Honoring Tom Foglietta

HONORING TOM FOGLIETTA -- (Extensions of Remarks - November 20, 2004)

Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor a colleague and friend who passed away this week-someone who left a profound mark on his community, his Nation and this institution. No one could deny the dedication and passion that Tom Foglietta brought to life-whether it was for working people, for friends or for our friends in the international community. He was special-a man with a common touch and high ideals.

With Tom, you always knew you were with someone who would fight-who was with you until the end regardless of the odds or the politics of the matter. As I reflect on his time in the Congress, I remember a man who understood what it meant to bring the values of his constituents to Washington.

When his district changed from being predominantly white to overwhelmingly African-American, I remember how Tom made that transition so effortlessly-how he worked to establish himself with his new constituents and make sure they knew that representing them-their hopes, their dreams-was his number one priority. They learned what we all knew-that whether you had just met Tom or knew him for decades, when he looked you in the eye and gave his word, you had his word. You took it home.

And nothing represented that commitment like the way he fought to keep the Philadelphia Navy Yard open. Even as everyone believed it was sure to close, Tom continued to bring back Federal money to the yard-much, as I understand, to the surprise of even the Navy itself. But it was what he did once the Commission finally decided to close the yard that showed Tom Foglietta was not only a man of the people but also a man of real vision.

First, he went down to that yard and announced the closing before a sea of angry workers. I think everyone in this body understands how extraordinary that can be-facing the people head-on, delivering bad news.

Then, while others were still in denial, Tom put all his efforts into doing something even the shipyard workers had not yet embraced. Rather than fighting what he knew was a losing battle to keep the yard open, he went ahead, full-steam, to transform it into an economic resource for the community-a technology and business incubator-and secured a $50 million appropriation for the yard's conversion.

Today, that yard employs 6,000 Philadelphians-some of whom even use the old docks to work on ships. Nobody believed it was possible. But Tom Foglietta did. Whether it was modernizing the shipyard or involving the Army Corps of Engineers when an African-American neighborhood in Philadelphia had homes that were literally sinking into the ground, he knew that fighting for people was not just a matter of perseverance. That it was also a matter of foresight, creativity and vision.

A fellow Italian-American, Tom and I often discussed how it was our parents' example serving on our respective city councils-his in Philadelphia, mine in New Haven-that inspired us to enter a life of politics and give back to the communities that had given us so much. He knew that preserving our heritage was a matter of values, which is why as a Member of Congress he took on the fight back home to create Christopher Columbus Boulevard in south Philly.

When he become Ambassador to Italy, Tom made and kept a commitment to visit every province in Italy. To Tom, Italy was not some foreign place-it was his new district. When the First Lady introduced the Save America's Treasures project, Tom worked to raise private funds to preserve Christopher Columbus' childhood home in Genoa. In truth, it would not be the last time his passion for the job would make officials in the State Department crazy.

I will never forget his signature moment-when he knelt down in prayer for the victims in the Cavalese cable-car tragedy, sending a powerful message to the world that America weeps for the sons and daughters of its allies are as if they were our very own. In turn, the Italian people loved him as he loved them.

Throughout his entire career, whether it was his work in Italy, to secure the peace in Haiti or to forge democracy in South Korea, Tom Foglietta understood that America's role in the world was rooted in moral leadership-in common values, humility and humanity.

I will miss his moral leadership-we all will. But perhaps above all, I will miss his friendship. I will miss eating pasta with gravy, his cooking in my kitchen and those dinners with the gang-with Tom and NANCY PELOSI, BARBARA BOXER, DICK DURBIN, SAM GEDJENSON, CHUCK SCHUMER, ANNA ESHOO, TOM DOWNEY, GEORGE MILLER, and MARTY RUSSO. We could always rely on Tom to do something to spice the night up-whether it was something he would say or him hiring a ragtag band to play a party that only he could love. He was fun-he was warm. He was our friend.

Grazi, Don Tomaso-your passion for people knew no bounds. For that, you will forever be in our hearts.