[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 36, Number 28 (Monday, July 17, 2000)]
[Pages 1636-1637]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks on Presenting the Congressional Gold Medal to Father Theodore M. 
Hesburgh

July 13, 2000

    Thank you. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker; Senator Daschle, 
Senator Thurmond, Senator Bayh, Senator Lugar, Congressman Roemer. Thank 
you all for your efforts today. Chaplain Coughlin and distinguished 
Members of the Congress and, of course, Chaplain Ogilvie. I'd like to 
say a special word of welcome to the Notre Dame Glee Club, who sang the 
National Anthem without benefit of musical background. Most of us need 
the music to cover up the mistakes we make, and they were wonderful.
    Mr. Speaker, I would like to begin by thanking you for your gracious 
leadership on this and many other occasions like this, and especially 
today. I want to also thank you for your work for democracy and freedom 
and helping to save it in the oldest republic in Latin America, 
Colombia. I just signed the legislation that you passed in a bipartisan 
way, and I thank you for that.
    I want to say, I have heard many speeches today about a man I admire 
very much, a servant and child of God, a genuine American patriot, and a 
citizen of the world and a person that Hillary and I were fortunate to 
get to know several years before we moved here to Washington. Father, 
she told me this morning to tell you hello and congratulations. We hope 
that now that you've got one more award, you'll still be nice to all 
your ordinary friends who admire you so much. [Laughter]
    In 1987, when Father Hesburgh retired after 35 years as president of 
Notre Dame, the New York Times wrote this: ``The Hesburgh era is ended, 
and the Hesburgh legend begins.'' Well, today, we have seen the legend 
growing. We've heard a lot about the recognition of his accomplishments, 
beginning with President Johnson's bestowal of the Medal of Freedom and 
going through these degrees. You know, this is getting to be like a fish 
story; there will be 200 degrees before we finish this ceremony today. 
[Laughter]
    But I will say again, I think that all of your friends, the people 
who have known you over the years and admired everything you've done for 
civil rights and world peace and for Notre Dame, they'd say that the 
most important thing about you and the greatest honor you will ever wear 
around your neck is the collar you have worn for 57 years. From the age 
of 6, you wanted to be a priest--in his words, a mediator between God 
and humankind. ``A priest belongs to no one,'' he said, ``so he can 
belong to everyone.''
    Father's first job at Notre Dame was chaplain of the married 
veterans who enrolled on the GI bill. He said he loved the job. He had 
two or three baptisms every Sunday, and he bargained with the local 
obstetricians to get volume discounts for Notre Dame babies. [Laughter]
    One of his charges rushed into delivery only 6 months pregnant. The 
baby was taken by caesarean with a heartbeat but no breath. The medical 
team could not bring breath. But the instant Father Hesburgh baptized 
the baby with cold baptismal water, the baby began to cry loudly. That 
premature baby is now a 6-foot, 2-inch graduate of the University of 
Notre Dame.
    Father Hesburgh never let one value be an excuse for not achieving 
another. You heard Senator Daschle say that he gave Notre Dame a great 
university with a great football team. Once he was criticized by some 
clergy for his emphasis on academic improvement, and he said this: 
``Piety is no substitute for competent scholarship.''
    The legendary Robert Maynard Hutchins of the University of Chicago 
once said that Father Hesburgh's improvements at Notre Dame constituted, 
and I quote, ``one of the

[[Page 1637]]

most spectacular developments in higher education in the last 25 
years.''
    But the thing that was most important is that he saw himself as a 
child and servant of God. The thing that I have always been most 
impressed by is that even as President of Notre Dame, he never stopped 
being a priest. The light from his third-floor office under the Golden 
Dome was often glowing late at night. Students seeking counseling or 
conversation could climb the fire escape, tap on the window, and get a 
post-midnight visit. He called it his ``open window policy.'' I'm 
thinking of adopting it now.
    Once at Notre Dame, a young Jewish student from Boston left campus 2 
weeks into the semester because two freshmen hurt him deeply with their 
anti-Semitic slurs. The freshmen were sent to Father Hesburgh. Here is 
what he did: ``Pack your bags,'' he said, ``and go to Boston. You either 
convince that young man to come back to Notre Dame, or you don't come 
back to Notre Dame.'' They all came back, and they all graduated. Now, 
that is leadership.
    I say again, Father, we value everything you have done and all your 
public service. We know it is built on the bedrock of faith. For, faith, 
in your words, enables us to rise above ourselves with the help of God.
    For all of us who have been privileged to know you in any way, in 
any of your many capacities, the thing that we know is that your 
greatness, which led to all this achievement, was rooted in your 
peculiar understanding of our common humanity and our common tie as 
children of God. You have done your church, your country, your family, 
and your friends very proud, and we thank you.

 Note: The President spoke at 2:40 p.m. in the Rotunda at the Capitol. 
In his remarks, he referred to Rev. Daniel P. Coughlin, Chaplain, U.S. 
House of Representatives.