[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 132 (Tuesday, December 5, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2099]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 GEORGETOWN HONORS FATHER ROBERT DRINAN

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. BARNEY FRANK

                            of massachusetts

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, December 5, 2006

  Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts. Mr. Speaker, on October 23 one of the 
most accomplished and distinguished people to serve in this House was 
the recipient of a wholly deserved high honor from one of the leading 
law schools in this country--Georgetown Law School. On that day, 
Georgetown Law School, where Father Drinan has taught since leaving the 
House twenty-six years ago, established the Robert F. Drinan, S.J., 
Chair in Human Rights. The establishment of this Chair--a very 
significant honor in academia--recognizes the pioneering work that 
Father Drinan did as a Member of this House for ten years, and his 
continued commitment to that great work. Few people in our history have 
had as great a dedication to the cause of human rights and have been so 
consistently effective in advocating for this cause. Unlike many who 
have tried to make this a partisan issue, Father Drinan was equally 
fierce in his objection to human rights violators of the left, right 
and center, and accepted no excuses from those who would deny the basic 
rights of others.
  Mr. Speaker, Father Drinan served here in this body for ten years as 
one of its intellectual leaders, having been elected in 1970 as one of 
the most effective opponents at that time of the war in Viet Nam. He 
also played a very significant role in the impeachment of President 
Nixon, insisting that appropriate legal standards be applied in that 
matter. He was also a leader in matters that did not divide the House 
on either partisan or ideological lines, for example in the field of 
copyright, where he made contributions during that period that remain 
important foundations of our law today.
  Mr. Speaker, when Father Drinan declined to run for reelection in 
1980 at the direction of Pope John Paul II, I was elected to succeed 
him. While I had been aware previously of the great respect and 
affection in which he was held by his colleagues, I came to appreciate 
that even more fully when I took the seat he had so ably filled in 
1981.
  In the years since leaving this body, Father Drinan has continued to 
be a leader in the application of religious teachings to important 
moral issues; in lecturing and teaching about the law; and of course in 
continuing his great work in the field of human rights. Georgetown Law 
School deserves recognition, Mr. Speaker, for establishing this Chair 
in Father Drinan's name. I congratulate Professor T. Alexander 
Aleinikoff, who will be the first holder of the Chair, and I ask that 
the discussion of Father Drinan's work included in the program 
announcing the event be printed here so that people will understand how 
important his impact has been on the best traditions of our country.

           Robert F. Drinan, S.J., Chair in Human Rights Law

       Today, Georgetown Law proudly announces the creation of the 
     Robert F. Drinan, S.J., Chair in Human Rights. Priest, 
     scholar, lawyer, politician, activist, ethicist, and one of 
     the nation's leading advocates for international human 
     rights, Father Drinan has dedicated his life to humanitarian 
     causes and to improving the legal profession.
       A member of the Law Center's faculty since 1981, Father 
     Drinan teaches courses in international human rights, 
     constitutional law, civil liberties, legislation, legal 
     ethics, and professional responsibility. During his tenure at 
     Georgetown, he has taught over 6,000 students.
       Father Drinan earned his B.A. degree in 1942 and his M.A. 
     degree in 1947 from Boston College and his LL.B. in 1949 and 
     LL.M. in 1951 from Georgetown University Law Center. He 
     entered the Society of Jesus while at Boston College, and in 
     1953, he was ordained a Jesuit priest. From 1956 to 1970, he 
     served as Dean and Professor of Law at Boston College Law 
     School. During the ten years between his deanship and joining 
     the Georgetown Law faculty, he served in the United States 
     Congress as a Representative from Massachusetts, where he was 
     a member of various committees and chair of the Subcommittee 
     on Criminal Justice of the House Judiciary Committee.
       Throughout his career, Father Drinan has stood as a leading 
     voice in the human rights movement. He serves on the boards 
     of numerous organizations devoted to the furtherance of human 
     rights, including the International League for Human Rights, 
     Human Rights First, the Council for a Livable World Education 
     Fund, Americans for Democratic Action, and the NAACP Legal 
     Defense and Education Fund. He was a founder of the Lawyers' 
     Alliance for Arms Control and the National Interreligious 
     Task Force on Soviet Jewry. Father Drinan has traveled the 
     globe, both as a member of Congress and as a private citizen, 
     on human rights missions to Chile, the Philippines, EI 
     Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Argentina, France, and 
     Vietnam to document human rights abuses and to work for their 
     eradication. He is the author of several notable works on 
     human rights, including The Mobilization of Shame, of which 
     Elie Wiesel said, ``Anyone interested in human rights will 
     read Robert Drinan's informative, passionate and challenging 
     book with deep concern and hope.''
       In 2004, Father Drinan joined such American legal 
     luminaries as Oliver Wendell Holmes, Thurgood Marshall, and 
     Sandra Day O'Connor when the American Bar Association awarded 
     him its ABA Medal--the organization's highest honor--which 
     recognizes exceptionally distinguished service to the cause 
     of American jurisprudence. The award citation notes, ``For 
     more than half a century, Father Robert F. Drinan has been an 
     esteemed and beloved leader of the bar and a fearless 
     advocate for the powerless and oppressed around the world. . 
     . . Throughout his career, Father Drinan has heeded the call 
     for human rights and social justice. With unparalleled 
     passion and dedication, he has strived to improve the plight 
     of the disadvantage and oppressed, and to advance the rule of 
     law throughout the world.''
       Through the generosity of alumni and friends, Georgetown 
     now recognizes and honors one of its greatest sons, Robert F. 
     Drinan, S.J., L'49, L'51, with the creation of the Robert F. 
     Drinan, S.J., Chair in Human Rights. This meaningful and 
     lasting tribute will enable the Law Center to attract 
     teachers, advocates, and scholars who share Father Drinan's 
     passion and concern for liberty, equality of opportunity, and 
     human dignity and who will inspire the next generation of 
     Georgetown Law students to become leaders, protectors, and 
     defenders of human rights.

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