[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 27 (Wednesday, March 9, 2005)]
[House]
[Pages H1205-H1206]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                LEGISLATION ADDRESSING THE SCHIAVO CASE

  (Mr. PITTS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks and include therein 
extraneous material.)
  Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, as a result of a judge's decision, next week, 
March 18, Terry Schiavo is scheduled to have her feeding tube removed, 
thus sentencing her to a very slow, painful death from starvation and 
dehydration.
  Mr. Speaker, I will submit for the Record the entire statement of 
Terry's attorney. It is a moving account of her visit with Terry. Here 
is a brief excerpt, ``From the moment we entered the room, my 
impression was that Terry was very purposeful and interactive. She 
seemed very curious about the presence of strangers in her room. When 
she heard their voices, particularly her mother's voice, Terry 
instantly turned her head towards them and smiled. Terry established 
eye contact with her family, particularly her mother, who spent the 
most time with her during our visit.''
  Obviously, she is not comatose. I hope that Congress will 
expeditiously consider the legislation introduced by the gentleman from 
Florida (Mr. Weldon) to address her type of case so that she does not 
have to die a very painful death, in accordance with this judge's 
decision.

                       A Visit With Terri Schiavo

                      (By Attorney Barbara Weller)

       This past Christmas Eve day, 2004, I went to visit Terri 
     Schiavo with her parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, her sister, 
     her niece, and Attorney David Gibbs III. The visit took place 
     at the Woodside Hospice for about 45 minutes just before 
     noon.
       When I knew I was going to visit Terri with her parents, I 
     had no idea what to expect. I was prepared for the 
     possibility that the Schindlers love their daughter and 
     sister so much that they might imagine behaviors by Terri 
     that aren't actually evident to others. The media and Mr. 
     Schiavo clearly give the impression that Terri is in a coma 
     or comatose state and engages only in non-purposeful and 
     reflexive movements and responses. I am a mother and a 
     grandmother, as well as one of the Schindlers' attorneys, and 
     I could understand how parents might imagine behavior and 
     purposeful activity that is not really there. I was prepared 
     to be as objective as I could be during this visit and not to 
     be disappointed at anything I saw or experienced.
       I was truly surprised at what I saw from the moment we 
     entered the little room where Terri is confined. The room is 
     a little wider than the width of two single beds and about as 
     long as the average bedroom, with plenty of room for us to 
     stand at the foot of her bed. Terri is on the first floor and 
     there is a lovely view to the outside grounds of the 
     facility. The room is entered by a short hallway, however, 
     and there is no way for Terri to see out into the hallway or 
     for anyone in the hallway to observe Terri.
       From the moment we entered the room, my impression was that 
     Terri was very purposeful and interactive and she seemed very 
     curious about the presence of obvious strangers in her room. 
     Terri was not in bed, but was in her chair, which has a 
     lounge chair appearance and elevates her head at about a 30-
     degree angle. She was dressed and washed, her hair combed, 
     and she was covered with a holiday blanket. There were no 
     tubes of any kind attached to her body. She was completely 
     free of any restraints that would have indicated any type of 
     artificial life support. Not even her feeding tube was 
     attached and functioning when we entered, as she is not fed 
     24 hours a day.
       The thing that surprised me the most about Terri as I took 
     my turn to greet her by the side of her chair was how 
     beautiful she is. I would have expected to see someone with a 
     sallow and gray complexion and a sick looking countenance. 
     Instead, I saw a very pretty woman with a peaches and cream 
     complexion and a lovely smile, which she even politely 
     extended to me as I introduced myself to her. I was amazed 
     that someone who had not been outside for so many years and 
     who received such minimal health care could look so 
     beautiful. She appeared to have an inner light radiating from 
     her face. I was truly taken aback by her beauty, particularly 
     under the adverse circumstances in which she has found 
     herself for so many years.
       Terri's parents, sister, and niece went immediately to 
     greet Terri when we entered the room and stood in turn 
     directly beside her head, stroking her face, kissing her and 
     talking quietly with her. When she heard their voices, and 
     particularly her mother's voice, Terri instantly turned her 
     head towards them and smiled. Terri established eye contact 
     with her family, particularly with her mother, who spent the 
     most time with her during our visit. It was obvious that she 
     recognized the voices in the room with the exception of one. 
     Although her mother was talking to her at the time, she 
     obviously had heard a new voice and exhibited a curious 
     demeanor. Attorney Gibbs was having a conversation near the 
     door with Terri's sister. His voice is very deep and resonant 
     and Terri obviously picked it up. Her eyes widened as if to 
     say, ``What's that new sound I hear?'' She scanned the 
     room with her eyes, even turning her head in his 
     direction, until she found Attorney Gibbs and the location 
     of the new voice and her eyes rested momentarily in his 
     direction. She then returned to interacting with her 
     mother.
       When her mother was close to her, Terri's whole face lit 
     up. She smiled. She looked directly at her mother and she 
     made all sorts of happy sounds. When her mother talked to 
     her, Terri was quiet and obviously listening. When she 
     stopped, Terri started vocalizing. The vocalizations seemed 
     to be a pattern, not merely random or reflexive at all. There 
     is definitely a pattern of Terri having a conversation with 
     her mother as best she can manage. Initially, she used the 
     vocalization of ``uh'uh'' but without seeming to mean it as a 
     way of saying ``no'', just as a repeated speech pattern. She 
     then began to make purposeful grunts in response to her 
     mother's conversation. She made the same sorts of sound with 
     her father and sister, but not to the same extent or as 
     delightedly as with her mother. She made no verbal response 
     to her niece or to Attorney Gibbs and myself, but she did 
     appear to pay attention to our words to her.
       The whole experience was rather moving. Terri definitely 
     has a personality. Her whole demeanor definitely changes when 
     her mother speaks with her. She lights up and appears to be 
     delighted at the interaction. She has an entirely different 
     reaction to her father who jokes with her and has several 
     standing jokes that he uses when he enters and exits her 
     presence. She appears to merely ``tolerate'' her father, as a 
     child does when she says ``stop'' but really means, ``this is 
     fun.'' When her father greets her, he always does the same 
     thing. He says, ``here comes the hug'' and hugs her. He then 
     says, ``you know what's coming next--the kiss.'' Her father 
     has a scratchy mustache and both times when he went through 
     this little joke routine with her, she laughed in a way she 
     did not do with anyone else. When her father is ready to 
     plant the kiss on her cheek, she immediately makes a face her 
     family calls the ``lemon face.'' She puckers her lips, screws 
     up her whole face, and turns away from him, as if making 
     ready for the scratchy assault on her cheek that she knows is 
     coming. She did the exact same thing both times that her 
     father initiated this little routine joke between the two of 
     them.
       The interactions with her family and our appearance in her 
     room appeared to require some effort and exertion from Terri. 
     From time to time, she would close her eyes as if to rest. 
     This happened primarily when no one was paying particular 
     attention to her, but we were talking among ourselves. After 
     a few minutes or when one of the visitors approached her and 
     started to talk directly to her again, Terri would open her 
     eyes and begin her grunting sounds again in response to their 
     conversations. Although I approached her, leaned close and 
     stroked her arms and spoke to her, she did not verbally 
     respond to me.
       Terri's hands are curled up around little soft cylinders 
     that help her not to injure herself. I understand that these 
     contractures are likely very painful, although there was a 
     time when Terri was receiving simple motion therapy when her 
     hands and arms relaxed and were no longer as constricted. 
     When the therapy was discontinued by order of her guardian 
     and the court, the contractures returned. These contractures 
     would apparently be avoidable if Terri were given the simple 
     range of motion therapy she previously received. It is very 
     sad to observe

[[Page H1206]]

     firsthand these conditions that make her life more difficult, 
     but that would be correctable with little effort.
       When we were preparing to leave, the interactions with 
     Terri changed. First, she went through the joke routine with 
     her father and the ``lemon face.'' When her niece said 
     goodbye to her, Terri did not react. Nor did she react to me 
     or to Attorney Gibbs when we said our goodbyes to her. When 
     her sister went to her to say goodbye, Terri's verbalizations 
     changed dramatically. Instead of the happy grunting and ``uh 
     uh'' sounds she had been making throughout the visit, her 
     verbalizations at these goodbyes changed to a very low and 
     different sound that appeared to come from deep in her throat 
     and was almost like a growl. She first made the sound when 
     her sister said goodbye and then, amazingly to me, she made 
     exactly the same sound when her mother said goodbye to her. 
     It seemed Terri was visibly upset that they were leaving. She 
     almost appeared to be trying to cling to them, although this 
     impression came only from her changed facial expression and 
     sounds, since her hands cannot move. It appeared like she did 
     not want to be alone and knew they were leaving. It was 
     definitely apparent in the short time I was there that her 
     emotions changed--it was apparent when she was happy and 
     enjoying herself, when she was amused, when she was resting 
     from her exertion to communicate, and when she was sad at her 
     guests leaving. It was readily apparent and surprising that 
     her mood changed so often in a short 45-minute visit.
       I was pleasantly surprised to observe Terri's purposeful 
     and varied behaviors with the various members of her family 
     and with Attorney Gibbs and myself. I never imagined Terri 
     would be so active, curious, and purposeful. She watched 
     people intently, obviously was attempting to communicate with 
     each one in various ways and with various facial expressions 
     and sounds. She was definitely not in a coma, not even close. 
     This visit certainly shed more light for me on why the 
     Schindlers are fighting so hard to protect her, to get her 
     medical care and rehabilitative assistance, and to spend all 
     they have to protect her life.
       I realize that Terri has good days and bad days. There are 
     obviously days when she does not interact with her family, as 
     they had previously told us. There are also apparently days 
     when Terri is even more interactive and responsive to them 
     than she was on the day I visited. Since this visit I am more 
     convinced than ever that the Schindlers are not just parents 
     who refuse to let go of their daughter. There really is a lot 
     going on with their daughter and potentially, it seemed 
     obvious to me, Terri could improve even more with appropriate 
     care and 24 hour a day love that can only come from a 
     dedicated family. As I watched her, my foremost thought was 
     that on the next day, Christmas, Terri should not have been 
     confined to her small room in a hospice center, nice as that 
     room was, but that she should have been gathered around the 
     Christmas dinner table enjoying the holiday with her family.

     

                          ____________________