[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 59 (Tuesday, May 12, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E815]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           HONORING COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF SOCIAL WORK

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                          HON. EDOLPHUS TOWNS

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, May 12, 1998

  Mr. TOWNS. Mr. Speaker, on the occasion of the Centennial of the 
oldest social work training program in the nation, I hereby offer 
congratulations to the Columbia University School of Social Work. 
Evolving from a summer program organized by the Charity Organization 
Society in New York, the School of Social Work has a long and 
distinguished history of pioneering research, informed advocacy and 
exceptional professional training.
  It is a remarkable accomplishment that social workers have played key 
roles in every major social reform movement, from settlement houses to 
labor reform, to the New Deal, to civil rights and voter registration. 
Many of the things we take for granted today--Social Security, child 
labor laws, the minimum wage, the 40-hour work week, Medicare--came 
about because social workers saw injustice, acted, and inspired others.
  Throughout this century Columbia's faculty, students and alumni have 
worked tirelessly to address both the causes and symptoms of our most 
pressing social problems. National movements, such as the White House 
Conference on Children and the National Urban League, have emerged from 
projects undertaken by the School's faculty and administrators in 
cooperation with professional and community organizations. The entire 
nation has benefited from the work of people like Eveline Burns (Social 
Security); Mitchell I. Ginsberg (Head Start); Richard Cloward (welfare 
rights and voter registration); Alfred Kahn and Sheila B. Kamerman 
(cross-national studies of social services), and David Fanshel 
(children in foster care).
  As your School, and indeed the social work profession, moves into its 
second century, they will be both challenged to respond to social 
change, new social problems, family change, and evolving societal 
commitments. Now more than ever, we will need well-trained and 
dedicated social workers to work with troubled children and families, 
organize communities for change, conduct cutting-edge research, 
administer social programs, and alleviate society's most intractable 
problems.
  Mr. Speaker, it is with appreciation and admiration that I extend my 
best wishes to the Columbia University School of Social Work on its 
Centennial and look forward to its future activity and achievement.

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