[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 165 (Tuesday, December 14, 2010)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2134]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              ON THE DEATH OF AMBASSADOR RICHARD HOLBROOKE

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. JANE HARMAN

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, December 14, 2010

  Ms. HARMAN. Madam Speaker, after hearing encouraging news over the 
last few days, learning that my friend Richard Holbrooke had died last 
night felt like a sucker punch. A day later, it still does.
  I suppose, in an ironic way, Richard would smile at the enormous 
impact he had on friend and foe alike. He was a life force, a force of 
nature--someone always operating on multiple levels, in high gear, and 
in more than three dimensions. I used to chafe when in the middle of a 
phone call he would put me on hold to talk with someone else--but I bet 
he did it to everyone.
  He was a consummate juggler--the master diplomat. He knew precisely 
what he was prepared to tell someone, and what he was not. Though it 
takes years to settle on how history will view someone, my guess is 
Richard Holbrooke will be considered, hands down, as the best diplomat 
of my generation. Indeed, he will be in a small pantheon that includes 
Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and Averell Harriman.
  But the public Richard is not all of it: the private Richard was a 
generous and loyal friend. Before joining the Obama Administration, he 
chaired the Global Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and 
Malaria. For a time, one of our grandchildren was on its staff. He 
loved her, and forever after asked about her life, boyfriends, etc. No 
question the huge staff he built over his many careers over many years 
is devastated by his untimely death. Surely Megan Quitkin is. To Kati, 
whom he adored, and the extended Holbrooke family, we mourn your loss--
and our country's loss.
  I like to think that Richard has just put us all on hold while he 
takes another call...

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