WASHINGTON — The Concord Coalition today released the following
statement regarding the death of Paul Tsongas. Tsongas, co-founder of
the Coalition, will be buried today in his hometown of Lowell,
Massachusetts.
WASHINGTON — The Concord Coalition today released the following
statement regarding the death of Paul Tsongas. Tsongas, co-founder of
the Coalition, will be buried today in his hometown of Lowell,
Massachusetts.
"The death of Paul Tsongas will be deeply felt by every
member of the Concord Coalition family. His leadership inspired many of
us in his first 1992 presidential campaign, and later as co- founder of
the Concord Coalition. He represented the best qualities in leadership
– integrity, courage, commitment, compassion, and the good grace to
take himself less seriously than the policies he advocated.
"With his death, some will inevitably wonder whether the work
of the Concord Coalition will go on. But no one who had the privilege
of knowing Paul Tsongas could have any doubt as to the answer. Of
course it will.
"Paul Tsongas often spoke of legacies. To him, the work of the
Concord Coalition went well beyond the tactical goal of balancing the
federal budget. He was much more concerned with the larger purpose of
restoring generational responsibility to our public policies.
"In a Call To Economic Arms, Paul Tsongas wrote: ‘Facing our
challenges forthrightly is how we honor the labors of our forbearers.
It is our moral imperative. But more importantly, it is the source of
our hope. We are a blessed America. It is our will and determination
that will deliver us. Let us, again, unleash the spirit of the American
people and again secure our future and the future of our descendants.’
"The highest honor we in the Concord Coalition can pay to the
life of Paul Tsongas is to carry on with our work. He cannot be
replaced, and he will not be forgotten. But as he often remarked with
great pride, "The Concord Coalition has taken on a life of its own." He
is right. The Coalition will carry on as one of Paul Tsongas’ many
lasting legacies to the American people."
The Concord Coalition was co-founded in 1992 by former
Senators Tsongas and Warren Rudman. Today, the Coalition has 170,000
members nationwide and in every Congressional district.
