Mr. DODD. Mr. President, I rise to pay tribute to Rebecca Lobo, who this year led the University of Connecticut women's basketball team to an undefeated season and a national championship. I have already spoken at length about the team's accomplishments--its 35 to 0 perfect record and its dramatic come-from-behind national championship victory. I want to take this opportunity, however, to focus on Rebecca Lobo, whose tremendous athletic skill and personal character have captured the imagination of people throughout the Nation.

Mr. President, contemporary writers, pundits, and philosophers have long bemoaned the absence of leadership figures worthy of our emulation and adoration. Young Americans are frustrated by athletic heroes who fail to lead exemplary lives off the playing field, politicians who seem focused solely on their re-election prospects or movie stars whose real-life personas pale in comparison to those of the characters they portray on screen. In Rebecca Lobo, however, America has found a role model that not only meets our expectations, but exceeds them.

Ms. Lobo's accomplishments on the basketball court are well known. On her way to leading the Huskies to an undefeated season and national championship, Lobo averaged 17 points, 10 rebounds, 3.5 blocked shots and 3.7 assists per game. She was named a first team All-American and the national player of the year, and, despite having to sit out much of the first half with three fouls, sparked the dramatic second half come-from-behind victory over Tennessee in the NCAA championship game.

Her accomplishments in the classroom are equally impressive. As a political science major, Ms. Lobo has maintained a 3.63-grade point average and was a nominee for the prestigious Rhodes scholarship. She was also named a first team Academic All-American both this season and last.

Yet what sets this talented young athlete apart is not just her athletic or academic accomplishments, but her care for and commitment to her teammates and her fans.

As Connecticut Head Coach, Geno Auriemma is quick to point out, Rebecca's greatest weakness as a player is that she is too unselfish and too unwilling to grab the spotlight. Foremost in her mind is her connection and responsibility to her team, a trait which is shared by all her fellow Huskies and which is undoubtedly the source of their great success.

Mr. President, beyond Rebecca Lobo's athletic and academic accomplishments lies her ability and willingness to reach out to her numerous fans and admirers. Along with her teammates, Rebecca made it a point to chat with fans and sign autographs for an hour after each game. Despite being overwhelmed by letters, she has devoted hours of her time to personally answering each and every piece of correspondence she has received, and she has been a regular at summer basketball camps and clinics, where she has patiently worked with aspiring basketball stars of all ages.

Mr. President, Rebecca Lobo has reminded people of what being an athlete, a student, and a human being is all about. She has struck a balance and a harmony between her goals and those of the people around her. In this day and age, when millionaire athletes defiantly proclaim on television commercials that they are not role models, Rebecca Lobo reminds us that being a role model is not a blight but a privilege. It is a privilege for her to be afforded the opportunity to showcase her array of talents, and it is a privilege for us watch her and urge others to follow her lead.

In closing, Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that an article written by Ira Berkow that was printed in the New York Times be printed in the Record.

From the New York Times, Mar. 3, 1995

UConn Can Count On Lobo

Minneapolis.--Rebecca Lobo's parents hadn't spoken with her before the game, the game yesterday afternoon that would decide the N.C.A.A. women's national basketball championship between Connecticut and Tennessee.

`We rarely do talk with her beforehand,' said her mother RuthAnn, in section 129 of the Target Center arena. `But we can guess how she's feeling: anxious.'

A couple of hours later, with 28.9 seconds left in the game, RuthAnn and her husband, Dennis, were the obviously anxious ones, as they leaned forward in their seats. Becca, as they call her, was stepping to the free-throw line. It was perhaps the single most important moment in their daughter's brilliant athletic career--no, her brilliant college career.

After all, Rebecca Lobo, the 6-foot-4-inch senior forward with the French braid and the determined demeanor, the player who sparked a 70-64 victory in the championship game to complete an undefeated season, is Connecticut's basketball version of Frank Merriwell, Eleanor Roosevelt and Larry Bird all rolled into one. For the last two seasons, she has been first-team all-American. In her spare time, the political science major has been a candidate for a Rhodes scholarship.

She epitomizes the women's game, because for the most part the women are truly scholar-athletes, not just jocks majoring in eligibility with dreams only of slam-dunk highlights in the pros.

And she is part of a game that is substantially different from the men's game, one in which egos seem to meld into the concept of the team, and which makes the game so satisfying for a basketball fan.

And this moment on the free-throw line was what one dreams about, or sweats over. Lobo's Huskies were up by 3 points, 65-62. She has a one-and-one: if she makes the first she gets a second.

If she misses either, Tennessee is still in the game.

Now, Lobo bounces the ball and looks up at the rim.

It had been a long, long day for Lobo, a day in which she quickly picked up three fouls and played just eight of the 20 minutes in the first half, scoring just 3 points.

And when undefeated Connecticut went into the locker room at halftime, the team was losing by 38-32. It was only the second time this season that UConn was behind at the half, the first being last week in the East regional final, when it came back from a 7-point deficit to beat Virginia.

Could the Huskies do it again?

Lobo returned to the lineup for the start of the second half, though she still seemed away from the action, affected by her fouls. But her teammates were keeping the team in the game: Jen Rizzotti, the guard who was aptly described as being all ponytail and knee guards, stole a pass, hit a drive; Jamelle Elliott, the junior from Washington's inner city whom Coach Geno Auriemma calls their rock, battled for rebounds and banked in a shot, and Nykesha Sales, the smooth but sometimes nervous freshman, hit a key 3-pointer.

Then Lobo struck, again and again: she hit a spin shot, threw in a drive, sank a jumper from the left side, and then another from the right side, and Connecticut was back in the ball game, 3 points off the lead, with seven minutes to go.

`When the game is on the line,' said Pat Summitt, the Tennessee coach, `you naturally go to your all-American.'

One recalled the time last year when Rebecca learned that her mother had breast cancer, and she broke down in tears. Her mother said, `You do what you have to do, and I'll take care of my end.'

RuthAnn's cancer is in remission, and she never misses a game, because Becca says she always wants her there.

And so it seemed not unusual for Rebecca to be taking responsibility, on or off the court. RuthAnn remembers a significant moment, when Rebecca was 6 years old, and had taken an eraser from the home of Mrs. Lukasik, a neighbor in Southwick, Mass.

`I told Rebecca that the eraser wasn't hers, and she had to return it,' RuthAnn said. `And I watched as she walked, sobbing, to Mrs. Lukasik's house. It broke my heart to see it, but I think it helped her understand right from wrong. And to think about other people.'

If there was one criticism Coach Auriemma had of Lobo, it is that she has sometimes thought too much about other people. He had wished her at times to be more selfish, to shoot more. But the blend was there in this game.

And now on the free-throw line she had a chance to ice the proceedings. Lobo made her first free throw and with that her teammates on the floor mobbed her. RuthAnn, in section 129 and seated beside Dennis, clasped her hands in anticipation of the second free throw.

Rebecca bent, perched the ball near her ear, and let it go. It sailed right through the hoop, giving Connecticut the lead, at 67-62, that they would not relinquish.

Shortly after the victory, it was announced that Lobo had been named the outstanding player in the Final Four.

It was a hugely satisfying comeback for the Huskies, for a couple sitting in section 129 and for Becca Lobo. The fans cheered, the band blasted, and the team zealously cut down the nets.

As for Mrs. Lukasik, one imagines that she still has her eraser and the memory of a little girl who grew up to become a national champion.

END