[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 65 (Thursday, May 12, 2011)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2903-S2904]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    THANKING MAYOR RICHARD M. DALEY

  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, if you were to have visited the city of 
Chicago in the last 50 years and someone had asked you the name of the 
mayor and you said Daley, you would have been right about 90 percent of 
the time because for 42 of the last 55 years there has been a Richard 
Daley as mayor of Chicago. Monday marks the end of that era, when 
Richard M. Daley steps down as the current mayor after six terms in 
office. He has led Chicago for 22 years and 8 months, 5 months longer 
than his dad and longer than any mayor in Chicago's history.
  I know Rich Daley pretty well. We started together in politics. He 
was a State senator and I was a staff attorney to the Illinois State 
Senate back in 1970s. Back then, he was a young father with a young 
family, brand new to public life. I worked for him on the Senate 
Judiciary Committee and I got to know him sitting next to him for many 
hours of hearings, watching his reaction to ideas, measuring the man.
  He and his wife Maggie were going through a tough time then. They had 
a little baby who was very sick and eventually passed away. It was an 
emotionally draining experience for the whole family and those of us 
who worked closely with him felt the sense of loss that he and his 
family experienced. But he is an extraordinary man.
  Richard Michael Daley was born in 1942, the fourth of seven children, 
and the eldest son of Richard J. Daley and Sis Daley. His father, who 
ran Chicago from 1955 until his death in 1976, was one of the most 
powerful big city mayors America has ever known.
  Rich Daley grew up in a modest red brick house in Bridgeport, a 
storied Irish neighborhood of blue-collar bungalows on the south side 
of Chicago. The famine Irish immigrants who settled the neighborhood in 
the 19th century called it ``Hardscrabble.''
  Rich Daley's mom and dad taught the kids that family always comes 
first. His father, even as mayor, made a practice of eating dinner 
every night at home with his family, with very few exceptions.
  Mayor Daley introduced his kids to politics at an early age. Often 
after dinner he bundled them up and put them in the car and took them 
to ward meetings he was attending, so I guess politics is in the Daley 
blood.
  One brother, Bill, is now President Obama's Chief of Staff. He served 
as U.S. Commerce Secretary under President Clinton. Another brother, 
John Daley, is a Cook County commissioner. In Chicago's De La Salle 
High School, which Rich Daley attended, his nickname was ``Mayor.'' No 
surprise. In his yearbook he said his ambition was to become a ``great 
lawyer and a politician.''
  His family name may have helped open some doors to his dreams, but 
then he had to make a name for himself. As he once told a reporter, his 
father said to him: ``I can put you on the ballroom floor, but you have 
to dance yourself.''
  He started his political life as a delegate to the convention that 
rewrote Illinois' constitution in 1970. Two years later, he was elected 
to the Illinois State Senate in a landslide. As a senator, he steered 
to passage important mental health and nursing home reforms. He pushed 
for laws to combat child abuse and drug abuse--and against a sales tax 
on food and medicine.
  In 1980, he was elected Cook County State's attorney. As the county's 
chief prosecutor, he earned a reputation for law and order. He tripled 
the number of African-American prosecutors in the office and was 
reelected twice. He first ran for mayor in 1983. After finishing last 
in a three-way primary, he considered getting out of politics. Thank 
goodness, he changed his mind. He got a second chance to run for mayor 
in 1989, in a special election to finish the unexpired term of 
Chicago's beloved first African-American mayor, Harold Washington. That 
time, he won with 56 percent of the vote, and took the oath of office 
on April 24, 1989, his 47th birthday. He would go on to be reelected 
five times, never with less than 60 percent of the vote.
  Richard Daley's vision has always been clear: To make Chicago one of 
the best cities in the world. And he has pursued that goal with fierce 
determination. His leadership helped transform Chicago from a rustbelt 
manufacturing center to a cultural and commercial center that the 
Global Cities Index calls the sixth-most global city in the world, 
alongside New York, London, and Hong Kong.
  Richard Daley is funny, blunt, impatient, emotional, and notoriously 
demanding--especially of his staff. Like his father, he is a hands-on 
manager. Whenever he sees anything that needs attention--a pothole, 
graffiti--he makes a note on a blue slip of paper and then calls 
department heads to make sure the problems are fixed.
  His tenure includes some disappointments--most recently, the city's 
failed bid to bring the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games to Chicago. 
But we gave it our best try. But it also includes far more remarkable 
successes.
  He travelled the world promoting Chicago. He helped bring new jobs 
and new vitality to the Greater Loop, the economic heart of Chicago. 
The Daley years brought the expansion of McCormick Place, the ongoing 
modernization of O'Hare International Airport, the redevelopment of 
Soldier Field, home of the Chicago Bears, and the transformation of 
Navy Pier into one of the city's top tourist attractions. Mayor Daley 
pushed bravely for sensible gun laws. It is understandable. Too many 
times he has had to attend the funerals of policemen and other people 
in the city who were gunned down by gun violence from gangs and other 
sources.
  Mayor Daley has worked relentlessly to make Chicago the most livable 
big-city in America and the most environmentally friendly city in the 
world. During his tenure, Chicago created a comprehensive plan to help 
lower greenhouse gas emissions and address climate change. The city 
planted more than 600,000 trees and built more than 600 green roofs 
covering more than 7 million square feet, more than any other city in 
America. New flower beds now line the sidewalks and medians.
  Downtown, a 24-acre expanse that was once an eyesore of tangled rail 
lines is now Millennium Park, one of the most magnificent city parks in 
the world, an emerald-green showcase for music, recreation, art and 
design.
  In 1995, Mayor Daley made his boldest and riskiest political move. He 
asked the State legislature for control and responsibility of Chicago's 
public schools. When a political ally told him that taking on the 
schools ``could be the end of your career,'' the mayor replied, ``If I 
can't do that for the children of Chicago, then I should not be 
mayor.'' Underperforming schools were closed, new schools were opened. 
Test scores went up, and dropout rates were down, and some of the most 
innovative educators in America led the Chicago public school system 
forward. The mayor would be the first to tell you we still have a long 
way to go. But were it not for his determination and his accepting the 
responsibility the school system would not be as good as it is today.
  In 1999, the city took control of the Chicago Housing Authority, 
razed some of the most notorious public high-rises in the country--
places like the Robert Taylor Homes and Cabrini-Green--and replaced 
them with mixed-income housing--safe, clean houses.
  Richard Daley's greatest success is the sense of common purpose he 
has

[[Page S2904]]

given Chicago. A recent Chicago Tribune summed it up well. It said:

       What distinguished Richard M. Daley from many big-city 
     mayors is his remarkable if impossible-to-complete work to 
     barrow racial chasms that, during the 1980s, threatened to 
     swallow Chicago. He has done that not with anguished speeches 
     or paeans to social justice, but by projecting a strong sense 
     of fairness in the way he does his job. As a result, he has 
     persuaded many Chicagoans, of many hues, to pull together in 
     the same direction: Up.

  Edward Bedore, who served as budget director under both Mayor Daleys, 
told the Sun Times: ``One was a builder, the other completed the 
house.''
  In 2005, Time magazine named Richard Daley one of ``the five best 
big-city mayors.'' NPR's Scott Simon said it well: ``He was his 
father's son, but he became his own man.''
  Among Mayor Daley's most cherished childhood memories is going to the 
White Sox games with his dad and brothers at Comiskey Park. One of my 
favorite memories of Richard Daley also involves the White Sox. It was 
October 26, 2005--Game 3 of the 2005 World Series, White Sox against 
the Houston Astros.
  Mayor Daley was in Washington for business and I had invited him and 
the members of the Illinois congressional delegation to my office in 
the Capitol to watch the game. Everyone came, including our new 
Senator, now the President of the United States.
  What a game. The White Sox finally won it 7-5 with a home run in the 
14th inning. They would go on to win the series. That game was the 
longest World Series game in history: 5 hours 41 minutes. As the night 
wore on, almost everybody trailed away--but not Rich Daley. I have a 
photo of the handful of us who stuck it out until the very end. 
Standing in the middle, the happiest man in the photo, is Mayor Daley.
  That's the Richard M. Daley way: No matter how long it takes, you 
give it your all until the game is won.
  On Monday, Chicago will enter a new era: The post-Daley era. We will 
welcome a passionate, talented, new mayor, Rahm Emanuel. Like so many 
other cities, Chicago is struggling involving the recession and a large 
deficit. Fortunately, Mayor Emanuel will also inherit a legacy of unity 
and progress that that will continue to benefit Chicagoans for 
generations to come.
  As one reported noted, ``The Daley name is so synonymous with Chicago 
politics, it might as well be stitched into the city flag.''
  The legacy Rich Daley has created in Chicago is going to live on, in 
the improved lives of the people who live in that great city. His 
legacy will live on in the wonderment of so many people who visit and 
whose first words about the city are always, ``I couldn't get over how 
clean it is.'' I tell you it doesn't happen by accident. It takes the 
leadership of a mayor and a great first lady, Maggie Daley, who made it 
happen.
  To quote from the Tribune editorial which I mentioned earlier, ``When 
this community, this Nation, needed to know that a city could come back 
from economic decline and tribal conflict, he delivered. For that, 
Mayor Daley, we thank you.''
  I also want to offer my personal thanks for his friendship and the 
great opportunity to work together over the years. Loretta, my wife, 
and I had an opportunity a couple of weeks ago to go out to dinner with 
the mayor and Maggie. It is something we have been planning for a long 
time and we had a great night. We were over on Clark Street at the Naha 
Restaurant. The windows were open and I watched as everybody walked on 
by and stopped to look inside at the mayor and the first lady. They 
know him because he is Chicago.
  I also want to say kind words about the Daley children, Nora, 
Patrick, Elizabeth, and Kevin, for sharing their husband and father 
with us.
  I will close by saying that we attend the same church in Chicago. It 
is called Old Saint Pat's. Last St. Patrick's Day was the mayor's big 
day. Maggie, who has been struggling with some health issues, made it 
that day and the church was packed. Everybody was wearing shamrocks and 
green ties. The Irish dancers were there for a great celebration of 
Saint Patrick's Day. Luckily for the Daleys, their grandkids were also 
there, little kids scrambling all over the church pews, waiting in 
anxious anticipation for the end of the mass because at the end of the 
mass the mayor's favorite, the Shannon Rovers bagpipe band, marched 
right up the front aisle of the church and the kids were brimming with 
excitement as they came up the aisle.
  I captured a picture on my cell phone, which I sent to the mayor and 
his wife, of their grandkids in anticipation of the bagpipe band 
arriving. I value it and I am sure that family values it too. We value 
Mayor Daley and his great family. They have made Chicago a better place 
and the United States a better nation.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. ALEXANDER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Brown of Ohio). Without objection, it is 
so ordered.
  (The remarks of Mr. Alexander pertaining to the introduction of S. 
964 are located in today's Record under ``Statements on Introduced 
Bills and Joint Resolutions.'')
  Mr. ALEXANDER. I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mrs. Hagan). The Senator from Washington.

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