[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 5 (Tuesday, January 9, 2018)]
[House]
[Pages H30-H31]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1215
                 REMEMBERING SISTER CATHERINE PINKERTON

  (Ms. KAPTUR asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. KAPTUR. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor Sister Catherine 
Pinkerton, who journeyed from us during this past Christmas season in 
Cleveland. She had attained the age of 96.
  Sister Catherine was a Roman Catholic Sisters of St. Joseph order for 
78 years. She rose to serve as president of her congregation, and she 
was also selected to lead the national Leadership Conference of Women 
Religious and was awarded its Outstanding Leadership Award in 2006.
  She worked as the founder of NETWORK, the social justice lobby, 
urging Congress to care for the needy and the sick, and she became a 
tireless advocate in these Halls of Congress for justice, especially 
for the poor and oppressed. One of her greatest victories was pushing 
for the passage of the Children's Health Insurance Program, which 
insures 9 million of America's children.
  In 2008, Sister Catherine was invited to deliver the benediction at 
the Democratic National Convention, and she urged Americans to ``call 
forth and affirm as leaders of this Nation, persons

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of vision, courage, and solid values, clearly focused not only on what 
is but, rather, open to the challenge of discerning and welcoming what 
is yet to be.''
  Sister Catherine, your sacrificial life was extraordinary, and you 
were countercultural. You will be missed. May your passionate words and 
deeds guide us to care for our fellow human beings. The American people 
are grateful for your lifetime of service.
  I will later include in the Record a eulogy and tribute to Sister 
Catherine by Sister Christine Schenk, who spoke at her memorial service 
and whose first sentence about her reads: ``Catherine's life was all 
about bringing glad tidings to the poor and letting the oppressed go 
free. She was so powerfully passionate and so dedicated to her mission 
of justice, who can doubt that the spirit had indeed anointed her for 
this work?''

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