[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 4]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 4780]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                IN REMEMBRANCE OF REVEREND ROBERT DRINAN

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. DENNIS J. KUCINICH

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, February 27, 2007

  Mr. KUCINICH. Madam Speaker, I rise today in honor of Reverend Robert 
Drinan. Father Drinan was a great humanitarian that showed the world 
that being a servant of the people was not a conflict of interest when 
serving the Lord.
  Father Robert Drinan effortlessly assimilated pious servitude with 
politics, showing that the purpose of both was oftentimes the same. He 
was an active and prominent voice when it came to civil rights, and as 
the Dean of Boston College Law School he called for and supported 
desegregation. He also challenged the students of Boston College Law 
School to be active in the civil rights movement.
  Father Drinan was the first Roman Catholic priest to be elected to 
Congress. In 1970, Father Drinan ran for Congress on an anti-war 
platform after a visit to South Vietnam, where he discovered that the 
number of political prisoners was increasing despite claims from the 
State Department. He later urged the Catholic Church to condemn war as 
``morally objectionable.'' Father Drinan continued to serve faithfully 
as he represented the constituents of Massachusetts in the House of 
Representatives for ten years.
  His attention was not reserved to Vietnam or civil rights. Father 
Drinan also was an outspoken advocate for the underprivileged and, 
after leaving his Congressional office in 1980, he maintained his 
commitment to the poor and the marginalized. He served as the president 
for Americans for Democratic Action, and traveled the country giving 
speeches on hunger and the dangers of the arms race.
  Madam Speaker and colleagues, please join me in honoring the memory 
of Reverend Robert Drinan, whose fierce devotion to the most vulnerable 
among us serves as a model for all of us who continue to serve those in 
need.

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