[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 162 (Wednesday, October 24, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Page S13359]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     TRIBUTE TO DR. EILEEN SCHMITT

 Mr. BIDEN. Mr. President, at the end of this year, Dr. Eileen 
Schmitt, a friend and fixture in our Wilmington community, is retiring, 
and I want to share her inspirational story because there is much all 
of us can learn from her.
  As we debate health care, again, and again, and again in this 
Chamber, Dr. Schmitt has lived the life Mother Teresa called for when 
she said: Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person.
  A talented medical doctor who rose to become president and chief 
executive officer of St. Francis Hospital, she walked away from her 
fancy title and big desk in 2001 to do her true calling, healing the 
poorest in our community. She became the medical director for the St. 
Clare Medical Van, making her rounds in a mobile van to provide free 
health care to those who have no insurance.
  The van pulls up, and there may be 20 people waiting--some earn 
minimum wage, some don't have a job, some are homeless, many are 
children--and she asks for no money, no insurance. She just sees to 
their medical needs.
  As part of her work, she arranges for doctors to donate their time, 
and launched drives to create a pharmaceutical fund for prescription 
medicines for her patients. If funds are low or a patient needs 
something right away, she buys it herself. That is the type of person 
she is.
  And in her spare time, you can find her teaching her patients 
English, and bringing clothes to the families she visits.
  When someone asked her why she does it, she explained:

       When I first went into medicine, I wanted to do missionary 
     work. I think getting back to taking care of people--
     especially people who don't have the means to get medical 
     care--helps to fulfill my initial calling.

  The acts of love and compassion she provides every day may seem small 
in our prosperous country of 300 million people, but America would be 
much less of a Nation were it not for Dr. Schmitt.
  Her patients call her their angel, and indeed she has been one to 
them. But she also is an inspiration to all Americans, reminding us 
that small acts, one person at a time, touch and change our 
neighborhoods.
  I know Senator Carper, Congressman Castle, and all my colleagues 
thank Dr. Schmitt and wish her happiness and health as she 
retires.

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