[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 8 (Wednesday, January 23, 2013)]
[Senate]
[Page S209]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     REMEMBERING CATHERINE O'NEILL

 Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, today I ask my colleagues to join 
me in honoring Catherine O'Neill, the great advocate for refugee women 
and children who died in Los Angeles last month at age 70. Cathy was my 
friend and neighbor, and I will miss her.
  Catherine was born in 1942 in Queens, NY, the daughter of Irish 
immigrants Patrick and Bridget Vesey. After graduating from St. 
Joseph's College in Brooklyn and teaching as a Catholic missionary in 
Texas, she earned master's degrees in social work from Howard 
University and in international affairs from Columbia.
  Cathy had an extraordinary career as a social worker, writer, 
editorial director, businesswoman, and director of the UN Information 
Center in Washington, DC. She was also active in political life, twice 
running for office in California and serving as finance director for 
Governor Jerry Brown's 1976 presidential campaign, but she is best 
known for her groundbreaking and heroic efforts to help refugee women 
and children.
  In 1989, after visiting refugee camps around the world as a board 
member of the humanitarian International Rescue Committee, Cathy became 
a founder of the Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children, now 
Women's Refugee Commission.
  As the Commission's board chair, Cathy traveled the world to listen 
to refugee women and children and learn about their most pressing 
needs. She attracted prominent women journalists, academics, and 
philanthropists to the Commission and became a leading advocate for 
refugee issues on Capitol Hill, at the UN, and in the media. Under her 
leadership, the Women's Refugee Commission has shaped policies and 
practices in the U.S. and around the world to address the needs of 
women and children displaced by war, persecution, and natural 
disasters.
  On behalf of the people of California, I send my gratitude and 
condolences to Cathy's husband, Richard Reeves, her daughter Fiona 
Reeves, sons Colin and Conor O'Neill, Jeffrey Reeves, her 
grandchildren, and her sister Mary Ann Garvey. Catherine O'Neill was an 
amazing person who made our world a better and more compassionate 
place, and we will miss her dearly.

                          ____________________