[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 93 (Thursday, June 8, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1187]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


  TRIBUTE IN HONOR OF MAXINE COHEN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF SAN ANTONIO 
                      COMMUNITY RELATIONS COUNCIL

                                 ______


                           HON. FRANK TEJEDA

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                         Wednesday, June 7, 1995
  Mr. TEJEDA. Mr. Speaker, I take this opportunity to honor an 
outstanding woman in San Antonio, TX, a woman who in words and deed has 
built bridges between diverse communities and fought with 
uncompromising dedication for her values. Maxine Cohen, the executive 
director of San Antonio's community relations council, is a woman of 
action, giving new meaning to the words of Oliver Wendell Holmes when 
he said: ``To reach the port of heaven, we must sail sometimes with the 
wind and sometimes against it,--but we must sail, and not drift, nor 
lie at anchor.''
  The Jewish community in San Antonio earlier this week honored Maxine 
Cohen in a beautiful and moving tribute. Diverse community leaders, one 
after the other, stood up to praise her and highlight for all to hear 
the positive impact that one person has made. Ms. Cohen has spearheaded 
holocaust education programs in San Antonio schools, founded the San 
Antonio Holocaust Memorial and Museum, responded to attacks on the 
Jewish community in various media, and fought for the security and 
well-being of Israel. She has reached out to others. Recognizing the 
value of shared experience and personal relationships, Ms. Cohen 
established an organized dialogue with local Catholics to break through 
old barriers and emerge with lifetime friendships. Her work concretized 
what we already knew: that we as humans share fundamental values and 
bonds that emerge from and at the same time transcend religious lines.
  Maxine Cohen combines inner strength, personal conviction, and 
unlimited spirit. One after the other, her admirers recalled instances 
of her selflessness and dedication, her love and caring for her fellow 
Jews and for the entire San Antonio community. She inspires others to 
become involved in politics, in community, in our schools, teaching all 
of us time and again the virtues of involvement and activism. Senator 
Robert Kennedy must have envisioned Maxine Cohen when he uttered the 
following words in a 1966 address at the University of Capetown, now 
inscribed at his gravesite in Arlington National Cemetery:

       It is from numberless diverse acts of courage and belief 
     that human history is shaped. Each time a man stands up for 
     an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes 
     out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, 
     and crossing each other from a million different centers of 
     energy and daring those ripples build a current which can 
     sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.

  Maxine Cohen contributes far more than her share of ripples of hope, 
and with her setting the example for us, we can hope for a future in 
which we stand proud for ourselves, whatever our background or race, 
and appreciate each other for our unique contributions to our great 
Nation and the entire world.


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