INTERVIEW WITH SISTER ROSA DALY
CONCERNING THE VISIT OF DAUGHTERS OF CHARITY
HOSPITAL ADMINISTRATORS TO THE WHITE HOUSE AND CAPITAL
ON MARCH 26, 1974
Interviewed by Sister Eleanor Casey
July 7, 2005
Proofed by Scott Keefer, May 18, 2020

Sr. Eleanor: Today is Thursday, July 7, 2005. This is Sister Eleanor Casey with Sister Rosa
Daly who is recounting her experiences on Capitol Hill in 1974, when she visited Senator [J.
Glenn] Beall and Vice President [Gerald] Ford and also went to the White House.
Sr. Rosa: Okay. As far as I can remember. Yeah, okay. We assembled in the White
House to talk to—and the gentlemen's name is in your folder there [Dr. James H. Cavanaugh,
Deputy Director for Operations of the Domestic Council for President Richard M. Nixon.],
someone in charge of economy, and we were all assembled in a conference room in the White
House. And then we went to Vice President’s, Ford's office and had our picture taken and met
Vice President Ford, and then we went to Senator Beall's office and had a picture taken. Then
he took us by the little car that goes from his office to the Capitol, and we had our lunch at the
lunchroom for congressmen.
The most thrilling experience was, he reserved a table right inside the door so that he
would sit and watch the people coming in the door. As they came in, he'd say, "Oh, here comes
[Senator John] Tower from Texas. Anybody here from Texas? What's your name?" And he
would say, "Senator," he said, "got one of your constituents here, "he said. "We've just been
meeting for so-and-so and so-and so, and she wants to tell you about that bill that we're
contemplating." So sister would talk to him. Then he'd go, "Anybody here from Louisiana?
Here comes so-and-so from Louisiana. Senator, one of your constituents here." It was really
interesting to see the way he behaved to get his point across, you know.
We read about these congressmen, and you say, "Oh, yes, they're, you know, big power".
But really, he was so interested because he appreciated the number of hospitals we had in that
time, and what this Taft-Hartley exemption was gonna' mean to our hospitals and to tell you the
truth I don't remember what the outcome was, that’s the worst part.1

1

Research by Mr. Michael Riley, provincial CFO, shows that the meeting probably
concerned whether hospitals sponsored by the Daughters of Charity might find it advantageous to
administer their individual pension plans as a group. On September 9, 1974 congress enacted the
Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) which codified federal law
pertaining to employee pension and welfare benefit plans.