[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 135 (Saturday, November 20, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2105-E2106]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         HONORING TOM FOGLIETTA

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. ROSA L. DeLAURO

                             of connecticut

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, November 19, 2004

  Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor a colleague and friend who 
passed away this week--someone who left a profound mark on his 
community, his Nation and this institution. No one could deny the 
dedication and passion that Tom Foglietta brought to life--whether it 
was for working people, for friends or for our friends in the 
international community. He was special--a man with a common touch and 
high ideals.
  With Tom, you always knew you were with someone who would fight--who 
was with you until the end regardless of the odds or the politics of 
the matter. As I reflect on his time in the Congress, I remember a man 
who understood what it meant to bring the values of his constituents to 
Washington.
  When his district changed from being predominantly white to 
overwhelmingly African-American, I remember how Tom made that 
transition so effortlessly--how he worked to establish himself with his 
new constituents and make sure they knew that representing them--their 
hopes, their dreams--was his number one priority. They learned what we 
all knew--that whether you had just met Tom or knew him for decades, 
when he looked you in the eye and gave his word, you had his word. You 
took it home.
  And nothing represented that commitment like the way he fought to 
keep the Philadelphia Navy Yard open. Even as everyone believed it was 
sure to close, Tom continued to bring back Federal money to the yard--
much, as I understand, to the surprise of even the Navy itself. But it 
was what he did once the Commission finally decided to close the yard 
that showed Tom Foglietta was not only a man of the people but also a 
man of real vision.
  First, he went down to that yard and announced the closing before a 
sea of angry workers. I think everyone in this body understands how 
extraordinary that can be--facing the people head-on, delivering bad 
news.
  Then, while others were still in denial, Tom put all his efforts into 
doing something even the shipyard workers had not yet embraced. Rather 
than fighting what he knew was a losing battle to keep the yard open, 
he went ahead, full-steam, to transform it into an economic resource 
for the community--a technology and business incubator--and secured a 
$50 million appropriation for the yard's conversion.
  Today, that yard employs 6,000 Philadelphians--some of whom even use 
the old docks to work on ships. Nobody believed it was possible. But 
Tom Foglietta did. Whether it was modernizing the shipyard or involving 
the Army Corps of Engineers when an African-American neighborhood in 
Philadelphia had homes that were literally sinking into the ground, he 
knew that fighting for people was not just a matter of perseverance. 
That it was also a matter of foresight, creativity and vision.
  A fellow Italian-American, Tom and I often discussed how it was our 
parents' example serving on our respective city councils--his in 
Philadelphia, mine in New Haven--that inspired us to enter a life of 
politics and give back to the communities that had given us so much. He 
knew that preserving our heritage was a matter of values, which is why 
as a Member of Congress he took on the fight back home to create 
Christopher Columbus Boulevard in south Philly.
  When he become Ambassador to Italy, Tom made and kept a commitment to 
visit every province in Italy. To Tom, Italy was not some

[[Page E2106]]

foreign place--it was his new district. When the First Lady introduced 
the Save America's Treasures project, Tom worked to raise private funds 
to preserve Christopher Columbus' childhood home in Genoa. In truth, it 
would not be the last time his passion for the job would make officials 
in the State Department crazy.
  I will never forget his signature moment--when he knelt down in 
prayer for the victims in the Cavalese cable-car tragedy, sending a 
powerful message to the world that America weeps for the sons and 
daughters of its allies are as if they were our very own. In turn, the 
Italian people loved him as he loved them.
  Throughout his entire career, whether it was his work in Italy, to 
secure the peace in Haiti or to forge democracy in South Korea, Tom 
Foglietta understood that America's role in the world was rooted in 
moral leadership--in common values, humility and humanity.
  I will miss his moral leadership--we all will. But perhaps above all, 
I will miss his friendship. I will miss eating pasta with gravy, his 
cooking in my kitchen and those dinners with the gang--with Tom and 
Nancy Pelosi, Barbara Boxer, Dick Durbin, Sam Gedjenson, Chuck Schumer, 
Anna Eshoo, Tom Downey, George Miller, and Marty Russo. We could always 
rely on Tom to do something to spice the night up--whether it was 
something he would say or him hiring a ragtag band to play a party that 
only he could love. He was fun--he was warm. He was our friend.
  Grazi, Don Tomaso--your passion for people knew no bounds. For that, 
you will forever be in our hearts.

                          ____________________