[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 79 (Tuesday, June 21, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: June 21, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                      TRIBUTE TO HELGE H. WEHMEIER

                                 ______


                         HON. WILLIAM J. COYNE

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 21, 1994

  Mr. COYNE. Mr. Speaker, today I would like to share with the Members 
of the House the remarks of Helge H. Wehmeier, president of Miles Inc., 
the 1994 recipient of the American Jewish Committee's Community Service 
Human Rights Award.
  The American Jewish Committee has long been active in the Pittsburgh 
area. This organization hosts an annual Community Service Human Rights 
Award dinner to provide public recognition to individuals who serve the 
local community and the Nation by promoting public service and respect 
for the dignity of each individual.
  Helge Wehmeier, of Miles Inc., was selected to receive the American 
Jewish Committee's Community Service Human Rights Award this year. Mr. 
Wehmeier and the 1,500 committed employees of Miles Inc., in the 
Pittsburgh area, have given much to our local community. They have 
worked as a team to support world-class arts organizations and have 
provided support for the education of young people, especially in the 
area of science.
  Mr. Speaker, Helge Wehmeier is to be commended for his outstanding 
public service. I would like to submit the remarks of Helge Wehmeier 
for the Record so that the Members of the House may have an opportunity 
to review these comments.

  [At the American Jewish Committee's Community Service Human Rights 
                      Award Dinner, May 17, 1994]

                      Remarks by Helge H. Wehmeier

       Thank you very much, Tom.
       Mayor Murphy, Mr. Moses, ladies and gentleman, good 
     evening.
       When I was informed that I had been selected to receive the 
     American Jewish Committee's Community Service Human Rights 
     Award, I felt many emotions.
       Of course, I was proud that the Committee had deemed worthy 
     of recognition my personal efforts and those of the employees 
     of Miles to make our community a better place in which to 
     live.
       As you know, Miles' commitment to the community began long 
     before I ever knew Pittsburgh was to be my future home. And I 
     want to acknowledge the role of Konrad Weis in these efforts. 
     It was Koni's two decades of leadership, at our company and 
     in our community, that helped pave the way for this evening's 
     recognition.
       Next, among my feelings, I was aware that I would join a 
     long list of past recipients of this award. Their patronage 
     and activities on behalf of organizations dedicated to 
     improving our community in so many ways have proven to be of 
     the highest caliber. And I was pleased to be joining the 
     ranks of this highly regarded group.
       Not least among these is my friend, Tom O'Brien. His 
     contributions to the economic, educational and civic well-
     being of Pittsburgh have set a standard of excellence aspired 
     to by all who follow him as recipients of this award.
       But, foremost in my emotions, I felt deeply honored by the 
     acknowledgement of a group as highly principled and esteemed 
     as the American Jewish Committee--an organization dedicated 
     to promoting understanding and acceptance among the greatly 
     diverse groups that make up our everyday world.
       But honor does not adequately express my feelings. I am, of 
     course, German. I was born in 1943, making me a part of the 
     first generation of Germans to follow World War II and the 
     first generation to live abroad since then.
       All of us here undoubtedly consider ourselves to be persons 
     of principle and tolerance. But I know that, as a German, I 
     carry a heavy legacy. I was personally reminded--and deeply 
     moved--in this respect with my recent visit to the Holocaust 
     Museum in Washington, D.C.
       Although I have made it a point to read the history of the 
     Nazi era and to understand what occurred, the Holocaust 
     Museum made me feel this terrible time.
       Unfortunately, we cannot undo a single action of the past--
     not as nations; not as individuals. But we can try to make 
     certain that we acknowledge and learn from the past so that 
     we do not repeat it.
       In a speech some two years ago in Dusseldorf, Germany, 
     Richard von Weizaecker, Federal President of Germany, noted: 
     ``Reconciliation among people cannot succeed without 
     truthfulness. However, truthfulness without the prospect of 
     reconciliation, is inhuman. The strength for insight in one's 
     own weaknesses, failures and guilt can work miracles. It does 
     not mean exclusion. Instead, it offers a very profound 
     approach to opening up an opportunity for a new beginning. It 
     is of vital importance for the future.''
       Since its founding, the American Jewish Committee has 
     demonstrated, most admirably, strong courage and willing 
     responsibility in building bridges based on reconciliation 
     and understanding--and in the process strengthening our sense 
     of community and providing to us always an exemplary model of 
     tolerance.
       A case in point is the Committee's effort to help develop a 
     solid foundation for human rights in post-war Germany, an 
     endeavor epitomized by a paraphrase of the ancient proverb: 
     ``it is better to light a candle rather than curse the 
     darkness.''
       Through decades of diligent effort, you have succeeded. 
     And, along the way, thousands of personal relationships 
     between Jews and Germans have been nurtured--building 
     relations between peoples and bringing out the best in the 
     world's communities.
       The ties between America and Germany were so close for so 
     long. In the decades before World War I, Germany had 
     contributed significantly to our world in so many ways. And 
     much of the credit for highly regarded German work in the 
     fields of philosophy, literature, chemistry, physics and the 
     arts was due to German Jews.
       And, because of such contributions, so many people of 
     German descent in America at that time proudly acknowledged 
     their heritage.
       Tragically, World War One began the unraveling of the cord 
     binding our cultures. Certainly, the Nazis era and World War 
     Two severed that cord.
       As a post-war generation German, I ask myself: What kind of 
     world do I want to leave to my two daughters? What kind of 
     world do you and I want to leave to our children? We cannot 
     let Hitler determine our relationship, thereby giving him an 
     ill-deserved victory.
       I would wish for us to revitalize our common roots: mighty 
     roots like Albert Einstein, Felix Mendelssohn, Sigmund Freud.
       The fruits produced by our common roots will always be 
     laced with the bitterness of the fate of Anne Frank and 
     millions of other victims. But the bitterness is sweetened by 
     the hopeful adage: Not forgetting, but forgiving.
       The personal lesson I have taken away from having to live 
     with the consequences of our common history is this: We fail 
     our communities, our fellow citizens and ourselves when we, 
     as individuals, choose not to live up to our inherent 
     obligation to all our neighbors, to all members of our 
     community and to the world in which we live.
       It is with purpose that I choose the word ``individual.'' 
     We are individually responsible for advancing the collective 
     well-being of our communities--as we are called to see the 
     individual in each person among us.
       And it is as individuals that we consciously choose to join 
     with others and work against exclusion, against 
     discrimination, against the broad-brushed painting of any 
     group as uniquely possessing this or that negative 
     characteristic.
       We need to accept--and allow to flourish--the diversity, 
     the plurality, of our community. And we need to create and 
     nurture the positive, helpful human environment that makes 
     this possible.
       All of us have, according to out unique talents and means, 
     an obligation to further such a goal: by personal example; by 
     judicious use of our positions; by generous sharing of our 
     time and financial resources.
       For me personally, I hope that I am, in some small way, 
     helping to meet my own obligations in this regard by sharing 
     with you, in this important forum, my private thoughts on 
     such matters.
       But I speak also for Miles and its fifteen-hundred 
     employees in the Pittsburgh area, as well as our 22,000 
     colleagues throughout the United States. As a company--and as 
     individual employees--we work hard at meeting our obligations 
     to this community and the many others in which we work and 
     live.
       In Pittsburgh, our employees do this through support for 
     community service agencies dedicated to ensuring that the 
     everyday needs of all or our neighbors are met; through 
     support for the world-class arts organizations that add so 
     much to the cultural richness of life in our city; through 
     support for the education of our young people, especially in 
     science, so that they are better prepared to contribute as 
     adults in an increasingly technologically sophisticated 
     world.
       And these efforts are not just through monetary 
     contribution. Much of our employees' work is ``sweat 
     equity''--through service that calls for time, talent and, in 
     some cases, hard physical labor.
       For Miles, joining in efforts that benefit so many 
     different peoples in our community is easier, perhaps, 
     because of the nature of the worldwide Bayer company, of 
     which we are a part. For a global enterprise like ours, 
     diversity of cultures, races and beliefs is fundamental to 
     our success.
       We operate in markets throughout the world and, 
     accordingly, draw our employees from around the globe.
       We need the talents and unique perspectives these persons 
     bring to our company. Indeed, we could not succeed in a world 
     where we find, more and more, diverse groups and cultures 
     taking on important roles in commerce.
       For us at Miles, then, doing what is right--that is, 
     seeking out and respecting plurality in our employees--also 
     has proven to be the right way to succeed, as well. I suspect 
     this holds true, ultimately, for any enterprise--whatever its 
     purpose.
       We are better and stronger persons--and our community is 
     better and stronger--for acknowledging, nurturing and 
     embracing the very best that each unique person might 
     contribute to or endeavors.
       But to gain that contribution, we must build bridges--if 
     you will allow me this Pittsburgh analogy--and keep them in 
     good repair. At times, the bridge-building might seem like a 
     one-sided effort. But, even if unrecognized by us at the 
     moment, the benefit to us surely comes back in untold ways.
       And herein lies our future success--not only for us in 
     Pittsburgh but, more broadly, for our global community, as 
     well. With the American Jewish Committee's example of 
     involvement and responsibility before us, I have no doubts 
     about a better tomorrow.
       Thank you so much.

                          ____________________