[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 146 (Wednesday, October 14, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2167]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            DANTE B. FASCELL NORTH-SOUTH CENTER ACT OF 1991

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                         HON. HOWARD L. BERMAN

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Monday, October 12, 1998

  Mr. BERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased that the House yesterday passed 
H.R. 4757 to rename the North-South Center in Miami after former House 
Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Dante B. Fascell. I am proud to have 
cosponsored the bill, and I commend International Relations Committee 
Chairman Ben Gilman and Ranking Member Lee Hamilton for their 
leadership in introducing it.
  I had the great pleasure of working with Dante on what was then known 
as the House Foreign Affairs Committee. He richly deserves the honor of 
having the North-South Center renamed after him. As the Committee's 
senior expert on Latin America, Dante Fascell contributed substantially 
to U.S. policy toward the region even before becoming chairman in 1983. 
A stern opponent of Cuba's Communist regime, Dante was a driving force 
behind the establishment of Radio Marti in 1982. He promoted democracy 
throughout Latin America and the world.
  I remember his years as chairman with deep respect and fondness. 
Watching Chairman Fascell officiate over foreign affairs legislation 
was the political equivalent of watching a great maestro conduct a fine 
orchestra. During his tenure as chairman, Dante frequently bridged the 
Committee's deep ideological divisions by working out compromises. He 
tried to strengthen the Committee's voice in foreign policy by 
defending its prerogatives on foreign aid authorizations. He also 
fought for Congress's overall role in making foreign policy. In 1987, 
Dante served as vice chairman of the special committee that 
investigated executive branch conduct in the Iran-Contra scandal.
  Dante Fascell helped establish the North-South Center, an independent 
research and educational organization that produces policy-relevant 
studies on such critical issues as democracy, trade, sustainable 
development and the persistent gap between the rich and the poor. 
Formally associating Dante's name with the Center is especially 
appropriate because of their shared emphasis on the Western Hemisphere. 
Renaming the Center after him is fitting recognition of his many years 
of hard work in foreign affairs. We all miss his presence and wish him 
well in his retirement in his beloved Florida.

                          ____________________