Wednesday, May 5, 2004)]
[House]
[Pages H2628-H2629]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1945
                  CELEBRATING THE LIFE OF MARY McGRORY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Cole). Under a previous order of the 
House, the gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Slaughter) is recognized for 
5 minutes.
  Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to celebrate the life of a 
consummate patriot Mary McGrory, who passed away 2 weeks ago, and we 
may never see her like again. Mary was a loyal friend, a generous 
humanitarian, and most of all, a brilliant writer. Her lyrical 
commentary illustrated a command of the English language that was 
unparalleled. She used her talents to craft tough commentary, softened 
only by her steadfast compassion. Her allegiance to the defeat of 
injustice and the exposure of political phonies made her a champion to 
the underprivileged, a thorn in the side of policy makers, an icon to 
many, and a hero to me.
  I met Mary McGrory shortly after coming to Washington when I was 
first elected in 1986. And as part of my campaign, I had run against 
the Contras. I thought everybody was. But Mary singled me out as being 
somewhat unusual, and she interviewed me for an article shortly after I 
got here that she was writing about the Iran Contra hearings, and we 
became very fast friends. I certainly never expected that wonderful 
national icon Mary McGrory to seek me out, but I had always loved her 
articles and I was awestruck by the fact that we were friends.
  The passion with which she approached her life was remarkable. 
Nothing she did was done half-heartedly or without absolute conviction. 
As a result, her achievements as a journalist were preordained.
  Mary's story serves as an inspiration to women working to achieve 
their dreams. When she entered the field of journalism, men dominated 
it. Journalism was not an easy profession for a woman to break into. 
Her first assignment in Washington was ``gender appropriate'' for the 
time, writing the book reviews for the Washington Star. But then she 
covered the Army-McCarthy hearings in 1954. Mary McGrory was the first 
person in the country to announce and denounce Joe McCarthy

[[Page H2629]]

as a bully. She then earned a national reputation as a serious and 
credible journalist of the first magnitude.
  She grabbed the heart of the Nation with her coverage of President 
Kennedy's assassination. Her poetic tribute to his life and gentile 
commentary of his funeral comforted a grieving Nation.
  The national spotlight shined on Mary again in 1974 when she was 
awarded the Pulitzer Prize for commentary for her coverage of the 
Watergate scandal. She was most proud that her coverage landed her a 
spot on President Nixon's notorious ``enemies list.'' That recognition 
served not as a warning to tame her merciless analysis but as a 
validation for her relentless work ethic.
  When the Washington Star closed its doors in 1981, Mary was 
devastated. I am convinced, I believe, that she had lost her own true 
love. Although she would continue to write for the Washington Post, 
whom she also loved, her first allegiance was to the Star.
  My colleague has already talked about the wonderful work that she did 
with the orphans and the children needing help in this city for more 
than 5 decades, but I can never forget Mary McGrory the entertainer. I 
was a proud member of the Lower Macomb Street Choral Society for which 
we had to audition. Whether one was a diplomat, a media member, or 
anybody, they had to audition for that group in the comfort of her 
living room. Her infamous lasagnas fed our stomachs and her favorite 
Irish songs fed our hearts. It was a coveted invitation to go to McComb 
Street, and then for the last 10 years, Mary and I have had dinner 
together here in the Capitol just before the State of the Union 
address, and the next one for me will be extremely lonely.
  I last spoke with her on the day that the gentlewoman from California 
(Ms. Pelosi) rescued the portrait of Mary Theresa Norton from one of 
the Capitol closets. She had been the Chair of the Committee on Labor 
and was responsible for child labor laws and the fair labor standards, 
and we knew nothing about her. We were happy that day to find an 
article that Mary had written about Congresswoman Norton where she 
quoted the gentleman from Michigan's (Mr. Dingell) father as saying 
that Mary Theresa Norton could do anything that any man could do and do 
it better and do it faster, and it was a great honor to pay to her.
  I would like to end with one of Mary's favorite songs that we sang 
together with Phil Gailey sometimes at 2 and 3 in the morning, and they 
sang this at her funeral, and I know the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. 
Lewis), who is here in the audience, will know this.

     I'll meet you in the morning
     With a how do you do
     And will sit down the river
     And with rapture old acquaintance renew.

     You'll know me in the morning
     By the smile that I wear
     When I meet you in the morning
     In the city Four Square.

  I will meet you there, Mary.

                          ____________________