[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 186 (Monday, November 20, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2222]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     A TRIBUTE TO MIRI MARGOLIN, SCULPTRESS OF THE WALLENBERG BUST

                                 ______


                            HON. TOM LANTOS

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Monday, November 20, 1995

  Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I invite my colleagues to join me in 
commending an outstanding artist from Israel, Ms. Miri Margolin. Ms. 
Margolin is the creator of a bronze bust of Raoul Wallenberg, the 
Swedish diplomat whose courageous efforts in Budapest in 1944 saved the 
lives of as many as 100,000 Jews. The bust now stands for all time in 
the U.S. Capitol following an historic dedication ceremony in the 
rotunda on November 2, 1995.
  In 1920, Ms. Margolin immigrated with her family to Israel from 
Poland. She descends from a family of committed Zionists, all of whom 
have made remarkable contributions to the foundation and endurance of 
the State of Israel. Her father was famed for his international travels 
to raise support among diaspora Jewry for the Zionist dream. She and 
her eight brothers distinguished the family legacy through their own 
careers of dedication to the Jewish people and its young State. In war 
and peace, politics, business, and academia, the Netanyahu, Milo, 
Milikowsky, and Margolin families are known and respected throughout 
Israel.
  These families, and many more, traveled across America and across the 
globe to Washington to honor Ms. Margolin and celebrate her success on 
November 2. Those family members attending included Mrs. Ceila 
Netanyahu, Iddo and Daphna Netanyahu, Nathan and Sinai Netanyahu, Zach 
and Claire Milo, Amos and Anna Milo, Dr. Gil Mileikowsky, Ron and 
Glynnis Mileikowsky, Hovav and Alice Milikowsky, Mrs. Esther Copelon, 
Nathan and Rebecca Milikowsky, Daniel and Sharon Milikowsky, Ezra and 
Ruth Mileikowsky, Nathan Margolin, Shai Margolin, Luzi and Edna 
Margolin, and Richard and Michelle Harmon.
  Ms. Margolin's personal story as a sculptor in bronze began late in 
life. The defining moment came from the tragic death of her heroic 
nephew, Jonathan Netanyahu, who died commanding the historic rescue of 
Jewish hostages held in Entebbe, Uganda, Seeking a way to express her 
grief and feeling for Jonathan, she began to sculpt a bust of the young 
officer.
  A ceramic artist all of her life, Ms. Margolin's bust of ``Yoni'' was 
her first work in bronze. She then began a career immortalizing other 
heroes of the Jewish people. Her busts of David Ben-Gurion, Yitzhak 
Shamir, Shimon Peres, and Moshe Dayan have earned her the highest 
critical acclaim--as have her busts of peacemakers past--Menachem 
Begin, Anwar Sadat, and President Jimmy Carter. Her bust of Ben-Gurion 
is on display at the David Ben-Gurion Library at the Kibbutz, Sde 
Boker. Her bust of Wallenberg, and its placement in the U.S. Capitol, 
is a crowning achievement.
  Commenting on Ms. Margolin's work in 1988, then Foreign Minister 
Shimon Peres wrote to her on the subject of his own bust: ``* * * I 
deeply admire your creative talent, certainly more than your 
sculpture's subject. I can tell that you truly know how to infuse 
stubborn, solid matter with power and content. Your watchful and 
confident personality gives this item, like many of your other creative 
works, a dominance bearing vitality, standards which create a new 
resonance. * * *''
  On November 2, 1995, one of Ms. Margolin's most magnificent works, 
her bust of Raoul Wallenberg, was dedicated for permanent placement in 
the U.S. Capitol. In a ceremony that included speeches from Speaker 
Newt Gingrich of the U.S. House of Representatives, Senate minority 
leader Tom Daschle, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Speaker 
Birgitta Dahl of the Swedish Parliament, Speaker Zoltan Gal of the 
Hungarian Parliament, and Speaker Shevach Weiss of the Israeli Knesset, 
the life and deeds of Raoul Wallenberg were praised and honored. Ms. 
Margolin was recognized for her unique contribution to Wallenberg's 
legacy, and she warmly thanked the Congress for accepting her work.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in extending our eternal 
gratitude to Miri Margolin, the creator of the U.S. Capitol's bust of 
Raoul Wallenberg.

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