Congressional Record—Senate S480
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S480 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE January 30, 2008 of labor, recognize their key role in Father Ron was, as we know—and he On a personal note, I will always be stimulating the economy. Look at our was a friend of mine, and I knew him grateful to Sister Dorothy for her senior citizens. They are the real salt, well—also a friend of Archbishop Oscar many years of friendship and counsel. the rock of America. Our mothers and Romero of El Salvador, and he wit- It has been one of the privileges of my fathers and grandfathers, most of them nessed the Salvadoran military firing life to know so many members of that passed through the Depression era. on mourners after the archbishop’s as- wonderful, wonderful Hennessey fam- Some are a little old for the Depression sassination. ily—Father Ron, all the years he era, but they have values that are so Sister Dorothy became a leader in a risked his life in Central America, and important for our country. They are newly formed human rights group in both Sister Dorothy and Sister Gwen, the people who paid taxes all their Dubuque and spent the rest of her life and another sister. There is Sister Mir- lives. They worked all their lives. They engaging in principled acts of dissent iam, who was tragically killed in a car provided service to so many of us and and protest, at times putting her own incident some years ago. What a won- our families and to other neighbors in life at risk. derful family. the community. Let us recognize their For example, in 1984, she went to Sister Dorothy worked for a while as key role in stimulating the economy, Nicaragua with the group Witness for a senior intern in my Dubuque office. I and let us pass the Finance Committee Peace, acting as human shields to pro- say ‘‘for a while’’—actually, for 8 substitute for those 20 million Amer- tect northern border villages from at- years. She was a great mentor and in- ican seniors. tacks by the CIA-backed Contras. spiration to all of my staff. I yield the floor and suggest the ab- In 1986, at the age of 73, she joined sence of a quorum. more than 1,000 activists in the Great So I will always cherish my friend- The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Peace March for Global Nuclear Disar- ship not only with Sister Dorothy but clerk will call the roll. mament, traveling 3,500 miles from Los also with Sister Gwen, Sister Miriam, The assistant legislative clerk pro- Angeles to Washington, DC—at the age Father Ron, and so many other mem- ceeded to call the roll. of 73. bers whom I have known of the entire Mr. HARKIN. Madam President, I Beginning in 1997, she participated in Hennessey family. ask unanimous consent that the order annual protests at the School of the Madam President, as you can clearly for the quorum call be rescinded. Americas at Fort Benning, GA, where see, Sister Dorothy was a remarkable The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without graduates had been implicated in person. I am reminded of the old say- objection, it is so ordered. human rights abuses all over Latin ing: We make a living by what we f America, Central America, including make; but we make a life by what we the murder of six Jesuit priests in El give. Throughout her amazing life, Sis- IN MEMORY OF SISTER DOROTHY Salvador. ter Dorothy was the ultimate giver. MARIE HENNESSEY Sister Dorothy was arrested three She gave her adult life to the church Mr. HARKIN. Madam President, on times for crossing the line onto the and to the Sisters of St. Frances. She January 25, all who work and struggle Army base. On the third occasion, at gave more than three decades of dedi- for social and economic justice, who the age of 88, she was one of 3,600 pro- cated service to her students. She gave dedicate themselves to peace and end- testers who were arrested. Twenty-six her service on boards and in countless ing war, lost a wonderful friend in Sis- of them were selected by lottery to be volunteer organizations. And, as I have ter Dorothy Marie Hennessey. The prosecuted in Federal court, including pointed out, she gave of herself in dis- world lost a true Christian soul who, in Sister Dorothy and her sibling, Sister sent and protest many times against her own quiet, humble way, fought re- Gwen, also a Franciscan Nun. oppression and to end war. lentlessly for peace and social justice. Sister Dorothy was sentenced by a She gave us her moral passion. She Sister Dorothy lived 94 years, 67 of Federal judge to 6 months of detention gave us her fine Christian example. She them as a member of the Sisters of St. in her convent, but she refused this le- gave us her courage and decency, her Frances. She was the eldest of 15 broth- niency. She insisted on receiving the love and friendship. She gave it all she ers and sisters who grew up on a farm same treatment as her other 25 co- had to make sure the world was a bet- near Oneida, IA, taught by their par- defendants. So her sentence was ter place, that we all—all—had that ents that the Golden Rule was not an changed to 6 months at the Federal prickling conscience that things were abstraction but a way of life. She fond- Prison Camp in Illinois. As a Des not right when poor people suffered, ly always remembered that her family Moines Register columnist noted, ‘‘She when war became the norm, when there ‘‘always fed and housed the tramps who was allowed to take her hearing aids, were so many abuses of human rights came to [their] farm.’’ but not her Bible.’’ and oppression against the disenfran- Sister Dorothy kept her theology After a month and a half, she was chised and the poor in this country and simple and straightforward. She said: transferred to a correctional facility in in other places around the globe. I’ve learned in 75 years in the convent that Dubuque, supposedly for health rea- God is a compassionate God who loves all of sons. But Sister Dorothy knew better. So after a rich lifetime of service, us, but who also loves the poor and the peo- The real reason was the Federal Gov- Sister Dorothy has been called home. ple who are oppressed. ernment’s sheer embarrassment at in- She left the world a better place. I am But Sister Dorothy also believed, in carcerating an 88-year-old nun because deeply grateful to have had her as a the words of President Kennedy, that she dared to stand up for justice. friend. To all of the Franciscan nuns, ‘‘God’s work on Earth must truly be During her time in prison, Sister to her family, of course, my deepest our own.’’ She was the opposite of a Dorothy was interviewed by a reporter condolences from me and all of my cloistered nun. She was an activist. with the Public Broadcasting System. family on her passing, but also our She stepped forward boldly, if humbly, She said: deepest thanks for sharing such a won- derful, magnificent person with us dur- to make the world a better and fairer I feel that it’s our duty. We can’t protest and more just place. everything, but we can pick out some of the ing her lifetime. She taught in Catholic schools in the worst things to protest, and that’s what I’ve We will remember her and hopefully Dubuque area for 28 years and another tried to do. honor Sister Dorothy by continuing to 4 years in Portland, OR. But in the So into her eighties, nineties, Sister do what we can to make sure that our 1960s, her social consciousness came Dorothy continued to find new ways to Government works more for social jus- alive. She was deeply disturbed by the serve people and to help change the tice and economic justice, that we turn tragedy unfolding in Vietnam. And she world for the good. From 1996 to 2000, away from the instruments of war and was shocked to learn from her brother, she worked as a daily volunteer at the funding for war and making war also a priest—Father Ron Hennessey, a Clare House, a residence in Cedar Rap- sort of the norm, and that we reach out longtime missionary in Latin Amer- ids for people with AIDS. She cooked in understanding and peace to the rest ica—about the atrocities committed by and cleaned for the patients. She spoke of the world. She would have not only dictators and their death squads in out loudly and clearly, also, for the asked nothing less, she would have de- Central America. rights of gays and lesbians. manded nothing less of us. VerDate Aug 31 2005 01:30 Jan 31, 2008 Jkt 069060 PO 00000 Frm 00022 Fmt 4637 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\G30JA6.045 S30JAPT1 smartinez on PRODPC61 with SENATE January 30, 2008 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S481 So we say goodbye to Sister Dorothy Sister Hennessey centered her protests on no headway. It seems to me that ulti- and, again, honor her memory by con- the Army’s School of the Americas in Fort mately we need to work in a bipartisan tinuing to do what we can in our life- Benning, Ga., because it trained Latin Amer- manner to resolve the differences be- times to continue in her great work.