[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 12]
[Senate]
[Pages 16044-16045]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      REMEMBERING GEORGE McGOVERN

  Mr. JOHNSON of South Dakota. Mr. President, I rise to celebrate the 
life of Senator George McGovern, a man that many in this body called a 
friend, and an inspiration.
  Senator McGovern was more than an elected official, although his 22-
year

[[Page 16045]]

career in the Senate and House of Representatives serving the great 
people of South Dakota left a lasting legacy filled with numerous 
accomplishments and achievements. Senator McGovern inspired me and many 
others into public service.
  Like my mother, Senator McGovern was a PK, a preacher's kid, and I 
recall from my mother's memories that this was not easy. Senator 
McGovern often talked about growing up not only as a Methodist PK who 
couldn't attend movies, but also as a child of the Depression, living 
in a small parsonage that shared the little they had with those in the 
congregation who had even less.
  His Methodist background provided the foundation for his deep sense 
of morality and social justice. It was the force that led him to be a 
lifelong advocate for feeding the hungry, for serving his country as a 
bomber pilot during World War II, and then returning home to work for 
peaceful solutions to international conflicts.
  Each chapter of Senator McGovern's life was as riveting and 
spellbinding as the chapters of the many books he penned over the 
years. Numerous honors were bestowed upon him, including the 
Presidential Medal of Freedom, the World Food Prize, and the Air Medal.
  From his heroic military service where he flew 35 missions as a B-24 
Liberator pilot and earned the Distinguished Flying Cross for making a 
hazardous emergency landing of his damaged plane and saving his crew; 
his tenacious advocacy in fighting world hunger and working to provide 
school meals for millions of children in dozens of countries; to his 
unwavering and passionate support of various social programs, his 
strongly stated political views, and his wisdom on a spectrum of 
contemporary political and world issues, Senator McGovern's life has 
had a profound impact on our nation and world.
  He traveled the world to advocate for better nutrition programs and 
establish efforts to fight hunger. He was the first U.N. Global 
Ambassador on World Hunger. He was the first director of the Food for 
Peace Program under President John F. Kennedy. He developed the 
``McGovern Report'', which led to a new set of nutritional standards 
and guidelines for Americans. He joined longtime friend Senator Bob 
Dole in establishing the McGovern-Dole International Food for Education 
and Child Nutrition Program that provided school meals to millions of 
children. He served 3 years as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations 
Agencies for Food and Agriculture.
  Yet Senator McGovern never forgot the people of South Dakota, 
residing many months out of the year in his hometown of Mitchell, 
location of the George and Eleanor McGovern Library and Museum. George 
would often take his dog, Dakota, on daily walks on the campus of 
Dakota Wesleyan University, sometimes stopping to eat at the university 
cafeteria and visit with students.
  Senator McGovern once said that ``politics is an act of faith,'' 
meaning that you need faith that the people can make good and moral 
decisions. He had that faith, and his life of moral and intellectual 
leadership has made it easier for all of us to carry that faith 
forward.
  One of the characteristics that I most admired in Senator McGovern 
was that his belief in good and moral decisions extended to leaders in 
both parties, and led to his lifelong friendships with statesmen like 
the aforementioned Senator Dole, with whom he formed a deep friendship 
as they worked on hunger issues, and William Buckley, with whom he 
delighted in debating the issues whether in public, on ``Firing Line'', 
or over a drink as they traveled together debating their opposing 
views.
  Senator McGovern knew and valued what so many have forgotten today; 
that America needs a strong two-party system built on respect and 
cooperation if we are to survive as a democracy.
  He also found time to write 14 books on political issues and 
philosophy. And he found time to check off a few items from his 
personal bucket list. In his late eighties, he parachuted from an 
airplane. He drove a stock car at a local speedway. Even this past 
summer, as he was to observe his 90th birthday, he had hoped to fly a 
B-1 aircraft.
  With all of his accomplishments, perhaps his greatest was his 
marriage to Eleanor. I will never forget the opening of the McGovern 
library in Mitchell, SD, which Eleanor was too weak to attend, and how 
affectionately he touched the newly unveiled statue of her standing 
with him, as they had stood together throughout their lives.
  We can rejoice today that they are now reunited and with their 
children Terry and Steve. They lived the lives that John Wesley 
admonished them to live when he said:

       Do all the good you can. By all the means you can. In all 
     the ways you can. In all the places you can. At all the times 
     you can. To all the people you can. As long as ever you can.

                          ____________________