[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 127 (Tuesday, September 13, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: September 13, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                   SELECTIONS BY ROFEH INTERNATIONAL

                                 ______


                           HON. BARNEY FRANK

                            of massachusetts

                    in the house of representatives

                      Tuesday, September 13, 1994

  Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts. Mr. Speaker, for some time now I have 
been privileged to share with my colleagues and the rest of the country 
a report on the people selected to be honored by ROFEH International, a 
very important and creative charitable organization furthering quality 
health care in our country. As the following statement indicates, ROFEH 
was established under the direction of Grand Rabbi Levi Horowitz, who 
is known as the Bostoner Rebbe, and is administered by the New England 
Chassidic Center which he heads. Grand Rabbi Horowitz has become an 
acknowledged international expert on medical ethics, and on the 
question of how best to see that people are able to get access to the 
first rate medical care which we in Boston are privileged to offer the 
rest of the country. On November 6, at the annual dinner of the New 
England Chassidic Center, two men who have been especially helpful will 
again be honored by ROFEH. I am pleased to take this opportunity to 
call to attention the excellent work done by this organization. We talk 
a lot about volunteerism and how important it is. It is for this reason 
that I think it very appropriate that I share with my colleagues and 
the rest of the country two extraordinary examples of men of great 
talent, commitment, and dedication to helping others. Both Alan 
Solomont and Bernard Lown are leaders in their field. I have benefitted 
myself from the advice they have given to me and my colleagues on a 
number of issues--Dr. Lown has been a leader in the fight for a 
rational approach toward nuclear weapons, and Alan Solomont has 
distinguished himself by his work to provide compassionate care for 
older people in need. I should add that while I have worked with Mr. 
Solomont, my mother, in her capacity as chair of the Massachusetts 
Association of Older Americans, has an even closer working relationship 
with him and shares the very high opinion of Mr. Solomont that 
motivates the people at ROFEH.
  Grand Rabbi Horowitz and his colleagues ought to be congratulated for 
their important ongoing work, and for honoring two such outstanding 
individuals as Bernard Lown and Alan Solomont. I ask that the following 
explanation of ROFEH and the reasons for the selection of these two men 
be printed here.
       ROFEH International, is a very important charitable program 
     run by the New England Chassidic Center under the direction 
     of Grand Rabbi Levi Horowitz, known as the Bostoner Rebbe. 
     Rabbi Horowitz a leading authority in the filed of medical 
     ethics, has put his ethical concerns into practice through 
     ROFEH International, a medical referral organization that 
     helps make the excellent medical care in the Boston area 
     available to many of people, and provides housing and other 
     forms of assistance that make it possible for them to come to 
     Boston for treatments. Rabbi Horowitz and the others who work 
     so hard in ROFEH are entitled to celebrate their 
     accomplishments, as they will on November 6, at the annual 
     dinner of the New England Chassidic Center.
       Two men in particular will be honored for the work they 
     have done through ROFEH to benefit others. The 1994 Man of 
     the Year is Alan Solomont, who has a long family 
     relationship, and is a staunch supporter of the New England 
     Chassidic Center in his works; is the very successful founder 
     of the ADS Group. The Group provides management, development 
     and consulting services to nursing homes, assisted living and 
     other senior living facilities in New England. Joining Mr. 
     Solomont as an honoree is Dr. Bernard Lown who will receive 
     the coveted Harry Andler Memorial Award. Dr. Lown is one of 
     the world's leading cardiologists and founder and former Co-
     President of International Physicians for the Prevention of 
     Nuclear War (IPPNW). In 1985 IPPNW was awarded the Nobel 
     Peace Prize for its ``considerable service to mankind by 
     spreading authoritative information and by creating an 
     awareness of the catastrophic consequences of atomic 
     warfare.'' Dr. Lown and Dr. Chazov accepted the Peace Prize 
     on behalf of IPPNW. Dr. Lown is Professor of Cardiology 
     Emeritus at the Harvard School of Public Health and Senior 
     Physician at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston; he is in 
     active cardiology practice at the Lown Cardiovascular Center 
     in Brookline, Massachusetts.
       Mr. Alan Solomont is President, Chief Executive Officer, 
     and founder of the ADS Group, which provides management, 
     development and consulting services to nursing homes, 
     assisted living and other senior living facilities in New 
     England. Mr. Solomont is Past Vice Chairman of the Board of 
     Trustees of the University of Massachusetts and is Past 
     Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the University of 
     Lowell. He is currently a member of the Boards of: Odyssey 
     Therapeutics; University Hospital at Boston University 
     Medical Center; the Massachusetts Hospital Association; the 
     Jewish Fund for Justice; Jewish Community Housing for the 
     Elderly; and the Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater 
     Boston. He is also on the Executive Committee of the Anti-
     Defamation League of New England an is past president of VNA 
     Home Care Inc. of Greater Lawrence. Active in local and 
     national political organizations. Mr. Solomont served as Vice 
     Chairman of New England Business Executives for Clinton/Gore 
     and was recently elected Treasurer of the Massachusetts 
     Democratic Party.
       Mr. Solomont's career in health-care spans almost two 
     decades and includes extensive management experience. Mr. 
     Solomont is a past president of the Massachusetts Federation 
     of Nursing Homes, the largest and oldest organization of long 
     term care providers in Massachusetts and remains on its Board 
     of Directors. Active in state and national political affairs, 
     Mr. Solomont has been an advisor to state and federal 
     officials on matters related to health-care, the elderly and 
     long term care. He is recognized as a national expert on long 
     term care and lectures frequently to other health-care 
     providers, public officials, consumer groups and lay persons.
       Mr. Solomont is the recipient of numerous awards including 
     the 1993 Entrepreneur of the Year Award, sponsored by Inc. 
     Magazine, Merril Lynch and Ernst & Young, and the prestigious 
     Miamonides Award for health-care service by the Anti-
     Defamation League. He is also the author of various 
     publications.
       Mr. Solomont is married to Susan Lewis, Director of 
     Corporate Development for WGBH Educational Foundation. They 
     live in Weston with their two daughters.
       Dr. Lown is a pioneer in research on sudden cardiac death. 
     He invented the defibrillator and the cardiovertor and 
     introduced the drug Lidocaine, used worldwide to control 
     disturbances of the heartbeat. Recent work demonstrated the 
     role of psychological and behavioral factors in regulating 
     the heart, and current research focuses on the impact of 
     adverse psychological stresses on cardiac performance. Dr. 
     Lown is author or co-author of three books and over 400 
     articles that have been published in leading medical journals 
     worldwide.
       Dr. Lown has had a long-standing interest in international 
     cooperation. In 1974-75 he presided over the USA-China 
     Physicians Friendship Association, and he served as 
     coordinator of several USA- USSR studies in cardiovascular 
     disease. Over the past 30 years he has lectured and met 
     with leading health and political figures worldwide, the 
     most recent being the Eighth Indira Gandhi Lecture in New 
     Delhi, India.
       Dr. Lown has been instrumental in involving physicians 
     worldwide in working for the prevention of nuclear war and 
     nuclear arms proliferation and in raising public awareness of 
     the devastating consequences of nuclearism on health and 
     environment on a massive global scale. He was founder and 
     first president of Physicians for Social Responsibility in 
     1961. In June 1979 Dr. Lown wrote to a leading Soviet 
     physician, Academician Evgueni Chazov, Director General of 
     Cardiovascular Institute of the USSR, suggesting the 
     formation of International Physicians for the Prevention of 
     Nuclear War. IPPNW was established one year later in 1980. 
     Since that time IPPNW membership has grown to more than 
     200,000 physicians in 80 nations. IPPNW has held eleven 
     international congresses; the 11th congress convened in 
     October 1993 in Mexico City.
       Dr. Lown is also the recipient of the George F. Kennan 
     Award, the Gandhi Peace Prize, and the first Cardinal 
     Medeiros Peace Award, as well as numerous honorary degrees 
     and other awards in the USA and abroad.
       Dr. Lown graduated summa cum laude from the University of 
     Maine and received his M.D. degree from Johns Hopkins 
     University School of Medicine. He and his wife Louise have 
     three children and five grandchildren.
       Guest speaker for the evening will be Dr. Lawrence H. 
     Schiffman, Professor of Hebrew and Judaic Studies at New York 
     University's Skirball Department of Hebrew and Judaic Studies 
     and in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and 
     Literature. He was a Fellow of the Institute for Advanced 
     Studies of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem as part of a 
     research group dealing with the Dead Sea Scrolls. He is one 
     of the editors of a new journal, Dead Sea Discoveries, 
     published by E.J. Brill.

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