[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 38 (Wednesday, April 6, 2005)]
[House]
[Pages H1831-H1835]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      TRIBUTE TO POPE JOHN PAUL II

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 4, 2005, the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Franks) is recognized 
for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader.
  Mr. FRANKS of Arizona. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from 
Texas (Mr. McCaul).
  Mr. McCAUL of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the gentleman 
from Arizona for his leadership.
  Mr. Speaker, tonight I rise to pay tribute to the extraordinary life 
of Pope John Paul II. I served as an altar boy as a child, was educated 
by the Jesuit priests, and as a Roman Catholic I admired this man for 
his unwavering faith, extreme determination, and belief in the culture 
of life. His service to the Church and his dedication to freedom for 
all individuals are legacies the world will remember and honor for 
decades to come.
  As the Holy Father once said, ``Freedom consists not in doing what we 
like, but in having the right to do what we ought.''
  Ten years ago, my wife, Linda, and I had the honor of a private 
audience with the Pope where we came to believe even more in his 
efforts to speak out strongly in favor of human rights as he stood 
firmly with the United States in defeating communism and spreading 
democracy across our globe.
  This son of Poland served as a beacon of light to the world's 
oppressed and unborn. In life, as in death, the youth of the world 
loved this Pope. He too loved them and believed, ``As the family goes, 
so goes the nation and so goes the whole world in which we live.''
  His message on the sanctity of human life and social justice served 
as a rallying cry for millions looking for an advocate for the 
defenseless and the weak. He gave a voice to the silenced and provided 
hope to the hopeless.
  Pope John Paul II appealed to the better nature of man. Humanity was 
well served by his Papacy. With his passing, let us celebrate his 
service to all mankind and listen quietly as the angels in heaven sing 
in joy as he ascends to touch the face of God.
  Mr. FRANKS of Arizona. Mr. Speaker, we are here to honor the life and 
legacy of Pope John Paul II, and I am joined by several of our 
colleagues here tonight.
  Mr. Speaker, we often get materials and letters from our 
constituencies, and sometimes even from other States. Although I 
represent Arizona, a close friend of mine from California, Kevin 
Rishell, wrote us a poem today related to Pope John Paul II, and it 
seemed appropriate to read. So I am going to start with that:

     ``Pope John Paul II.
     A man of simple convictions,
     A man of great love and peace;
     A father to the nations,
     A friend now at last released.
     Into the arms of his beloved Savior;
     Into history,
     With God's tender favor.
     `Well done' faithful servant,
     Echoes 'cross Heaven's portals;
     As John Paul is welcomed,
     By friends and other immortals.
     His life was a service to God,
     And to his neighbors;
     To the weak and to the poor,
     And dearly loved unbelievers.
     For he believed that all life,
     Had a godly purpose;
     That all life was special,
     And that God was never spurious.
     For he understood clearly,
     The vain rantings of men;
     How popular their wisdom,
     Seemed to change with the wind.
     But he held true to his course,
     In the most turbulent times;
     With God's Word as his pilot,
     And the Holy Spirit as his guide.
     In faith, he stood against evil,
     When it could have cost him his life;
     And for decades and more,
     He fought for what was right.
     For God was his center,
     And Jesus was his friend;
     And the Comforter never left him,
     From birth to honored end.
     For he was on a holy quest,
     Of nearly mythic proportions;
     A man with a great commission,
     Teaching truth and sacred traditions.
     He knew where he came from,
     And he knew where he would go;
     Secure in Christ, adored by the masses,
     This humble shepherd-soul.
     But now his journey's over,
     A final appointment he will keep;
     A righteous servant to his Master,
     In whose arms he will now rest and sleep.
     While leaving a beautiful legacy,
     Of honor and valiant grace;
     That will live on beyond this tribute,
     A priestly mantle so hard to replace.
     We will miss you Holy Father,
     We will miss your humor and your passion;
     We will miss your concern for personal details,
     And your courage to speak and to take action.
     But now you have fought your good fight,
     And you have finished your race;
     We thank you for your example,
     And pray God bless you for your faith.
     Via con Dios, my precious brother,
     Go with God my blessed friend;
     Shalom to you my loving confessor,
     Be at peace and as you always said, `Amen.' ''

  Mr. Speaker, it is with great admiration and gratitude that I now 
personally rise to commend to the ages the life of Karol Wojtyla, Pope 
John Paul II.
  Pope John Paul II lived an intentional life. Too often today, we 
spend our lives in a reactive state, with daily events and crises 
drowning out the reflection and study which are required to live an 
intentional life.
  The Pope did not fall into this trap of the immediate. He instead 
considered his life's great questions and, after seeking guidance in 
Holy Scripture and through prayer, he steadfastly stayed wisdom's 
course.
  Mr. Speaker, by now the narrative of the Pope's life has become well-
known. Growing up in Poland, he had firsthand experience with two of 
the 20th century's most horrible totalitarian creations, that being 
Nazism and Soviet Communism. Living under these systems as a young man, 
he saw in detail not only the physical corrosion wrought by these 
systems of government, but the spiritual and social decay they 
engendered as well.
  He looked beyond the jackboots and the tanks and saw that the real 
power of these regimes stemmed not from physical force, but from an 
intellectual climate that was stripping the humanness from humanity. 
Karol Wojtyla dedicated himself to fighting this evil,

[[Page H1832]]

not with force of might, but through prayer, availing his heart, soul 
and mind unto God, and in serving his fellow human beings.
  He exemplified what the Holy Scripture exhorts from man: ``To do 
justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with God.'' He sought for 
justice to be done and the truth to be told by placing a handwritten 
acknowledgment of Christian sins against the Jewish people in a crevice 
of the Western Wall in Jerusalem, and in his admonishment of the 
kneeling Father Ernesto Cardenal, the Sandinista Culture Minister in 
Nicaragua.
  He demonstrated mercy, and after recovering from his wounds from the 
assassination attempt on his life by Mehmet ali Agca, he visited this 
deranged Turk in prison. He visited him, and then he forgave him.
  And he walked humbly, Mr. Speaker, allowing all of us to watch as he 
deteriorated physically right before our eyes, believing that those who 
follow Christ, as Christ himself taught, must sometimes endure 
suffering.
  Karol Wojtyla became Pope John Paul II in 1978, and held the Chair of 
Saint Peter for more than 26 years. At the beginning of his Papacy, the 
totalitarianism that had colored his youth was on the march throughout 
the world. Previously free people were being enslaved by Soviet 
Communism with alarming regularity. However, the Soviet Union had 
reached its zenith, and soon would crumble, due in large part to the 
efforts of a triumvirate of courageous and noble leaders: Ronald 
Reagan, Margaret Thatcher and this new Pope, John Paul II.
  He chose to attack the intellectual moorings of totalitarianism; thus 
he could eliminate the power structure that it rested upon.
  He opposed abortion, believing innocent human life was sacred and 
that the casual elimination of the weak is the first step on the path 
that leads to the enslavement of all. One of the great teaching 
documents of his pontificate, ``Evangelium Vitae,'' stated: ``Life, 
especially human life, belongs only to God; for this reason, whoever 
attacks human life in some way attacks God himself.''
  He opposed liberal theology, firmly believing that a Church which did 
not stand up for its core doctrines would be unlikely to stand up to 
evil in the world. And he encouraged us all to do the same, stating 
that ``freedom consists not in doing what we like, but in having the 
right to do what we ought.'' And kindly but boldly he encouraged us not 
to be afraid, stating: ``Have no fear of moving into the unknown. 
Simply step out fearlessly knowing that God is with you, therefore no 
harm can befall you; all is very, very well. Do this in complete faith 
and confidence.''
  He demonstrated this full and complete trust in God, and from his 
first appearance on the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica proclaimed that 
``Christ, Christ is the answer.''
  He was a friend of the United States, not out of blind loyalty, but 
out of a recognition that ``radical changes in world politics leave 
America with a heightened responsibility to be for the world an example 
of genuinely free, democratic, just and humane society.''
  And he admonished and cautioned us that it is not enough to speak 
about freedom, but that freedom must have a purpose, stating: ``When 
freedom does not have a purpose, when it does not wish to know anything 
about the rule of law engraved in the hearts of men and women, when it 
does not listen to the voice of conscience, it turns against humanity 
and society.''
  Perhaps one of the most fitting tributes to this great man can be 
found in the news coverage of his death. While the Free World 
celebrates his legacy and openly mourns his passing, states such as 
China, which still hold much of their population in the dehumanizing 
chains of Marxism, do the best to stifle these reports. It seems 
fitting that the only countries to bar a Papal visit were China, North 
Korea, Vietnam, and post-Communist Russia.
  Those leaders know that John Paul II lived a life in accordance with 
a view that rejected dehumanizing chains, because man was created to be 
free, and even though he has passed from this life and into the next, 
his world view remains, and his courage in the face of death is a 
powerful symbol of that world view.
  The oppressors realize that if their subjects witness this courageous 
man and embrace his vision of humanity that their days will be 
numbered. We should all pray that they do.
  In the meantime, Mr. Speaker, we should all take great comfort and 
gain great courage with the Pope's words of hope to all of us. He said, 
``Do not abandon yourselves to despair. We are the Easter people and 
hallelujah is our song.'' I am certain that he is right now joined by a 
multitude of others singing ``Hallelujah'' to the One he dedicated his 
life to.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Akin).
  (Mr. AKIN asked and was given permission to revise and extend his 
remarks.)
  Mr. AKIN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in remembrance of Pope John Paul 
II. The Holy Father held a special place in the hearts of more than 1 
billion Catholics worldwide. For many younger people, he was the only 
Pope they had ever known. However, his influence was by no means 
limited to the Catholic community. Rather, his moral courage and 
spiritual passion gave encouragement, clarity, and strength to people 
around the globe.
  My hometown of St. Louis was honored by a visit by the Pope in 
January of 1999. The arrival of the Pope to the birthplace of the first 
cathedral west of the Mississippi was truly an honor and Americans 
poured into St. Louis to participate in prayer services, a rally and 
celebration mass.
  Of particular note was the enthusiasm of the young people who came to 
a rally held in St. Louis on the evening of January 26, 1999. Reaching 
out to young people truly seemed to be a characteristic of this Pope.
  The Holy Father spoke not only to the Catholic community, but to men 
and women of conscience on every continent. Most notable may be his 
courage in standing for a culture of life, as well as defying communism 
and standing in solidity with those opposed to that great evil. That 
courage will be noted in history as a fulcrum that turned the wheel of 
history from dictatorship to freedom.
  His defense of the culture of life is best embodied in his own words 
given in October 1979 right here in Washington, D.C.

                              {time}  1730

  Let me quote just for a moment. ``I do not hesitate to proclaim 
before you and before the world that all human life is sacred, because 
human life is created in the image and likeness of God. And so, we will 
stand up every time that human life is threatened. When the sacredness 
of life before birth is attacked, we will stand up and proclaim that no 
one ever has the authority to destroy unborn human life.''
  In recent decades I believe there have been no more stirring or 
inspiring words to encourage those of us who believe in protecting 
unborn life than these. The Pope's consistent fight for the sanctity of 
life never wavered. His defense of life extended from the moment of 
conception to natural death. His heart was always toward the weak and 
powerless, those whose voices were silenced cruelly or unjustly.
  The same defiant commitment to human dignity animated his resolve to 
oppose communism. In the 1980s, communism faced three implacable foes: 
Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher, and Pope John Paul II. The Pope's 
courageous and historic leadership emboldened the downtrodden people of 
Poland and all of Eastern Europe to say, ``Enough.'' He deserves the 
thanks of all people for that critical role in consigning the former 
Soviet Union and its satellite dictatorships in human memory.
  Pope John Paul will be fondly remembered as a person of great energy 
and courage and faith, a man who did not shrink from fascism when he 
entered into an underground seminary in Poland during Nazi occupation, 
nor from communism when he challenged the world to rid itself of that 
evil. In his final years, he countenanced great personal suffering with 
great dignity. He died as he lived, with bravery and faith.
  Today we honor his memory. May we always honor his legacy.
  Mr. FRANKS of Arizona. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from 
North Carolina (Ms. Foxx).
  Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I rise this evening to pay my respects to one 
of

[[Page H1833]]

the world's greatest spiritual leaders, Pope John Paul II.
  The Pope was a wonderful humanitarian who was much more than just a 
leader of the Catholic Church and its 1 billion members around the 
globe. He was a servant of God, whose purpose in life was to work on 
behalf of all of humanity.
  John Paul II was a courageous man, courageous all his life, who 
worked to make the world a better place by fighting for basic human 
rights, such as the right to freedom from oppression. Having grown up 
under nazism and communism, he understood firsthand the negative 
effects of totalitarian rule. He inspired a ``revolution of 
conscience'' in his home country of Poland, which Lech Walesa credits 
helped bring about the fall of communism.
  The Pope was not afraid to take a tough stand and challenge dictators 
face to face. His criticism of rulers such as Alfred Stroessner in 
Paraguay, Augusto Pinochet in Chile, and Ferdinand Marcos in the 
Philippines encouraged opposition movements that eventually led to the 
demise of their regimes.
  The Pope was also a staunch advocate of the right to life. He 
constantly challenged people to foster a culture of life. Ten years ago 
John Paul II stated, ``We are facing an enormous and dramatic clash 
between good and evil, death and life, the `culture of death' and the 
`culture of life.' '' He challenged that, ``We are all involved and we 
all share the inescapable responsibility of choosing to be 
unconditionally prolife.'' I deeply admire the Pope for taking this 
stand.
  In a society often characterized by worldliness, the Pope stood as a 
symbol of morality, integrity, and faith. John Paul II was not someone 
who acted in accordance with public opinion polls. He did what he knew 
was right, and he spoke with conviction. Even if people did not agree 
with him on every issue, they respected him and admired him.
  No one in our lifetime has been a better role model for us all. He 
was, all his life, to the end of his life, a teacher and a servant. I 
join with the rest of the world in mourning his loss.
  Mr. FRANKS of Arizona. Mr. Speaker, I want to recognize the gentleman 
from Arizona (Mr. Renzi).
  Mr. RENZI. Mr. Speaker, I am grateful that the gentleman from Arizona 
(Mr. Franks) took the time and the effort to reserve an hour so that we 
could take the time to pay tribute to a man who has given us so much, 
to celebrate his life and to lay out for the people of the world how 
much he truly sacrificed and gave.
  I had the honor to visit with him in Rome at Christmas of 2003. I 
accompanied a delegation of a couple of Congressmen who went over and 
who brought a House Resolution that signified and thanked him for 25 
years of public service, of being that spiritual warrior that we all 
embraced. It was an honor to be with him. In his presence, you felt 
that holiness. You felt the holiness of a man of deep prayer, a man of 
hard work and conviction, a man who did not sway in the wind and who 
was not forced by modernization, by the tides of modern theology that 
we have seen.
  When I heard of his death, I was in Panama just a few days ago. I was 
fortunate to be with the large Latino population, one of the fastest-
growing populations in the Catholic Church, who turned out and who 
truly mourned his death. Monday I was in Mexico City, and I had an 
opportunity to visit the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe. I watched a 
poor Mexican family on their knees, walking on their knees in pain and 
in suffering, to show personal sacrifice to honor the life of this 
Pope. And with the few small dollars that they had left, they bought 
several candles and placed them at the statue of John Paul II in Mexico 
City. A true tribute for those who have so little to give so much.
  It is interesting that the Pope's last teaching, the last formal 
message that came out of Rome, dealt with the life of Terri Schiavo. It 
is interesting that the message that came from this Pope was that we 
should not so swiftly embrace the culture of death. As a Roman 
Catholic, as a father of 12 children, I am so grateful that his last 
teaching will be that of life, that we embrace innocence, that we look 
to help the unborn; that we treat all life, whether it be disabled or 
whether it be strong and healthy, with dignity.

  Mr. Speaker, this public servant sent a powerful message each time he 
rose, even when he was then himself disabled. I found him to be noble 
and kind. I found his humility to be a great example that led our 
world. When we look at what he did to fight against the evils against 
democracy, especially with the Iron Curtain, the Soviet Union, Poland, 
Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, Czechoslovakia, and East Germany; each of 
them owe a portion of their freedom to this champion. Each of them owe 
a portion to the tolerance and forgiveness, the releasing of the evil 
grip of communism, to this champion. He told them not to be afraid. In 
doing so, he moved masses into solidarity and unleashed the evils of 
Communists.
  He personally survived the Nazi bloodlust that swept through his 
native Poland, and he survived the Iron Curtain which attempted to 
strangle the free spirit of men. His life will be honored in our work 
to continue that struggle, to fight daily for the free spirit of men 
all over the world who continue to be repressed. He was unafraid 
because he believed in God. Through prayer, he received courage from 
the true source; true courage comes to those who pray, true bravery to 
those who pray.
  Mr. Speaker, I say to the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Franks), my 
neighbor, we both know that angels feel no injury. Angels are created 
and cannot be hurt. Angels do not bleed. True bravery can only be shown 
by moral men and women. This man showed true bravery, and it was 
because of that courage through prayer that he received.
  When he was in Rome in May of 1981, when the attempted assassination 
was made on his life, he spent 20 days in the hospital. He showed us 
the power of perseverance. He spent the rest of his life showing us the 
power of forgiveness, especially when he met with his would-be 
assassin.
  So while we are saddened by his passing, we celebrate his life. We 
continue to be encouraged by his teachings, and we allow his powerful 
spirit to inspire us daily to strive for goodness, for humility, for 
forgiveness and for justice. I love this champion of freedom and life. 
I love the fact that God sent us a spiritual warrior who fought for the 
good, a warrior whose most powerful weapons was that of peaceful 
prayer, peaceful words, solidarity, and the teachings of life.
  I thank the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Franks) for setting aside 
this hour and for allowing us to give a small tribute to the life of 
John Paul II.
  Mr. FRANKS of Arizona. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from 
Minnesota (Mr. Kennedy).
  Mr. KENNEDY of Minnesota. Mr. Speaker, I, too, want to thank my 
distinguished colleague from Arizona for organizing this time for us to 
pay our respects to a man who has had a profound impact on our world 
and a profound impact on the oppressed throughout this world.
  We feel sad because of our loss, but this is natural. But we should, 
in fact, rejoice, for I have no doubt that this great son of Poland has 
ascended into heaven and has been welcomed home by our Lord, whom he 
did so much to serve with his life that he was given.
  We should not dwell on our loss, but we should rejoice for all the 
years we were privileged to know him, to see him, to hear him, and to 
learn from his example. We should rejoice in the strength he had 
inspired by his faith and conviction to suffer through Parkinson's for 
so many years, to survive an assassination attempt, and the unsurpassed 
Christian spirit to confront his nearly successful assassin and forgive 
him and pray with him, and to know that he is at peace now with the 
Heavenly Father he so nobly and humbly served.
  It is difficult to remember what the world was like before we had the 
example of our Pope a scant 27 years ago. The year he was chosen, 
Iranian protests were brewing that would lead to the imminent fall of 
the Shah, usher in the ayatollahs, and produce an era of war and 
terror. The Soviet Union was jailing religious dissidents and staging 
coups such as that which they nurtured in Afghanistan and followed with 
a full-fledged invasion.
  Before John Paul II, we did not yet have the vision and the 
leadership of

[[Page H1834]]

Ronald Reagan nor of Margaret Thatcher, who, together with them, he 
would usher in the end to the Cold War. We were told that the West was 
in irreversible decline, and that the freedom bequeathed to us as an 
inalienable right, preserved and protected by the wisdom of the people 
assembled in democratic government, had failed. The peoples of the 
world were being told that individual dignities should be subjugated to 
the collective. It seemed that the only religion was that of the state, 
and that it was to the state that people thought we should direct our 
worship.
  A young Pole named Lech Walesa had not yet dreamed that a simple 
concept like solidarity could overcome the awesome forces of fear and 
oppression that were the Soviet system; that is, until another son of 
Poland had ascended to the throne of St. Peter and did what he would do 
for the rest of his life: He provided the world with a brilliant 
example of the best of humanity.
  John Paul II knew better than the conventional wisdom of the 
intelligentsia, of those who had surrendered their birthright, who had 
chosen to obey the commands of the state, who had ceased to recognize 
the demands of the respect for human dignity.

                              {time}  1745

  He believed that communism would fall and freedom reign, because 
communism at its core represented a false understanding of human 
nature. He knew that totalitarianism in all of its forms would fall. He 
was in a position to know this because of the cruel and harsh 
experience he gained having seen them both up front and close as a 
youth, as Poland was plagued by both Nazi fascism and then communism.
  He saw from an up-close vantage what is possible when authority is 
perverted to a philosophy contemptuous of life. He wrote to a friend, 
while a cardinal, that a degradation, indeed a pulverization, of the 
fundamental uniqueness of each human person was at the heart of the 
sickness in the human heart that made the tragedies of the 20th century 
possible; that when this happens, as it did in the totalitarianism 
ideologies of communism and fascism, the result was the unnatural death 
of 120 million people in Europe and Asia.
  This truth is epitomized in an image seared in the collective memory 
of the world, when the Pope went to the Holy Land, bowed in remembrance 
over the memorial flame in Yad Vashem, the Jewish Holocaust memorial.
  The experience of this youth informed his mission as a Pontiff and 
was made possible because of his indomitable faith in the Creator.
  He fiercely pursued an agenda that life in all of its forms is sacred 
because it is created by God, especially human life, which is created 
in his image. Stalin once derisively remarked that the Pope was a 
relatively powerless person, a mere figurehead, once famously asking an 
aide, how many divisions does he have?
  Stalin never had to come to face John Paul II, but later communist 
leaders would come to know the danger posed by this man and what he 
represented on Earth and in heaven. They knew that if the Church led by 
this man was not dealt with sooner or later, it would destroy them 
throughout the world where the people would travel to places where 
people were trapped under communism, and totalitarianism parts of the 
world that did not dare have hope until they saw John Paul II.
  The power was understood by those tyrants who feared that John Paul 
II would come to them, would visit their land and inspire those people. 
This was understood by the communist masters of Poland, when the newly 
installed Pope made his first visit there in 1979, returning to the 
land of his youth, of his first flock as a young priest.
  The Soviet system knew that it had met its match when one-third of 
all of the people in Poland turned out to witness the homecoming of 
their native son. The only thing for the Soviets to do was to tremble, 
and the trembling that started that day did not end until the Berlin 
Wall came down 12 years later.
  The last few outposts of repression that remain in our world today 
deeply fear the loss of their power by the words and the actions of a 
simple man who would bring a measure of freedom. It was a simple, yet 
eternal, message of faith in the almighty. It almost defies our pitiful 
ability to comprehend just how different the world is today as we 
celebrate this man's life and mourn our having lost him.
  On my bookshelf at home I have a well-read book of George Geigel's 
biography of John Paul II titled, I think appropriately, ``Witness to 
Hope.'' Billions of people around the world saw this man in that way, 
whether in the full vigor of his youthful pontificate or in his 
advanced years. For billions of people around the world, the sight of 
this man was to see hope. He stood for Catholicism and all of the 
principles; yet he was appreciated by all people around the world.
  Here was a man who, while standing for his faith, brought the essence 
of freedom to everyone unapologetically. His 26-year Papacy saw him 
take this message to every corner of the world. He was seen by more of 
his flock than perhaps all of his 263 predecessors combined. He reached 
out to Jews, Muslims, Protestants, and the Eastern Orthodox Church. He 
took the time to learn at least a few phrases in over 100 different 
languages just so that he could communicate his message of hope at 
every place that he visited.
  His message of human dignity is understood in every language, and it 
was understood in every land he saw during the generation he served 
humanity and God as the bishop of Rome.
  In one of his many writings, he argued that humanity is right to seed 
freedom, but only if it is a freedom that is used to do justice. And 
justice, as he reminded us, is to confer, preserve, protect, prolong, 
and give meaning and value to life.
  The spread of freedom will continue unabated in his absence. It will 
continue to inspire by his example as America leads a providential 
mission that humanity will only know peace and prosperity when every 
one of God's children knows the freedom and enjoys the dignity bestowed 
on them by their heavenly Father.
  We thank our heavenly Father that we were able to know this man and 
to benefit by his love for us and the love of God. We will profit and 
do service to our children if we remember the words of this man who 
will soon be known across history as John Paul the Great.
  Freedom has continually to be won; it cannot merely be possessed. It 
comes as a gift, but can only be kept with a struggle. Gift and 
struggle are written into pages, hidden yet open.
  Mr. FRANKS of Arizona. I now yield to the gentleman from Iowa (Mr. 
King) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. KING of Iowa. I thank the gentleman for yielding and for 
organizing this special hour that we have here in the United States 
Congress to commemorate the life of a man so well lived, I am hard 
pressed to even suggest another individual contemporary of mine who can 
compete in that category, a life extraordinarily well lived, a life 
that began in Poland in 1920, May 18, a month after my mother was born.
  And as he lived through that life in Poland, and he saw the Nazi 
pressure come on the border, and as that border pressure became the 
invasion of Poland in September of 1939, he was a young man, a young 
man the son of a poor soldier, a young man who was at that time already 
a theologian, a student, a philosopher, an actor, and a writer of 
plays.

  And as the Nazis occupied Poland through that period of time, during 
the Second World War, some of that work needed to go underground. It 
needed to stay underground when the Soviets took over.
  But he lived a life where he saw the Nazi Holocaust, he saw the 
totalitarianism that came with the Nazis, and he saw the oppression 
that came with the communists and the Soviet Union. It gave him a 
perspective that could not be gained perhaps anywhere else on the 
planet but there.
  And those of us who believe in providence know very well that God put 
him there. And he put him there for us, for so many things that we have 
benefited from over those ensuing years, those 65 years from 1920 until 
1985, as he lived underneath the Nazis and the Soviet Union, and 
underneath the totalitarianism that came with that.
  Yet he emerged as Pope, unheard of, unheard of and unnamed. In fact, 
I have an interesting personal anecdote to this, that Pope John Paul 
now referred to as the first, lived only 32 days

[[Page H1835]]

after he was named Pope, and ascended to the Papacy and died, another 
period of time, we were in that unknown period of time when we did not 
know who the next Pope would be. That went on for days and several 
weeks.
  Early in that process I had no idea who the next Pope would be. I had 
not even looked at names or studied that or tried to handicap that 
decision that would come out of the conclave. But I remember that I had 
a dream one night, and I woke up in the morning and I said to my wife, 
Marilyn, I said, I had a funny dream last night. I dreamed that our new 
Pope would be Polish, and he named himself John Paul II.
  And we laughed. It sounded so ridiculous that there would be a Pope 
who wasn't named, and especially from Poland that would ascend to the 
Papacy. And that joke was a joke amongst us. And then when he was named 
Pope, a Polish Pope, John Paul II, and that little insight came true, I 
had no idea what kind of a man he would be; but one of the first things 
he did in his first foreign trip was go back to Poland. There he was 
seen by one-third of the population of Poland, and the stops that he 
made people coming out of the mountains by the millions.
  They wore their best holiday clothing. They played musical 
instruments, a great celebration and honor for this Pope. The son of 
Poland had returned as his first foreign trip from the Vatican.
  And his message was, Be not afraid. Today we hear that message in the 
countries around the world. If you can lift that veil of fear, if you 
can lift it in East Germany, or if you can lift it in Iraq or Iran or 
Lebanon today when people are no longer afraid, they can do great 
things.
  And that ``be not afraid'' message is the message that we hear every 
time from the mainstream news media today when they say the veil of 
fear has been lifted off of Lebanon today, that is the people's 
message. That is Pope John Paul II's message from 1978 that still 
echoes and still inspires for freedom. Be not afraid. If you would 
listen to Lech Walesa today, all the times that they tried to organize 
Solidarity in Poland and were unable to do so until Pope John Paul came 
and carried that message.
  And people stood up and his message also was, be peaceful. We do not 
need a violent revolution. We need a peaceful revolution of people who 
are not afraid. That message of be not afraid brought Poland into 
freedom for the first of the Eastern Bloc countries. And that message 
of, be not afraid when the Wall came down on November 9 of 1989, and 
the people crawled over the Wall and climbed on it and celebrated and 
chiseled pieces out of it, and I have a piece of the Berlin Wall in my 
office here in Congress, and that piece symbolizes the single most 
significant historical event in my lifetime, the end of the Cold War.
  When that Wall came down, the Iron Curtain came crashing down. It 
could not have come down without Pope John Paul and his message. And it 
was a historical miracle the way that freedom echoed across the Eastern 
European nations, the square in Prague, people rattling their keys. 
They held their keys in the air, and shook their keys. They shook their 
keys for freedom the way that they held up the color orange in the 
Ukraine, which we heard from today; and the way they waved the Lebanese 
flag in the square in Beruit today, that was a peaceful assembly of 
freedom in Prague growing from and being from that inspiration of be 
not afraid, be courageous.
  He was consistent; he believed in the principles of the Bible and the 
Church as being immortal and faced with the modern religion that says 
that the Bible needs to be read in light of contemporary values. He 
rejected that kind of philosophy because the Church has to stand for 
timeless values, not changing and fluctuating values.
  His courage in the face of life, on the issue of marriage, the issue 
of peace, all of those things together, the sanctity of human life has 
been an inspiration for many of us on marriage and the family.
  This was an issue that floated across this country throughout the 
last elections. And 11 States went to the polls and said they stood for 
marriage; many of those people went to the polls inspired by John Paul 
II and his consistency in values, his consistency in faith, his 
consistency in the value of human life and how important the family is 
as the unit, the unit through which all of our values, our religious 
values, our work ethic, our culture as a people, flows through that 
unit of a man and a women joined together in holy matrimony and 
children, and passing those values along to the next generation. That 
human unit of the nuclear family is the key to civilization.
  And if we fail in his message to hold our families together in this 
country and on this planet, we have failed humanity. That is part of 
the legacy as well as the inspiration to stand with those principles. 
There was no compromise with evil with John Paul II. He knew evil. He 
faced evil daily, and he stood for peaceful and high godly purposes. 
There was no compromise with wrong. If you compromise with wrong, it 
becomes part wrong. If it is part wrong, it is all wrong.

                              {time}  1800

  He stood with those principles that consist in ethic of the Catholic 
Church. It is the sanctity of human life, and no one could have stood 
for that any greater than John Paul II. We stand here today, yes, in 
mourning, but in great celebration, great celebration for a life so 
well lived that we can give thanks to his legacy for time immemorial, 
and I pray that we will also refer to him as John Paul, the Great.
  I appreciate the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Franks) yielding.
  Mr. FRANKS of Arizona. Mr. Speaker, I want to just thank all of my 
colleagues that joined in this tribute to this noble leader of over a 
billion Catholics, and I just suggest, Mr. Speaker, that this is one 
Baptist who is very grateful that Karol Wojtyla walked our way.
  We are grateful for his courage to stand against the Soviet 
communism. We are grateful for his courage to stand against the Nazis. 
We are grateful for his courage to stand for that imago dei, that image 
of God, in every human being, for his commitment to human dignity.
  We are grateful most of all, Mr. Speaker, that he reminded us that we 
are the Easter people, that ours is a solemn hallelujah, and that we 
need never be afraid again.
  Mr. Speaker, on behalf of all my colleagues, I wish this great, noble 
leader an eternal godspeed and a conviction that he has heard those 
words that are the greatest words any human being can hear, and that 
being, Well done, thou good and faithful servant.

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