Tom Emmer: “I thank Eugene McCarthy's daughter, Ellen, and St. John's University president Dr. Michael Hemesath and Dr. Matthew…”

“I thank Eugene McCarthy's daughter, Ellen, and St. John's University president Dr. Michael Hemesath and Dr. Matthew Lindstrom from the Eugene J. McCarthy Center for Public Policy & Civic Engagement at the College of Saint Benedict and St. John's University for their help in making this dedication possible. The staff and students of this center provide valuable events, lectures, and discussions that engage the entire community surrounding Collegeville, Minnesota. I rise today to honor Senator Eugene McCarthy, a man who is remembered for shaking up the D.C. establishment and for being a driving force behind the level of civic engagement Minnesota has today. In the year which would have been his 100th birthday, I am proud to have the full Minnesota delegation's support for dedicating the post office at St. John's University--the college where McCarthy grew up, studied, and taught--after this great public servant. If recent years in politics have taught us anything, it is that the American people are tired of the status quo. They value independent thinking and honest, plain-spoken leaders. Eugene McCarthy was a patriotic American who valued his faith and his country, but who was not afraid to speak out when he believed our Nation was headed down the wrong path. He left his Benedictine studies to serve his country in World War II as a code breaker in the Military Intelligence Division of the War Department.…”