[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 2] [Extensions of Remarks] [Pages 2703-2704] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]REV. ROBERT F. DRINAN, SCHOLAR, HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST, AND FORMER MEMBER OF CONGRESS ______ HON. SHEILA JACKSON-LEE of texas in the house of representatives Tuesday, January 30, 2007 Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Madam Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to a great American and a former member of this House. The Rev. Robert Drinan, was a Jesuit Catholic priest, lawyer, human rights activist, and a former Member of Congress from Massachusetts. He was also a law professor at Georgetown University Law Center for the last 26 years of his life. Father Drinan, who died Sunday, January 28, 2007, was one of the most admired members of this body and was beloved by all who knew him. He will be missed [[Page 2704]] immensely. All of us mourn his loss and extend our condolences to his family and loved ones. Father Robert Frederick Drinan, S.J. was born November 15, 1920 in Boston, Massachusetts and grew up in Hyde Park, Massachusetts. He graduated from Hyde Park High School in 1938. He received a B.A. and an M.A. from Boston College in 1942 and joined the Jesuit Order the same year; he was ordained as a Catholic priest in 1953. He earned his LL.B. and LL.M degrees from Georgetown University Law Center in 1950. He received his doctorate in theology from Gregorian University in Rome in 1954. Over the course of his life he would be the recipient of 21 honorary degrees. He studied in Florence for 2 years before returning to Boston, where he was admitted to the bar in 1956. Father Drinan was appointed Dean of the Boston College Law School in 1956 and served until 1970, during which time he also taught family law and church-state relations. As dean he called for the desegregation of Boston public schools during the 1960s and challenged his students to become involved in civil rights issues. During this period, he was also a visiting professor at other schools including the University of Texas. He also served the public interest by his membership on several Massachusetts state commissions created to improve the administration of justice. In 1970, Father Drinan, who strongly opposed the Vietnam War, was elected to Congress defeating Congressman Philip J. Philbin, the Chair of the Armed Services Committee in the Democratic primary. Father Drinan went on to win re-election to the U.S. House of Representatives four times, serving from 1971 until 1981. He was the first Roman Catholic priest to serve as a voting member of Congress. In the House, Father Drinan served on several committees but is perhaps best known for his service on the Judiciary Committee, where he chaired the Subcommittee on Criminal Justice. He was the first member of Congress to introduce a resolution in Congress calling for the impeachment of President Nixon. Father Drinan believed strong and with considerable justification that it was illegal for President Nixon to widen the Vietnam War by the secret of bombing Cambodia. Father Drinan was an early and staunch supporter of a woman's right to choose. This stance took considerable political courage for a Roman Catholic politician from Boston in the early 1970s. His stand on abortion rights drew considerable criticism and significant opposition from Church leaders, who were also opposed to the idea of a priest holding political office. Father Drinan reconciled his political position with official Church doctrine by stating that while he was personally opposed to abortion, its legality was a separate issue from its morality. This distinction did not satisfy his critics, notably Pope John Paul II, who in 1980, decreed that all priests everywhere withdraw from electoral politics. Though framed as a general order, to many it seemed that Father Drinan was the principal target. But true to his ordination vows, Father Drinan obeyed and did not seek reelection. He said: ``It is just unthinkable, [the idea of renouncing the priesthood to stay in office]. I am proud and honored to be a priest and a Jesuit. As a person of faith I must believe that there is work for me to do which somehow will be more important than the work I am required to leave.'' But he continued to be a vocal supporter of a woman's right to choose after leaving the Congress, much to the chagrin of the Church, and strongly supported President Clinton's veto of the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act in 1996. Father Drinan joined the faculty of the Georgetown University Law Center in 1981 and served for the next 26 years. He taught legal ethics and international human rights, and traveled to 16 countries, including as Chile, the Philippines, El Salvador, and Vietnam on human rights missions. He was a regular contributor to law reviews and journals, and authored several books, including The Mobilization of Shame: A World View of Human Rights, published by Yale University Press in 2001. Father Drinan served as a member of the American Bar Association House of Delegates until his death and was chair of the ABA Section on Individual Rights and Responsibilities. He served on the Board of Directors of the International League for Human Rights, the Lawyer's Committee for International Human Rights, the Council for a Livable World Educational Fund, the International Labor Rights Fund, Americans for Democratic Action, and the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund. In 2004, the American Bar Association called Father Drinan ``the stuff of which legends are made'' when awarding him its 2004 ABA Medal, an honor shared by such legal luminaries as Thurgood Marshall and Sandra Day O'Connor. Just last summer Father Drinan was presented the 2006 Congressional Distinguished Service Award by now-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, which is given to former Members of the House of Representatives who have performed their duties ``with such extraordinary distinction and selfless dedication as to merit special recognition.'' Madam Speaker, a great man has finished his course, has run the great race, and has gone on to claim his great reward. We are deeply saddened by the loss of this tireless champion for human rights and social justice. But his good works will be with us for eternity. For that we can all be grateful. ____________________