May 22, 2000, WASHINGTON, D.C. - Father
Daniel Coughlin, new chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives, gave the keynote
address this evening at a dinner honoring Mary Anderson Cooper, an Episcopal Church lay
member, for her 35 years of leadership in ecumenical public policy advocacy and education
through the National Council of Churches' Washington Office.
Tributes from several of the some 90
colleagues present were augmented by letters of appreciation from Episcopal Church
Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold, praising Cooper's "wisdom, skill, and unquenchable
thirst for justice rooted in a deep faith," and from President Clinton, who hailed
her unwavering advocacy "for decency and good."
White House Religious Liaison Maureen
Shea thanked Mary Cooper for being "a real mentor and guide to me" then read the
letter from the President, in which he thanked Cooper for her leadership in advocating for
the Emergency Food and Shelter Act, Food Stamps, Title 20, the Equal Access Act and other
legislation.
In his keynote address, Father Coughlin
recalled the surprise of being called to a job he "had never aspired to, dreamt about
or fantasized about." A "pastor to
priests" in the Chicago Roman Catholic Archdiocese, he became not an advisor on
public policy matters but rather a pastor to the U.S. House's 435 members and their
families, a guide in their search for "internal discernment."
Father Coughlin described how moving it
is for him to walk in the Capitol Rotunda, "surrounded by statues of the past and by
teenagers on tour. This is our time, our
place, our great country, rich with tradition and so alive." And he commented on the "dreadful way"
people across the United States talk about people in government. "I say, 'I am looking for integrity, truth,
justice, peace and unity wherever I can find it. I
want to fan that flame. I know it's more
Monday's dinner was arranged in
cooperation with the Congressional Clearinghouse on the Future, which the Rev. Dr. Robert
Edgar, NCC General Secretary, a former six-term member of the U.S. House of
Representatives, chaired from 1982-86.
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