[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 17]
[Senate]
[Page 24472]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                         FATHER MYCHAL F. JUDGE

  Mrs. CLINTON. Mr. President, I ask for unanimous consent that the 
following statement, which I was honored to deliver at the funeral mass 
for Father Mychal F. Judge in New York City on September 15, be printed 
in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

  Remarks by Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton at the Mass of Christian 
   Burial for Father Mychal F. Judge, O.F.M., Chaplain for the Fire 
    Department of New York City, Church of Saint Francis of Assisi, 
                      Saturday, September 15, 2001

       Your Eminence, members of Father Mike's family, especially 
     his sisters Erin and Dympna, his nieces and nephews, members 
     of his beloved Franciscan community:
       Father Mike left us one last earthly gift with Father 
     Duffy's homily. That will long be remembered for its 
     humanity, its love, and its humor.
       My husband and I first heard of Father Mike during the 
     White House years. We kept hearing about this charismatic 
     Franciscan who ministered to the homeless, to AIDS victims, 
     to immigrants, with perhaps a special touch for Irish 
     immigrants and who loved his firefighters. So we invited him 
     to the White House for our annual prayer breakfast, and 
     because I was so intrigued by everything I had heard about 
     him, and because I knew that in a big event like that I might 
     not get much time to spend with him, I took the hostess' 
     prerogative and put him at my table. What a beacon of light. 
     He lit up the White House as he lit up every place he ever 
     found himself.
       We had just purchased our home here in New York so, of 
     course, we first spoke about his love for this city, and he 
     told me the stories of growing up and shining shoes and 
     exploring on his own. And we talked about what drew him to 
     become the chaplain for the fire department and how grateful 
     he was because he felt, as you know so well, that it was a 
     mission he'd been called to do.
       On Tuesday, when the worst of evil struck our city, I was 
     heading toward my office at the Senate, and I heard first of 
     the crash into the tower and, like so many people, thought it 
     must have been a terrible accident and, shortly thereafter, 
     the second. As I frantically began making phone calls, we 
     were evacuated because of the third crash into the Pentagon. 
     I called the Mayor and the Governor and the President. And I 
     think for so many people in those initial hours it was 
     unimaginable except for those of you and your comrades who 
     were there in the midst of it. And then I was called and told 
     that Father Mychal Judge had died doing what he was called to 
     do, and all of a sudden the enormity of the tragedy became 
     very personal.
       It will take a very long time before any of us can even 
     find the words to express what this cowardly evil act meant 
     and did to people we knew and loved, to our city and to our 
     country. But as a Christian, I think often of another 
     terrible day, a Friday of despair, darkness and death, a 
     Friday that left behind so much pain and hopelessness and yet 
     Sunday was coming and Sunday did come.
       As we continue the work of rescue, recovery, rebuilding, 
     reconstruction, we have to remember the spirit, the life, and 
     the love that Father Mike left us. Pulling us one to the 
     other, giving us strength where it seems hard to imagine it 
     could ever come again. And being resolute in our commitment 
     to do everything we can to ensure that not one person that 
     lost his or her life on our Tuesday of death and darkness 
     will have died in vain.
       So thank you Father Judge. Father, you gave us so many 
     gifts when you were alive. Gifts of laughter and love. 
     Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, and you came 
     to us. And now you've gone ahead, but you will never be 
     forgotten, and we are grateful for the blessings of your 
     life. Thank you.




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