[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 20 (Wednesday, February 9, 2011)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E181-E182]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        A TRIBUTE IN HONOR OF THE LIFE OF ROBERT SARGENT SHRIVER

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. ANNA G. ESHOO

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, February 9, 2011

  Ms. ESHOO. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the extraordinary life 
of Robert Sargent Shriver, founding Director of the Peace Corps and 
driving force behind the War on Poverty, who entered eternal life on 
Tuesday, January 18, 2011, just two days before the 50th anniversary of 
the inauguration of his brother-in-law, John F. Kennedy. Beloved by all 
who met him, Sargent Shriver embodied the greatness of his generation, 
devoting his 95 years to fighting for peace and against poverty.
  The scion of a prominent Maryland family, Sargent Shriver received 
his bachelor's and law degrees from Yale before becoming a successful 
businessman, lawyer, and Newsweek editor. He met Eunice Kennedy and 
began managing the Merchandise Mart in Chicago, marrying Eunice in 
1953. A savvy organizer and staunch civil rights advocate, Sargent 
Shriver quickly became both an indispensable part of the Kennedy family 
and an outstanding public servant in his own right. Kennedy called for 
service and sacrifice; Shriver answered and animated that clarion call.
  A World War II Navy Lieutenant and Purple Heart recipient, Sargent 
Shriver understood service in his soul. When Kennedy created the Peace 
Corps in 1961, he handed Shriver the signing pen and the opportunity to 
direct a new force for peace and engagement with the world. Sargent 
Shriver undertook this effort with his typical energy and zeal, working 
tirelessly to bring a small measure of peace to the world, and a piece 
of the world to the thousands of young Americans who shouldered 
backpacks and the responsibilities of global citizenship. My son Paul 
was one of them, and his Peace Corps service in Nepal lit his life and 
continues to guide his vision and his values today.
  ``The Peace Corps door is open to all who are willing to enter,'' 
Shriver once said. ``All they have to do is volunteer.'' Many who

[[Page E182]]

walked through that door began a life dedicated to service, including a 
number of colleagues in Congress--Senator Christopher Dodd, Congressmen 
Mike Honda, Sam Farr, John Garamendi, Steve Driehaus, and Thomas Petri. 
While critics scoffed that Sargent Shriver's fledgling organization 
wouldn't last five minutes, Shriver used his unparalleled 
organizational and motivational skills to shepherd and shape it for 
five years. As we prepare to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the 
Peace Corps next month, over 200,000 Americans will have dedicated 
themselves to the education, environmental protection, public health, 
and economic development of 139 countries around the globe.

  As committed to progress at home as abroad, Sargent Shriver became 
the primary architect of President Lyndon B. Johnsons' War on Poverty. 
As Director of the Office of Economic Opportunity, he created much of 
the framework of our modern social safety net, including Head Start, 
VISTA, Job Corps, Upward Bound, and Legal Services. For a time, he 
continued to direct the Peace Corps even while waging the War on 
Poverty. Twelve-hour days and seven-day work weeks meant little to 
Shriver when it came to helping people. His biographer Scott Stossel 
writes that Shriver's colleagues believed he was always ``expanding the 
Horizons of the Possible,'' in his own life and others.
  Continuing his illustrious career, Shriver served with distinction as 
Ambassador to France. In 1972, he was the Democratic Vice-Presidential 
nominee, and he was a presidential candidate in 1976. In more recent 
years he aided his wife's work on the Special Olympics, and founded the 
Sargent Shriver Peace Institute, the Shriver Center at the University 
of Maryland, Baltimore County, and the Shriver Center on Poverty Law. 
For his lifetime of leadership and service, President Bill Clinton 
awarded Sargent Shriver the Presidential Medal of Freedom, joining 
Eunice who was a previous recipient. They became the only spouses to 
receive the award separately.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to extend our deepest sympathies to 
Sargent Shriver's family. He is survived by his five children, 
California's former First Lady, Maria Shriver; Robert Sargent Shriver 
III; The Honorable Mark Shriver; Timothy Perry Shriver; Anthony Paul 
Shriver; and 19 wonderful grandchildren.
  Accepting the 1972 Vice Presidential nomination, Sargent Shriver 
invoked the words of the French Jesuit, Teilhard de Chardin:

       One day after mastering the winds, the waves, the tides and 
     gravity, after all the scientific and technological 
     achievements, we shall harness for God the energies of love. 
     And then, for the second time in the history of the world, 
     man will have discovered fire.

  With Sargent Shriver's help, America glimpsed the glow from that 
fire, and in his absence we must strive to discover it once again. I'm 
honored to pay tribute to one of the most faith-filled, compassionate, 
humane and effective public servants of our time. The Sargent Shriver 
legacy is an unparalleled, timeless inspiration to our nation's 
citizens and citizens of the world.

                          ____________________