[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 185 (Monday, November 26, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Page S7082]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

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                   TRIBUTE TO RICHARD ``RICK'' BERNDT

 Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, this Wednesday, November 28, 2018, 
the Sisters of Mercy will be celebrating 50 years of service to Mercy 
Health Services provided by one of my longest and dearest friends, 
Richard O. Berndt. That is right: half a century of service.
  Rick is a senior partner at Gallagher, Evelius & Jones, LLP, a firm 
he joined after he assisted the firm's founder, Francis X. Gallagher, 
at the Maryland Constitutional Convention in 1967. That was the year 
Rick earned his law degree from the University of Maryland School of 
Law. That was where we met, and he has remained one of my closest and 
most trusted advisers ever since. He earned his bachelor's degree from 
Villanova University in 1964 and went on to earn a master's degree from 
Johns Hopkins University in 1970. His continued devotion to all three 
institutions--but, perhaps, especially his beloved ``Nova''--knows no 
bounds.
  Rick, the son of German immigrant bakers, is actively and 
productively engaged in Maryland's business community, and he currently 
serves on the boards of Mercy Health Services, Inc., and Johns Hopkins 
Medicine. Over the last five decades, Rick has served on the boards of 
Associated Catholic Charities, Inc., Baltimore Community Foundation, 
Baltimore Development Corporation, Baltimore Equitable Society 
Insurance Company, Center Stage, Inc., Maryland Academy of Sciences 
(Maryland Science Center), Goucher College, Good Samaritan Hospital, 
and the Board of Regents of the University of Maryland Higher Education 
System, and for-profit companies such as Mercantile Bankshares Corp.
  Rick has never sought the spotlight. Perhaps that is one of the 
reasons he has been so influential over the course of his career. As 
the Baltimore Sun reported in 2001, ``Without making headlines, Berndt 
played an important role in moving the Baltimore Archdiocese into the 
foreground on civil rights, rebuilding the Inner Harbor in the 1970s, 
shaping the campaigns and policies of leading Democrats, pushing a 
major statewide gun control measure and negotiating the huge Inner 
Harbor East waterfront development.'' Then-Delegate Howard P. ``Pete'' 
Rawlings referred to Rick as ``the political pope of Baltimore.'' That 
was nearly 20 years ago; I can assure you Rick hasn't slowed down 
since.
  Winston Churchill said, ``We make a living by what we get; we make a 
life by what we give.'' Rick has been successful as an attorney and in 
life because his ethical compass has always been pointed to true north. 
He may be modest about his service, but it hasn't gone unnoticed. Rick 
is the recipient of numerous public service awards including not one, 
but two, papal medals from Pope John Paul II; the Pro Bono Service 
Award from the University of Maryland School of Law Alumni Association; 
the Frances Morton Froelicher Civic Statesmanship Award from the 
Citizens Planning and Housing Association; and the Greater Baltimore 
Committee Award for Outstanding Service. In 1994, then-Cardinal William 
Keeler bestowed on Rick one of the highest honors the Roman Catholic 
Church can give to a layperson: the rank of Knight Commander in the 
Papal Order of St. Gregory the Great.
  One of the blessings of my life is to count Rick Berndt as a mentor, 
adviser, and friend. I hope my Senate colleagues will join me, along 
with the Sisters of Mercy, Rick's innumerable other friends, and his 
family in celebrating his career and his legacy of selfless devotion to 
the service of others.

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