[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 149 (Monday, October 19, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2234-E2235]
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. CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                        Monday, October 12, 1998

  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 4757, 
legislation renaming the North/South Center at the University of Miami 
after our former House colleague, the former Chairman of the Foreign 
Affairs Committee, the Honorable Dante B. Fascell.
  Dante Fascell served in the House of Representatives, from 1954-1992; 
I was privileged to serve with him on the Foreign Affairs Committee and 
witness, first-hand, his tireless efforts on behalf of the North/South 
Center. Given his commitment and his role as a driving force behind the 
creation and development of the North/South Center, H.R. 4757 is a 
fitting and long-overdue tribute for Dante Fascell's great work in this 
regard.
  Mr. Speaker, most of us know that the North/South Center is an 
independent research and educational organization that promotes policy 
initiatives aimed at resolving the most critical issues facing the 
nations of the Western Hemisphere. The Center's research, publications, 
and training efforts have focused on furthering freedom and democracy, 
and economic development. To date, the Center's programs have benefited 
citizens of the Western Hemisphere by supplying significant knowledge 
and expertise relevant to an inter-American agenda which has grown more 
complex and more critical each year.
  In its first eight years, the North/South Center has embraced and 
fostered the ideals that Dante Fascell outlined when he first 
envisioned the program, especially the importance of offering academic 
interchanges--the free exchange of views to promote understanding and 
cooperation--as a means to promote democracy. The Center has also 
proven that it is uniquely capable of assessing the increasing 
interdependence of the two hemispheres, the North and the South, and 
developing cross border policies that stress the similarities and also 
bridge the gaps of the countries of the Western Hemisphere. The 
academic and intellectual dialogues promoted by the Center have helped 
advance democratic ideals especially in those Western Hemisphere 
countries where democracy has not yet taken hold.
  The North/South Center at the University of Miami has lived up to 
Dante's hopes and dreams, becoming a major player in helping to 
determine the conduct of the U.S. in our public policy for the two 
hemispheres. It is well respected and provides an invaluable source of 
research, public outreach, cooperative study, and programs of education 
and training on a large variety of Western Hemisphere issues.

[[Page E2235]]

  Mr. Speaker, in 1990 the gentleman from Florida, Chairman Dante 
Fascell, put forth a democracy-promoting concept that today stands as a 
great tribute to his foresight, commitment and leadership. I am pleased 
to have had the privilege of serving with Mr. Fascell in this chamber 
and delighted to participate in honoring his accomplishments in this 
way. His alma mater, the University of Miami, is to be congratulated 
for its continued contributions through the North/South Center and for 
the recommendation to rename the North/South Center in Dante's behalf. 
It is a well-deserved recognition, and one which will make him, and all 
of us who served with him here in the House, very proud.

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