Tom Lantos

Mr. LANTOS

Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pallone) for his eloquent and appropriate comments. Mr. Speaker, under my reservation, I am delighted to yield to the distinguished gentleman from Oklahoma (Mr. Istook), one of the principle authors of this legislation.

Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, under my reservation, I am delighted to yield to the distinguished gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pallone), one of the principal authors of this resolution.

Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, reserving the right to object, and I will not object, I would like to commend the authors of this resolution as well as all of my colleagues who, along with me, are cosponsors of this legislation. I think it is appropriate to pay tribute to a country 1,000 years old which at long last has decided to join the community of democratic and freedom loving nations. It was my great pleasure to accompany our Secretary of State and the foreign ministers of Hungary, the Czech Republic and Poland to Independence, Missouri for the signing of the document that has made Hungary a part of NATO. I earnestly hope that Hungary, before long, will be able to join the European Union. As we celebrate this momentous occasion, it is important, however, to hoist a flag of caution. Democracy in Hungary is functioning, but certainly not without its imperfections. There are still periodic outbursts of ethnic and racial harassment which the government needs to do more to put an end to. There are periodic attempts to destroy and desecrate Jewish cemeteries. At soccer games, hooligans of the far right are engaging in racial and religious intimidation. There are indications that the television medium is not as objective and open as it needs to be in a free and democratic society. So while I join my fellow sponsors of this legislation and congratulate Hungary for having put an end to its fascist and communist past and having joined the family of democratic and freedom loving nations, I call on all Hungarians to meticulously observe the rules of political democracy and pluralism without which a promising future certainly will not be there for the 10 million people who deserve a good future. I want to congratulate my colleagues.

Mr. LANTOS. Reclaiming my time, Mr. Speaker, I thank the distinguished chairman of the committee for his words. Mr. Speaker, I withdraw my reservation of objection.

Mr. LANTOS. I yield to the gentleman from New York.

Mr. LANTOS

Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 1248, the Violence Against Women Act of 2000 which would re-authorize the 1994 Violence Against Women Act. Part of President Clinton's 1994 Crime Act, this legislation has been a turning point in our national response to the problems of domestic violence and sexual assault. I urge passage of H.R. 1248 so that our nation can continue to address these problems. Mr. Speaker, if we have learned anything in the last several years about violence against women, we have learned that no one is immune to the effects of these crimes. Domestic and sexual violence can be stopped only when we forge a unified front to combat them. The Violence Against Women Act has worked and can continue to work as an effective catalyst for states and communities to share resources and to collaborate in providing services. Under this legislation, the Violence Against Women Grants Office has allocated millions of dollars in Federal Funds to states to support partnerships among law enforcement, prosecution, the courts, victims' advocates, and providers of health care and other services across the country. We must continue and expand these vital programs. H.R. 1248 provides $3.7 billion to fund over 40 provisions for five years. Of this amount, $1.1 billion will be allocated to fund and improve existing shelter services and provide increased financial support for rape crisis centers and over $1 billion dollars will be used for constructing new shelters for battered women. Other major elements of the bill address the needs of battered women in the workplace, focus on sexual assault on college campuses and in the military, establish new programs for victims services and fund training for judges. Mr. Speaker, the 1994 Violence Against Women Act has been a proven success in helping women across the country to deal with this terrible tragedy of domestic violence. To continue the success, I strongly urge my colleagues to support H.R. 1248.

Mr. LANTOS

Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, we tend to be quick to criticize and slow to praise. Earlier the Swiss were subjected to intense international criticism for the policies and practices of Swiss banks during World War II. The Swiss government and Swiss banks have moved in the right direction since that matter became an issue of international concern. Mr. Speaker, this past weekend the people of Switzerland in a national referendum demonstrated their willingness to act in a remarkably enlightened fashion on an issue that is sensitive and that has been subject to demagoguery. By a vote of nearly 64 percent, Swiss voters decisively rejected a proposal to reduce the number of foreigners in their country to 18 percent of the total population. A majority of voters in all of the 26 Swiss cantons rejected the proposal. To their credit, the Swiss Cabinet urged voters to reject the proposal. This was a serious issue, Mr. Speaker, because foreigners currently make up about 19.3 percent of the population of Switzerland--some 1.4 million out of a population of 7.2 million, almost one in five residents of the country, are foreigners. A quarter of the Swiss work- force is foreign. These figures are high even by European standards. Austria and Sweden, both of which have among the highest foreign population in the nations of the European Union, have only about one in nine foreigners living in their countries. Mr. Speaker, the action of the Swiss people in this referendum was enlightened and informed, and it dealt a blow in the fight against far- right and neo-Nazi fringe groups, who support placing limits on foreigners in Switzerland. It is important that we acknowledge and commend the Swiss people and the Swiss government on this decisive and most encouraging result.

Mr. LANTOS

Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to join my colleagues in honoring the 25th anniversary of the enactment of the Education for All Handicapped Children Act. This legislation was a great achievement in the fight for equality of education for all American children. For too long, children with special educational needs were neglected, ignored, or even confined to institutions. Congress made necessary and appropriate revisions to the law in 1997, renaming it the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act or IDEA. These amendments to the law kept the spirit of the original Education for All Handicapped Children Act, by reaffirming that handicapped and special needs children have the opportunity to the free public education that is available to other American children. Unfortunately, Mr. Speaker, Congress has not lived up to its end of the agreement to provide an important part of the funds necessary to carry out the provisions of the legislation. As you know, Mr. Speaker, on May 2nd of this year, the House overwhelmingly adopted H.R. 4055, which authorized Congressional appropriators to increase fiscal year 2001 funding for IDEA by two billion dollars, and to continue to increase the funding for IDEA in each subsequent year until the year 2010 when the federal government should fund IDEA at 40% of the cost of the program. As you are aware, this is level of funding that is required by the 1997 revisions to the Education for All Handicapped Children Act. Sadly, Mr. Speaker, my colleagues on the other side of the aisle have ignored the overwhelming support for meeting the federal obligation set under IDEA and instead offered a lower amount in the appropriations legislation being considered this year. The budgets of our school districts are being decimated because Congress is not funding IDEA at the mandated level. In California the budget gap state-wide is estimated to be 1.2 billion dollars. The San Mateo County School district has had to cover the 19 million dollars that full IDEA funding would have provided. Mr. Speaker, I cannot fathom why Congress would want to make local school districts chose between education children with special needs or eliminating music and art programs, yet this is the path we are following. I urge my colleagues who are working on the Labor, Health and Human Services appropriations legislation to accept the funding levels established in H.R. 4055 and add the necessary 2 billion dollars to IDEA funding this year, and to ensure that IDEA is funded at the mandated level by 2010.

Mr. LANTOS

Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, just one year ago today--early on the morning of September 21, 1999--a powerful earthquake rocked Taiwan, leaving over 2,453 people dead, 701 seriously injured, and 52 missing. Immediately after the quake, the government of the Republic of China on Taiwan quickly mobilized and organized relief and rescue efforts. Assistance and donations poured in from across Taiwan and from around the world. Some 21 countries sent more than 700 experts and specialists from many fields to assist in the effort. This was an important show of support and solidarity by the international community for Taiwan. Now, a year after the tragic quake, it is possible to assess the massive assistance which the Taiwan government has taken to help those affected by the disaster. It has provided $87 million to assist families with members who died in the quake or are still missing. Monetary compensation for families with total or partially destroyed homes has amounted to $520 million. Through private sector funding, the government has established shelters for over 5,200 families. Some $430 million has been allocated for quake victims for rent subsidies, and an additional $3.3 billion has been provided for rebuilding loans for quake victims and their families. In quake-affected areas, the government has made major efforts to repair damaged roads and bridges. Mr. Speaker, realizing that reconstruction is a long term project, Taiwan's new President, Chen Shui-bian, established a cabinet-level special commission on June 1 of this year to oversee reconstruction efforts in home design, engineering, infrastructure, and sanitation. The commission will also oversee public welfare and counseling of survivors. Members of this commission will be drawn from different government agencies and ministries. The goal of the commission is to coordinate all relief operations and to form a comprehensive plan to enable quake victims and their families to rebuild their lives. Mr. Speaker, as we mark this anniversary, I urge my colleagues to join me in extending condolences to the victims of this horrible tragedy. I also invite my colleagues to join me in commending the government of the Republic of China in Taiwan and its leaders for their extensive efforts in providing immediate and long-term assistance to the victims affected by last year's tragic earthquake in Taiwan.

Mr. LANTOS

Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to the Leon S. Benson family and others who have made the contributions to the Leon S. Benson Holocaust Studies Collection of the San Mateo Public Library. The official dedication ceremony for this excellent collection will take place this Sunday, September 24, 2000, and I wanted to take a moment to share with my colleagues some information about this wonderful educational endeavor. Leon S. Benson, like myself, was a survivor of the Holocaust. After he passed away in January of last year, his family embarked on a fund- raising drive to create a permanent Holocaust studies collection at the San Mateo Public Library that would honor his legacy. I am delighted that our library will have this collection of books and multimedia reference materials. Mr. Speaker, it is extremely important to have this type of research facility at the San Mateo Public Library. First and most importantly, it provides a resource for students of San Mateo and neighboring communities. As many of you are aware, California public schools require High School students to study the Holocaust, as well as the policies of Nazi Germany that led up to it. The Benson collection provides an excellent local resource which our students will put to good use when they to do research for their assignments. Second, the collection will be a valuable asset to all who visit the San Mateo Public Library. I would hope that the Leon S. Benson Holocaust collection is utilized, not just by students, but by others who need to know of this dark period in the history of mankind. Only through education and awareness can we confront anti-Semitism, racism, xenophobia and bigotry and work to eradicate them. One of the major problems facing Holocaust historians in this country, as well as the rest of the world, is the fact that people who lived through the atrocities, people like Mr. Benson, are passing on, and their first-hand knowledge of the Shoah passes with them. Preserving the history of that dark era of humanity is a critical necessity. Mr. Speaker, I can think of no better way to honor the legacy of a survivor of the Holocaust than in the manner which Leon Benson's family have chosen to honor him.

Mr. LANTOS

Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I would like to call the attention of my colleagues in the House to the remarkable public career of my dear friend Mary Griffin, who will shortly retire as a county supervisor of San Mateo County, California. I have known Mary for over twenty years, and during that time I have seen how her contributions have enriched our community and helped many individuals on a very personal level. Mr. Speaker, Mary began her career as a teacher--in the Santa Rosa Public elementary schools (1954-1957), as an instructor in education at San Francisco State University (1957-1959), and as a teacher in the South San Francisco Unified School District (1973- 1987). She began her public service in 1976 when she was elected to the Millbrae City Council. She served on the City Council for 13 years, and was twice elected as mayor (1980, 1984). In March of 1987, Mary Griffin was elected to the Board of Supervisors of San Mateo County. She was re-elected to a full term in 1988, and then was reelected for two additional terms in 1992 and 1996. Mary served as President of the Board of Supervisors in 1989, 1993, and 1999. She served as President of the Association of Bay Area Governments (1991-1992) and as Vice Chair of the Bay Area Economic Forum (1995). Mr. Speaker, during nearly thirteen years of leadership on the Board of Supervisors, Mary has demonstrated her outstanding leadership and commitment to dealing with issues of critical importance in maintaining the quality of life on the Peninsula. She has worked to deal with serious transportation problems in our area. She served on the Transportation Authority Board and the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (1989-1998), where she made important contributions to improving Peninsula transportation in a period of intense economic growth in our area. Reflecting her concern with issues involving the San Francisco International Airport, which is a critical transportation hub contributing to the economic vitality of our entire region, she made important contributions as a member of the Airport Land Use Committee, the Regional Airport Planning Committee, and the Airport Community Roundtable. Mary has been in the forefront in protecting our fragile environment. In her first year as County Supervisor, Mary took the lead in county recycling efforts as the first and only chair of the County Recycling Task Force. She served on the Solid Waste Advisory Committee, as a member of the Congestion Management and Air Quality Committee, and Joint Air Quality Policy Committee. The needs of children are at the top of Mary Griffin's agenda, and she has frequently emphasized that how we care for our children's needs today will determine our nation's tomorrow. As a child of a widow who worked for the minimum wage, Mary still remembers those hard times, and she has focused on helping families and children make a better future. She has established or taken a leading role in a number of programs to help children--the ``Share-a-Bear Program'' for abused and neglected children in San Mateo County, the Children's Dental Program to assure that impoverished children with severe dental needs are cared for, and the Children's Executive Council to improve communication and cooperation among children's programs throughout the county. Mr. Speaker, Mary Griffin has received numerous awards recognizing her commitment and contribution to our community--a PTA Honorary Life Service Award, Woman of the Year of the California Federation of Women's Clubs, Woman of Distinction of the Soroptimist International of Millbrae-San Bruno, Directors Award of the State Department of Social Services, and many, many others. Mr. Speaker, I invite my colleagues to join me in extending our warmest congratulations to Mary Griffin on the occasion of her retirement as a member of the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors. Her commitment to public service is an inspiration and an example to all of us. We wish her well now that she will have more time to spend with her family: her husband, Walter Ramseur, her three children--John, Mary and Zachary--and her five grandchildren.

Mr. LANTOS

Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, having just returned from Russia, I can testify that the Mafia permeates all aspects of Russian society, but when Mafia tactics are used by the government, we are dealing with a new threat. I call my colleagues' attention to a lead editorial in today's Washington Post. ``Russian President Vladimir Putin, who proclaimed his devotion to a free press during a recent visit to the United States, in fact seems determined to destroy Russia's independent media, the growth of which constituted one of the important successes of the post-Soviet era. His latest target is NTV, Russia's only independent television network. He is attacking it with a veneer of legality, but the underlying tactics of threats, imprisonments and political prosecution are not subtle.'' Mr. Putin better change his course. He cannot be accepted by the civilized world if he destroys one of the important achievements of the Yeltsin era--a free press. A free press is our last guarantee that Russia will develop in a democratic direction.

Mr. LANTOS

Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, the repression of the Baha'i community in Iran is one of the most egregious ongoing violations of human rights, and I am very pleased that we are calling attention to it today. I first want to commend the gentleman from New York, the Chairman of the International Relations Committee, (Mr. Gilman) for his bringing this important resolution to the floor today. I also want to thank particularly the sponsor of the bill, my good friend and colleagues from Illinois, Mr. Porter. I have had the very good fortune over the past 20 years of working very closely with John Porter on a vast number of human rights issues, and I commend him for his outstanding dedication to human rights. He has unwaveringly worked to alleviate the suffering of people around the world, and thanks to his efforts we can honestly say that the world today is a better place. Mr. Speaker, one of the human rights issues that John Porter has championed since the day he was elected to the Congress is the situation of the Baha'is in Iran. The Baha'i has suffered greatly since Iran's Revolution in 1979. The constitution created by the Ayatollahs establishes Islam as the state religion of Iran. It also recognizes Christians, Jews, and Zoroastrians--religions that flourished in Persia before Islam--as ``protected religious minorities'' which are afforded legal rights. Iran's 350,000 Baha'i however, are not afforded these protections, and they enjoy no legal rights whatsoever. Mr. Speaker, this blatant, officially sanctioned discriminations has far-reaching and inhuman consequences. until recently, Baha'i marriages have not been recognized in Iran. As a consequence, no Baha'i couple married according to their own religious rites since 1980 are legally married in the eyes of the Iranian government. The women have been liable to charges of prostitution and Baha'i children are considered illegitimate. It is not legal for property to be passed within Baha'i families. Baha'is cannot enroll in universities. Baha'is cannot hold government jobs, and those that once did are denied state pensions. Baha'is cannot sue in the country's court, and they are not legally recognized to defend themselves even if they are sued. Baha'is generally cannot receive Iranian passports, which note the holder's religion. Baha'is are denied the right to assembly or to maintain administrative institutions. Since the Baha'i faith has no clergy, the inability to meet and elect officers threaten the very existence of the faith in Iran. Baha'is cannot teach or practice their faith or maintain contacts with their coreligionists abroad. Mr. Speaker, I could go on listing the abuses and atrocities to which the Baha'i in Iran are subjected, but these obvious violations of the most basic of human rights are a clear indication of the magnitude of the abuses that Baha'is in Iran face daily. I strongly support this resolution, which highlights these abuses and calls on the Government of Iran to emancipate the Baha'i community. I urge my colleagues to support this resolution, and I call on the Government of Iran to recognize the rights of Baha'is and afford them the rights by other Iranian citizens.

Mr. LANTOS

Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, today, with our colleague, the Gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. McGovern), I am introducing legislation that would restrict the ability of hospitals and other medical facilities to require registered nurses to work mandatory overtime hours as a normal course of business. Increasingly, employers, particularly in the health care field, are requiring employees to work overtime. Our legislation is H.R. 5179, the Registered Nurses and Patients Protection Act. The Fair Labor Standards Act grants nurses the right to receive overtime compensation even though they are licensed professionals, but it does not limit the amount of overtime that nurses can work nor does it permit them to refuse mandatory overtime. In this era of full employment, it is simply easier and cheaper for hospital administrators to require existing employees to work overtime than it is for them to recruit and train new employees. Mr. Speaker, no employer should be allowed to force an employee to work overtime or face termination unless there is an emergency situation that requires immediate emergency action. In the health care field, however, we are not just talking about an employee's right to refuse overtime work. We are also talking about patient safety. When nurses are forced to put in long overtime hours on a regular basis against their better judgment, it puts patients at risk. The Registered Nurses and Patients Protection Act would amend the Fair Labor Standards Act to prohibit mandatory overtime beyond 8 hours in a work day or 80 hours in any 14-day work period except in the case of a natural disaster or in the event of a declaration of an emergency by federal, state or local government officials. The legislation does not preclude a nurse from voluntarily working overtime. Mr. Speaker, mandatory overtime for nurses is bad health care policy. A nurse shouldn't be on the job after the 15th or 16th consecutive hour especially after she has told her supervisor ``I can't do this, I've been on the job too many hours today.'' Nursing is physically and mentally demanding. When a nurse is tired, it is much more difficult to deliver quality, professional care to patients. Health care experts and common sense tell us that long hours take a toll on mental alertness and mandatory overtime under such conditions can result in serious medical mistakes--medication errors, transcription errors, and errors in judgment. By the end of a regular shift a nurse is exhausted. Increasingly, however, nurses are being forced to work 16, 18 or even 20 consecutive hours in hospitals across our nation. Mr. Speaker, a nurse knows better than anyone--better than her supervisor and better than a hospital administrator--when she has reached the point of fatigue when continuing to work can result in serious medical problems. We must give nurses more power to decide if long hours on the job is making it difficult to perform their duties. This legislation is not a case of government micro-managing--this legislation gives nurses the power to say ``NO'' to the forced overtime practices of hospitals nationwide. We cannot continue to allow hospitals to force nurses to work so many hours that the health and safety of patients are put at risk. I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting the adoption of the Registered Nurses and Patients Protection Act.

Mr. LANTOS

Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, on the 18th of September, Israel will award honorary citizenship to Ambassador Per Anger, the distinguished Swedish diplomat who worked so closely with Raoul Wallenberg to rescue Hungarian Jews during the Second World War. I would like to invite my colleagues to join me in recognizing Anger's lifetime accomplishments, including his association with Raoul Wallenberg during 1944, as an example of the good that human beings can accomplish, even when faced with incomprehensible darkness. Per Anger received his first diplomatic assignment at the age of 27 as an attache to Berlin in the early stages of the Second World War. During that year (1941) he worked for the Foreign Department's trade section dealing with relations between Sweden and Hungary. It was this position which eventually led him, in November of 1942, to join the Swedish legation in Budapest. In March of 1942 he became second secretary in the Swedish legation in Hungary. Mr. Speaker, for two years prior to the Nazi occupation of Budapest, Anger reported that conditions in Budapest were relatively stable and calm. But with the arrival of the German military in March 1944 and the subsequent deportation of Hungary's Jewish population, he entered the defining year of his life and career as a diplomat. When the Nazis initiated deportations, Anger assumed an early role in devising schemes to protect Jews. While the later schutzpasse was Wallenberg's innovation, Anger originally conceived the idea of issuing special certificates to Hungarian Jews who had applied for Swedish citizenship. Before Wallenberg arrived, the Swedish legation had issued 700 certificates and provisional passports which had no legal validity, but served their purpose in preventing the shipment of individuals to Auschwitz. With Wallenberg's arrival on July 9, 1944, Per Anger began a partnership that would deliver tens of thousands of Jews from deportation and almost certain destruction in Nazi death camps. While Wallenberg's tragic end has made him the more recognizable rescuer, Anger made a substantial contribution in his quiet but efficient manner. Per Anger was frequently Wallenberg's partner in missions of mercy to the columns of Jews forced to march out of Hungary after Allied bombing had made the railways unusable. Where the Jews marched and died, Wallenberg and Anger distributed food, administered comfort, and often managed to return with some of the suffering people to Budapest. Mr. Speaker, Per Anger's life and legacy are permanently linked with Wallenberg, not only because their shared efforts in Budapest during the Second World War, but also because of Anger's lifelong compassionate quest to discover the fate of his partner, who disappeared mysteriously behind Soviet lines in January of 1945. Throughout the second half of the twentieth century Anger labored to disseminate information about Wallenberg and to bring his plight to the attention of world leaders. In 1989 he urged Helmut Kohl to take the issue directly to Mikhail Gorbachev, and listened in to a telephone call as Kohl pleaded with Russian leader to ``let that old man go.'' Gorbachev, according to Anger, had no response. Mr. Speaker, it is most appropriate and fitting that the state of Israel has granted Per Anger the high recognition of making him an honorary citizen. He has spent most of his life in the service of others, including that turbulent year in Budapest collaborating with Raoul Wallenberg in saving innocent lives. I invite my colleagues to join me in paying tribute to this distinguished Swedish diplomat for his courage, humanitarian dedication, and good works.

Mr. LANTOS

Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to the Union Bank of California on receiving the Secretary of Labor's Opportunity 2000 Award. This award is presented annually by the U.S. Labor department's Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs to Federal contractors and public interest groups with exceptional equal employment opportunity programs. The Union Bank of California has been selected for its programs for hiring and promoting women, minorities and those with disabilities. Mr. Speaker, I am delighted that Labor Secretary Alexis M. Herman has recognized Union Bank of California for its efforts. I join her in commending Union Bank on this long history of service, and I congratulate the Bank and its officers on receiving the Opportunity 2000 award for outstanding leadership in its equal opportunity programs. Mr. Speaker, since its founding in San Francisco on July 5, 1864, Union Bank has made it its business to be more than just a successful bank; it has sought to be an integral contributor in advancing our common interests. This sense of community service took its earliest form in developing the infrastructure and trade of the West coast in the late 19th century. Union Bank helped fund the completion of the coast-to-coast railroad; it invested in early exploration of Alaska leading to its purchase by the U.S.; it financed the building of California's first large-scale Central Valley irrigation project; and it negotiated trade between the United States and Japan. These achievements demonstrate that the Union Bank of California has, from the beginning, had its priorities rooted the welfare of the public. And, it is clear from its receiving the Opportunity 2000 award, that those priorities have not changed. Today, Mr. Speaker, Union Bank's commitment to a better future is founded in its belief in the value of a diverse workforce. This has literally shaped the entire nature of the company, from its board of directors to entry-level employees. Boasting 7 minorities out of 17 members on its board of directors, Union Bank has quadrupled the number of women and doubled the number of minorities since 1996. These efforts by Union Bank represent a unique commitment in corporate America that it makes both good business sense and good moral sense to strive for including all in employment opportunities. Takahiro Moriguchi, President and CEO of Union Bank of California, expressed the Bank's enlightened view: ``By searching for talent from among the disabled, both genders, veterans, all ethnic groups and all nationalities, we gain access to a pool of ideas, energy and creativity as wide and varied as the human race itself. I expect diversity will become even more important as the world gradually becomes a truly global marketplace.'' This type of leadership and this kind of vision have earned Union Bank the top position in Fortune Magazine's listing of ``The 50 Best Companies for Asians, Blacks, and Hispanics.'' Union Bank is clearly a trend setter, and I hope it can serve as inspiration and motivation to the rest of corporate America to realize how aggressively promoting equal employment opportunity programs is in the best interests of both corporate and non-corporate America. Mr. Speaker, Union Bank has always been focused on the betterment of society, whether it be the development of the infrastructure and trade in the west or the development of equal opportunity programs that help unleash the talent of a workforce previously held back by discrimination. Union Bank should be commended for this dedication to social progress, and I congratulate the bank and its officers upon receiving Secretary of Labor Herman's Opportunities 2000 Award.

Mr. LANTOS

Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I join my colleagues from the golden State of California in marking the 150th anniversary of statehood. It was 50 years ago--in the summer of 1950 when California celebrated the centennial of its admission to the Union--that my new bride and I moved to the San Francisco Bay Area. And it was half a century ago that Annette and I began our connection with the part of our state that is now the 12th Congressional District. In the fall of 1950, I began my studies as a graduate student in economics at the University of California, Berkeley, and at the same time I began teaching at San Francisco State University. When we arrived in California, it had a population of 10.6 million. Today, Mr. Speaker, our state's population has reached 33.1 million--1 out of every 8 Americans is a Californian. As we mark 150 years of statehood, it is instructive to look both to our historic past, but at the same time to look to the future, and California and the 12th Congressional District was as important in shaping our nation's past as it is today in leading the way toward our nation's future. Mr. Speaker, in the mid-19th century, the Bay Area was the principal gateway to the California gold rush. In 1847--with the Mexican War still underway, two years before of the influx of the gold miners of 1849, and three years before California's admission to the Union--San Francisco had a population of 459 people, half of whom were U.S. citizens. Three years later on July 1, 1850, the U.S. Census Bureau reported that the population of San Francisco was 94,766, and at that same time, 626 vessels were anchored in the San Francisco Bay. When California became a State, the legislature established San Francisco County, but with the explosive growth of the area just six years later in 1856, it was necessary to create the new county of San Mateo from the southern part of San Francisco County. After the initial chaos of the early years of the gold rush, the growth of these two counties was more orderly but still robust. San Mateo County was given a boost by the tragedy of the massive 1906 San Francisco earthquake, when thousands of displaced and terrified residents fled the city and encamped in what became Daly City. As the Bay Area developed, San Mateo County likewise grew as a cluster of communities--each filled with growing numbers of Irish, Italian, Greek, and Asian-Americans moved to the suburbs from ``the City.'' Each of these cities developed its own unique character and flavor, and each has contributed to the diversity and cohesion of our area. Today--a century and a half after California became our nation's 31st state--the 12th Congressional District continues to reflect the rich diversity of our past and the golden hope for our state and our nation's future. Two elements strike me as particularly significant in this regard, Mr. Speaker. First, the 12th Congressional District reflects the ethnic complexity of California and of the nation. As The Los Angeles Times (September 8) noted, ``The Gold Rush was a defining moment in the nation's history, a remarkable, virtually overnight influx of people from every quarter of the world.'' In many ways that influx of a diverse population a century and a half ago established the pattern of our state. Ethnic diversity is not just a concept in our area, it is a daily reality. One quarter of our population in the 12th Congressional District are Asian--Chinese, Filipino, South Asian, Japanese, Southeast Asian and others. Over an eighth of our population is Hispanic with a smaller population of African Americans. A recent article in the San Francisco Examiner on Daly City referred to this diversity in praising the mixture of ``Spanish, Tagalog and Hindi'' heard in the city's markets, and noted that ``ethnic diversity is a source of pride for the community as reflected in its integrated neighborhoods.'' As the State of California moves from a majority white to a ``majority minority'' population and as our nation's population becomes increasingly diverse, the 12th Congressional District is a harbinger of the benefits of a harmonious, ethnically diverse community. Mr. Speaker, this is not to say that tolerance and multi-ethnic harmony has always been the case in our state. California, as the rest of the nation, has had its share of discrimination and racism. Chinese and other Asians suffered harassment and intimidation during the era of the Chinese Exclusion Act. During World War II, tens of thousands of American citizens of Japanese ancestry were sent to relocation camps. Hispanic-Americans have faced discrimination for using Spanish and maintaining their national cultures. But we have learned, we have made progress, and we continue to struggle with the complications of diversity. Mr. Speaker, a second element is the importance of the Peninsula and of San Francisco in our state and our nation's economy. A century and a half ago, panning for gold made a few people rich quickly, but those who made the real contribution to our state and our nation's economy as well as real wealth for themselves were the individuals who brought the entrepreneurial spirit which gave rise to such legendary businesses as Levi Strauss, Ghiradelli chocolate, and the Wells Fargo Bank. A century and a half ago, Gold was discovered at Sutter's fort on January 24, 1848, but the first newspaper story about the discovery to appear in a newspaper in the eastern United States was only published eight months later in the New York Herald on August 19. When California was formally admitted as a State to the Union on September 9, 1850, it required six weeks for the steamer bearing the banner ``California is a State'' to arrive in San Francisco. The celebration of statehood in California did not take place until October 29--a full 50 days after statehood was a reality. Today, California is in the forefront of the instantaneous communication revolution, as Internet communication and e-commerce led by firms in Silicon Valley and San Francisco revolutionize the way the entire world communicates. Today, Mr. Speaker, we continue to have an ebullient economy in the Bay Area, and this is an important element of our state's contribution to the entire nation. As our distinguished Governor Gray Davis said recently: ``We're experiencing a second Gold Rush. People came here 150 years ago to find their fortune, and the dot-com economy is bringing another generation of risk takers and entrepreneurs. All this energy and vitality helps drive our economy and makes for the robust society we currently enjoy'' (San Jose Mercury News, September 9). Today legendary companies in the 12th Congressional District such as Oracle in the information technology sector and Genentech in the biotech sector are leading the nation in creativity and innovation. Mr. Speaker, it is important today that we not only mark a century and a half of California's statehood with celebration and congratulation, but that we also use this opportunity to reflect upon how our past has shaped our present and how the decisions we take today will determine our future. If we commit ourselves to continue and strengthen the best of our state's traditions, we can assure that the future for our children and grandchildren will be even more golden than our past.

Mr. LANTOS

Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I am here briefly to rise and to thank my friend, the chairman of the Committee on Resources, the gentleman from Alaska (Mr. Young); the ranking member, the gentleman from California (Mr. Miller); the chairman of the Subcommittee on National Parks and Public Lands subcommittee, the gentleman from Utah (Mr. Hansen), who have been so enormously helpful and supportive of my legislation; and the ranking member, the gentleman from Puerto Rico (Mr. Romero- Barcelo). The legislation I am here to say a few words about is H.R. 3632, which expands GGNRA in three counties. It will add immeasurably to the value of this most important area, adding approximately 900 acres in San Mateo, San Francisco and Marin Counties to the existing GGNRA park land. It is supported powerfully by local government. A significant portion of the lands are donated without any cost to the Federal Government. The Department of Interior and the National Park Service strongly support this legislation. Mr. Speaker, I want to urge all of my colleagues to vote for this and thank them for approving this legislation. In the interest of time, I ask that the full text of my statement be included in the Record at this point. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleagues on the Resources Committee who have been supportive of my legislation, H.R. 3632 the Golden Gate National Recreation Boundary Adjustment Act--Resources Committee Chairman Mr. Young of Alaska and the Ranking Member of the Resources Committee, my fellow Californian, Mr. Miller. I also want to thank the Chairman of the National Parks Subcommittee Mr. Hansen of Utah who has been particularly cooperative in working with me on this legislation. The Ranking Member of the National Parks Subcommittee, Mr. Romero- Barcelo of Puerto Rico, has also been most supportive. I also want to express my thanks to my neighbors and colleagues from California who have a particular interest in this legislation and who have worked closely with me for the passage of this legislation-- Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi of San Francisco and Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey of Marin County. H.R. 3632 includes areas that are in their Congressional Districts, and I appreciate working together with them on this bill. The entire bipartisan Bay Area congressional delegation are cosponsors of this legislation, and I thank them all for their support. I also want to thank Chris Walker of my staff for his excellent efforts on this legislation. Mr. Speaker, the Golden Gate National Recreation Area (GGNRA) was established in 1972 to protect important natural and cultural resources in the San Francisco Bay area. The park is located in the city of San Francisco and in Marin and San Mateo Counties, and it presently encompasses 76,000 acres of land and water. The legislation we are considering today--H.R. 3632, the Golden Gate National Recreation Area Boundary Adjustment Act--revises the authorized boundaries of the GGNRA to include approximately 1,000 acres of land in San Mateo and Marin Counties and the City of San Francisco. The approximately 900 acres of lands in San Mateo County which will be added to the park are adjacent to existing GGNRA lands and will connect existing park lands to nearby headlands, beaches and trails along the Pacific Ocean. Inclusion of these lands will improve public access to existing park areas, trails and beaches. It also will improve access to the historic Portola Expedition Discovery Site, the ``Plymouth Rock of the West,'' which is the site from which San Francisco Bay was first seen by European explorers in the 18th century. H.R. 3632 also authorizes the inclusion of approximately 100 acres of land in Marin County known as ``Marincrest,'' and approximately 2 acres of land in the City of San Francisco. Mr. Speaker, this legislation has the strong and enthusiastic support of local government leaders in the Bay Area. The Pacifica City Council and the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors have adopted resolutions supporting inclusion of these lands to the GGNRA. The Main County Open Space District adopted a resolution supporting inclusion of Marincrest into the GGNRA. The San Francisco Board of Supervisors has also adopted a resolution supporting passage of the bill. The U.S. Department of the Interior and the National Park Service have also expressed their strong support of H.R. 3632. In 1988, a congressionally-authorized boundary study by the National Park Service identified 15 tracts of land totaling 1,057 acres of lands in San Maeto County that would be logical additions to the park. The Park Service study concluded that these additional lands would preserve significant natural, scenic and recreational resources and would establish a park boundary that is more logical, recognizable and easier to manage. The Department of the Interior and the National Park Service officially expressed support for this legislation in a hearing before the National Parks Subcommittee of the Resources Committee. Mr. Speaker, one element of this legislation that is particularly important is that a substantial portion of the lands to be included in the GGNRA will be donated without cost to the Federal Government by the local community and private land trusts and conservation groups. Major donated parcels in San Mateo County include Cattle Hill (261 acres), San Pedro Point (246 acres) and Milagra Ridge (30 acres). In Marin County, the Trust for Public Lands has agreed to donate half the value of the 96-acre Marincrest property. The two parcels in San Francisco will also be donated. Mr. Speaker, this legislation will provide permanent protection for these stunning and critical natural areas. Adding this land to the GGNRA will preserve it for future generations and make existing areas of the park more accessible for all. I strongly urge my colleagues to join me in supporting the adoption of H.R. 3632.

Mr. LANTOS

Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Chairman, I thank my friend, the gentleman from California (Mr. George Miller) for yielding me time, and I want to express my appreciation to the gentleman and also to the gentleman from Utah (Mr. Cannon) for their leadership on this issue. Mr. Chairman, I, of course, rise in strong support of this legislation as the only survivor of the Holocaust ever elected to the Congress of the United States. The Holocaust Memorial Museum clearly fulfills two equally important but very different functions. It stands as a permanent tribute to the vast numbers of innocent men, women and children who were murdered on a gigantic scale by the Nazi war machine and their allies, but it also stands as one of the foremost pedagogic institutions of the United States of America, because it opens its doors to millions of young people in this country who go through the halls of the museum in disbelief and horror as they are confronted with man's mindless inhumanity to man. In the harried days at the end of the Second World War, it was customary to say ``never again''. But, of course, that phrase from the vantage point of the year 2000--has a very hollow ring, because time and time again populations were extinguished in southeast Asia, in central Africa and elsewhere as religious and ethnic and racial hatred ran amuck. People killed others for the sole reason that they were of a different ethnic or religious or linguistic or racial community. It is one of the great achievements of our great republic that the first military undertaking of human history purely for reasons of human rights was initiated by the United States and our NATO allies in the former Yugoslavia just a year and a half ago. We simply felt that the killing of innocent people in Kosovo was unacceptable because they represented a different religious or ethnic group from the dominant religious or ethnic group of Yugoslavia. So I think the Holocaust Memorial Museum needs to be viewed in a very broad context. It is a reminder for all time to come of the nightmare of the Holocaust, the massacre of 6 million innocent people by a regime of ultimate brutality and barbarity. But it is also an educational institution that reminds us for all time to come that hate crimes lead to more hate crimes, and when hate crimes become endemic, we have a Holocaust. The Holocaust Memorial Museum is one of the most significant institutions of our Nation, and it speaks well for the Congress of the United States that today we will be reauthorizing this institution--I trust unanimously--to carry on its sacred mission.

Mr. LANTOS

Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I want to invite my colleagues in the Congress to join me in welcoming to Capitol Hill today His Excellency Koichiro Matsuura, Director General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Mr. Matsuura--a distinguished Japanese diplomat who formerly served as Deputy Foreign Minister of Japan, who is a graduate of Haverford College in Pennsylvania, and who served for a time at the Japanese Embassy here in Washington--assumed the leadership of UNESCO last fall. Under his leadership the organization has made remarkable progress in dealing with many of the criticisms that have been leveled at UNESCO in the past. UNESCO was established in 1945, at the same time the United Nations itself was created. Under terms of its charter, the organization is ``to contribute to peace and security by promoting collaboration among the nations through education, science and culture in order to further universal respect for justice, for the rule of law and for the human rights and fundamental freedoms which are affirmed for the peoples of the world, without distinction of race, sex, language or religion, by the Charter of the United Nations.'' For valid and sound reasons the United States withdrew from membership in UNESCO in 1984, along with the United Kingdom and Singapore. At that time the organization suffered from mismanagement at the highest levels, and some of its leadership urged a poorly-conceived scheme to establish a ``new international information order'' which appeared to many to be no more than an attempt to regulate the press. I supported the decision of our government to withdraw from membership. Since 1984, UNESCO has made important changes to address the criticisms leveled by the United States and other nations. Under the leadership of Director General Federico Mayor Zaragoza of Spain a number of essential changes were made. In 1993 the General Accounting Office conducted an extensive review of UNESCO's efforts to implement changes to solve the problems cited by the United States in our decision to withdraw from the organization. That report concluded that the leadership of UNESCO has demonstrated a commitment to management reform. Britain rejoined UNESCO in 1997. Now under the leadership of Mr. Matsuura, further fundamental management reforms are being made. Mr. Speaker, in recognition of the transformation of UNESCO, I introduced legislation earlier in this Congress directing the President to develop a strategy to bring the United States back into full and active participation in UNESCO. My legislation, H.R. 1974, recognizes the important contribution which the organization can make in constructing ``the defenses of peace'' against intolerance and incitements to war. It is important for the United States to participate in UNESCO. We can make significant contributions in shaping and implementing the worthy goals of this organization. The legislation I have introduced, Mr. Speaker, recognizes the cost implications of our participation in UNESCO and that is why it directs the President and Secretary of State to develop a strategy for our returning to full membership. Mr. Speaker, it is unfortunate that we are not now active members of this organization. I invite my colleagues to join me--not only in welcoming His Excellency Director General Koichiro Matsuura here to Capitol Hill--but in cosponsoring H.R. 1974 to bring the United States back into full participation in UNESCO.

Mr. LANTOS

Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I will vote today to uphold the President's veto of the Estate Tax Elimination Act (H.R. 8). When this legislation was first considered in the House in June, I strongly supported and voted for the Democratic alternative which was presented by Congressman Rangel of New York. That proposal called for a significant reduction in the rate of taxation of estates and a 50 percent increase in the small business exclusion. The Rangel proposal was a thoughtful and reasonable effort to deal with the legitimate concerns of small businesses and family farms, but it did not have the problems of the legislation which was being urged by the Republican majority. When the Rangel substitute was defeated by the House, I nevertheless voted for the adoption of H.R. 8 in order to continue the legislative process. Initial Senate action was much closer to the Rangel substitute, and I expected a House-Senate Conference Committee to produce a bill that I could support. Unfortunately, Mr. Speaker, the Senate simply accepted the flawed version of the bill as adopted by the House and did not make those changes that would improve the legislation. President Clinton was right to veto this bill, and I will vote to sustain that veto. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues in the Republican leadership of this House to work with the Democratic leadership and with the President to craft legislation that deals with the legitimate problems of estate taxation and that provides the relief small businesses need. We need to deal with legitimate problems with the federal estate tax, but this bill is clearly the wrong way to do that.

Mr. LANTOS

Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to applaud to the recess appointment of Bill Lann Lee as assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights. Bill Lann Lee is a true civil rights crusader, and his appointment reflects the Clinton-Gore administration's unflinching commitment to protecting the civil rights of all Americans by rigorously enforcing our nation's civil rights legislation. Mr. Speaker, Mr. Lee's personal experiences with discrimination as an Asian-American have driven him to fight passionately for the last quarter century to secure the civil rights of all Americans. Bill Lann Lee's deep and personal commitment to civil rights and his outstanding record of service make him an exemplary choice for this critical position. In Bill Lann Lee all Americans can rest assured that they have a true civil rights crusader looking out for their civil rights, forcefully advocating fair affirmative action policies for all those discriminated against. The appointment of Bill Lann Lee as Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights brings to this critical position a proven civil rights leader with a deep and personal commitment to protecting the rights of all Americans. Bill Lann Lee's personal drive in civil rights advocacy was fueled by the experiences of his father, a proud but poor Chinese immigrant. Bill Lann Lee grew up knowing his father fought for freedom abroad in World War II even though he was denied dignity and freedom here at home because of his ethnicity. Inspired by that kind of unshakeable patriotism, Bill Lann Lee set out to establish a legal career in which he could fight to protect all Americans from the kind of discrimination his father experienced. Today he says, ``Whenever I work on cases for women, for minorities, for individuals who need help, I sincerely feel that they are people like my father.'' Bill Lann Lee's desire to protect everyone from discrimination is a personal one, and it is this kind of commitment that makes him an outstanding choice for Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights. Mr. Speaker, Bill Lann Lee brings a strong work ethic and record of service to his new position. He who grew up near Harlem's 125th street, and spent hours sorting piles of dirty clothes in his family laundry. He experienced racism because of his Asian-American background, but he had the courage and determination to work beyond that bias and excel in the classroom. Because of his hard work, he had the opportunity to take advantage of a scholarship for minorities and attended Yale University, graduating Phi Beta Kappa. He went on to Columbia Law School, where he studied with Jack Greenberg, a veteran civil rights lawyer who succeeded Thurgood Marshall as director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. Because of Bill Lann Lee's hard work, he received an excellent education and laid the foundation for an outstanding legal career at the forefront of Civil Rights advocacy. It is from this position that he has spent the last 25 years continuing to work hard to protect the civil rights of all Americans. Mr. Speaker, for the past 25 years of his distinguished legal career, Bill Lann Lee has been an advocate for civil rights enforcement, leading the fight for health care accessibility, public transportation equity, fair employment and housing rights and school desegregation. He worked for the NAACP since 1974 and the Center for Law in the Public Interests since 1983 where he served for five years as supervising attorney for Civil Rights Litigation. Among his most noteworthy victories are a 1985 case that provided housing for Los Angeles area residents displaced by the Century Freeway; a 1987 case that broke down barriers to the hiring and promotion of women and minorities at Lucky Stores, a retail chain in California; and a 1991 case that led to the expansion of California's efforts to screen underprivileged children for lead poisoning. On December 15, 1997, Bill Lann Lee was appointed Acting Attorney General for Civil Rights at the Department of Justice. In this position, he has worked to strengthen our nation's hate crime laws, make society accessible to Americans with disabilities, fight housing discrimination, and protect reproductive health care providers and combat modern day slavery. His accomplishments as Acting Assistant Attorney General have been remarkable, and that taken together with his previous accomplishments in the NAACP and the Center for Law in the Public Interests make him an excellent choice for Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights. Mr. Speaker, Bill Lann Lee has established a remarkable record of service as Acting Assistant Attorney General, and it is most fitting that President Clinton made the recess appointment of Mr. Lee as Assistant Attorney General because of his deep commitment to protecting the civil rights of all Americans. Bill Lann Lee deserves to serve in this position, but more importantly, our country needs to have Bill Lann Lee in this post. Mr. Speaker, I commend President Clinton for appointing Bill Lann Lee to the post of Assistant Attorney General, and I applaud the appointment of the first Asian-American to America's top civil rights post.

Mr. LANTOS

Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I wish to call the attention of my colleagues in the House to the passing of a dear, dear personal friend and a true giant in the struggle for human rights. Just a few days ago, on Friday, August 25, Ginetta Sagan died of cancer at the age of 75. I know that all of my colleagues who had the good fortune to know and work with her, and I know there are many here today who share my tremendous feeling of loss for not only a stalwart defender for human rights and humanity around the world, but also a true and wonderful personal friend and outstanding human being. Mr. Speaker, the President of the United States appropriately honored the lifetime achievements of this remarkable woman when he awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1994, the highest civilian honor our nation can bestow. Throughout her life, she has brought healing, justice, and mercy to the oppressed and has helped to change the thinking of those who are in positions of power and authority. Born in Milan, Italy, to a Jewish mother and Catholic father, Ginetta Sagan first worked against the fascists at the early age of 17, bringing clothes and food coupons to Jews in hiding. Her mother and father were arrested by Mussolini's Black Brigade in 1943 and did not survive the war. In 1943, Ginetta--and she almost always went only by her first name--worked as a courier for the Italian resistance, using her nickname Topolino, or ``Little Mouse.'' Ginetta was only 5 feet tall, but she had the energy and the power of a giant. She helped to transport more than 300 fugitives and thousands of pamphlets through the Italian Alps, before she was betrayed and arrested in early 1945. Mr. Speaker, for over a month and a half, she was beaten, burned, electrically shocked and raped. On April 23, 1945--the very day scheduled for her execution--she managed to escape with the help of the Italian Resistance and two friendly German officers. In the deep dungeons of her Fascist torturers, where all hope is lost and only pain and fear live, Ginetta Sagin found her deep and unshakable commitment to human rights. It was there that she found her incredible strength to work tirelessly on behalf of the downtrodden. When a guard tossed her a loaf of bread, she found a matchbox with a slip of paper hidden inside. Inscribed on this piece of paper was only one word, which epitomizes her whole life: the Italian word Coraggio--Courage. Ginetta later named the first newsletter for Amnesty International Matchbox, reflecting this very moving experience. After the war, Mr. Speaker, Ginetta attended the prestigious Sorbonne University in Paris. She continued her study of child development in 1951 at the University of Chicago, where she met and married Leonard Sagan, a medical student who later became a public health physician. After living in Washington, DC., Boston and Japan, the Sagans moved to my home state of California in 1968. Leonard Sagan died in 1977. While living in Washington, DC., Ginetta began her lifelong work with Amnesty International, the London-based human rights organization. Ginetta helped found the United States chapter of this world-wide organization and, as its honorary chairwoman, worked tirelessly for its goals. Mr. Speaker, Amnesty International annually awards a prize named in Ginetta's honor in recognition of her outstanding service and leadership on behalf of women and children's rights. Not surprisingly, as soon as she reached the Bay Area in California, she gathered like- minded activists and founded Amnesty International's Western Regional Office. In addition, Ginetta created the Aurora Foundation in order to investigate and campaign actively against torture in postwar Vietnam. The Foundation continues to play a crucial role in supporting human rights activists around the world. Ginetta also actively campaigned against human rights abuses in Chile, Greece, Algeria, Poland, the Philippines and South Africa. In 1971, Ginetta organized a concert in Berkeley to raise funds for political prisoners in Greece. The concert, which featured her friend, folk singer Joan Baez, and Greek entertainer Melina Mercouri, drew some 10,000 people. Mr. Speaker, the San Francisco Chronicle, in its obituary of her published on August 29, quotes Julianne Cartwright Taylor, chair of Amnesty International USA Board of Directors: ``Her [Ginetta's] legacy is a constant reminder that our role is vital, and that without the work of human rights defenders, thousands upon thousands of individuals would be affected for the worst.'' In addition to her outstanding human rights work, this energetic woman found time to become an accomplished cook and cookbook author. She taught cooking classes for congressional spouses and was also an outstanding gardener. A species of orchids is named in her honor. Mr. Speaker, Ginetta Sagan is survived by three sons--Loring, Duncan and Pico--as well as six grandchildren.

Mr. LANTOS

Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, in the long and difficult fight for freedom of the press in Russia we have won an important victory today. The Russian prosecutor informed Vladimir Gusinsky--head of Russia's Media- Most media conglomerate--that the case against him has been dropped for ``the lack of a fact of a crime.'' Mr. Speaker, the prosecutor's action against Mr. Gusinsky was never simply a case of prosecuting a crime. From the beginning it has been a case of seeking to persecute and harass and intimidate and muzzle the free press in Russia. Vladimir Gusinsky is the head of Media-Most, which owns NTV television network, Russia's leading independent television network, as well as Echo of Moscow radio, and a number of other important independent media ventures. It is significant, Mr. Speaker, that NTV and other Media-Most journalists have been critical of Russian President Putin and of the actions of the Russian government. Critical journalism is certainly nothing that would even raise eyebrows in the United States or Western Europe or other free countries around the world. Mr. Speaker, the harassment of Mr. Gusinsky involved actions against him that go well beyond what would be done in a normal criminal proceeding involving such charges. Mr. Gusinsky was jailed for four days in June; in a high-handed fashion authorities seized documents from his company's offices several times; after he was released from jail, he was repeatedly called in for questioning; he was prohibited from traveling abroad; and steps were taken to freeze his personal assets. On a number of occasions in the past, I have called to the attention of my colleagues in this House the systematic efforts to harass and intimidate the independent media in Russia. I hope that President Putin now understands that there is no room for Russia in the community of free and democratic nations if his government engages in efforts to oppress and threaten the free press in Russia. Mr. Speaker, the dropping of charges against Mr. Gusinsky represents a victory for democracy and press freedom in Russia, but the battle is far from over. We must continue and strengthen our efforts to preserve free media in Russia.

Mr. LANTOS

Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Lantos. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to invite my colleagues in Congress to join me in paying tribute to Jan Karski, who passed away on July 13th at the age of 86. A man of extraordinary courage, Karski risked his life to journey into the danger of the Warsaw ghetto and the Belzec death camp as a member of the Polish underground during World War II. He did this to gain first hand information and then convey the horrors of the Nazi regime to the Allied leaders. The enormity of Karski's task was confirmed after his meeting with the head of the Zionist organization and the leader of the Jewish Socialist Alliance. According to Karski, his mission was to transmit material to the Polish and Allied governments which ``constituted the expression and contained the information, sentiments, requests, and instructions of the entire Jewish population of Poland as a unit, a population that was at the moment dying as a unit.'' After speaking with London authorities in 1942, Karski's frightful accounts were met with disbelief and denial. Yet he continued to deliver his searing report of Nazi atrocities and of Hitler's Final Solution, spending months briefing government and community leaders in Britain and in the United States. It is difficult to imagine the turmoil Karski must have suffered, as he was constantly called upon to recall the ghastly scenes he had witnessed and to recount the new unprecedented criminality. Because of his perseverance, Karski is credited with providing President Franklin D. Roosevelt with the motivation to establish the United States War Refugee Board, an organization that saved tens of thousands of Jewish lives toward the end of World War II. Born in 1914 in Lodz, Poland, Dr. Karski received a Master's Degree in Law and another Master's Degree in Diplomatic Sciences at the Jan Kazimierz University in Lvov in 1935. After completing his education in Germany, Switzerland, and Great Britain in the years 1936-38, he entered the Polish diplomatic service. His following years were marked by extraordinary contributions to Nazi resistance efforts. Conscripted into the Polish army in August 1939, Karski was eventually taken prisoner by the Red Army and sent to a Russian prisoner of war camp. He escaped in November 1939, returned to German-occupied Poland and joined the anti-Nazi underground. Because of his knowledge of languages and foreign countries, he was used as a courier between the government-in- exile in London and underground authorities in Poland. In this capacity he made several secret trips between France, Great Britain and Poland. In August of 1943, he personally reported to President Roosevelt, Secretary of State Cordell Hull, Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson, and other United States government leaders. After the war, Jan Karski moved to the United States where he married, became an American citizen, and received a doctorate from Georgetown University. Mr. Karski went on to have a distinguished academic career at Georgetown, and he also served as a special envoy and as a witness for the American government on a number of occasions. In 1956-57, and again in 1966-67, he was sent by the State Department on six-month lecture tours to sixteen countries in Asia and in French- speaking Africa. On numerous occasions, he was asked by various Congressional committees to testify on Eastern European Affairs. He lectured extensively at the Defense Intelligence Air University, Industrial College of the Armed Forces, and other government and civic institutions. Mr. Karski is also a respected author. His book, ``Story of a Secret State'', which describes his experiences during World War II, was a bestseller. He was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship to inspect Polish, British and French archives for his major scholarly work, ``The Great Powers and Poland, 1919-45'' (from Versailles to Yalta). His many honors also include the distinction of ``Righteous Gentile,'' bestowed by the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial in Jerusalem. Karski is also an honorary citizen of Israel, the recipient of a special citation by the United Nations, and the recipient of the Order virturi Militair, the highest Polish military decoration. Jan Karski's humility was always evident throughout his life. When visiting the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, he came upon the Rescuer's Wall, where tribute is paid to non-Jews who helped to save Jewish lives. He quickly passed the plaque upon which his own name was inscribed, instead preferring to seek out the names of his underground comrades. He was always quick to point out that ``the Jews were abandoned by governments, by church hierarchies, and by societal structures. But they were not abandoned by all humanity.'' He felt that he was no different from anyone else who tried to ease the plight of the Jewish people. Remarkably, he insisted that he did ``nothing extraordinary.'' In an editorial last week paying tribute to Jan Karski, the Washington Post (July 19, 2000) observed: ``A community's heroes are not necessarily its noisiest or most prominent citizens. Certainly neither adjective applied to Jan Karski, . . . but Mr. Karski was an authentic moral hero.'' Despite his protestations, Jan Karski's contribution to humanity was indeed remarkable. Shimon Peres said, ``A great man is one who stands head and shoulder above his people, a man who, when surrounded by overpowering evil and blind hatred, does all in his power to stem the tide. Karski ranks high in the all-too-brief list of such great and unique personalities who stood out in the darkest age of Jewish history.'' And in the words of Elie Wiesel: ``Jan Karski: a brave man? Better: a just man.'' Mr. Speaker, once again I invite my colleagues to join me in paying tribute to the courage and selflessness of Jan Karski. He was an authentic moral hero who risked his life to fulfill what he considered to be his duty as a human being.