[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 83 (Tuesday, June 27, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1125]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


  RECOGNITION OF NICOLA M. ANTAKLI RECEIVING THE ANTONIAN GOLD MEDAL 
                                 AWARD

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. DAVID E. BONIOR

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 27, 2000

  Mr. BONIOR. Mr. Speaker, on June 9th of this year, His Eminence 
Metropolitan Philip Saliba visited my home State of Michigan in order 
to present a very prestigious award to Nicola Antokli. The Antonian 
Gold Medal Award is the highest honor the Antiochian Orthodox Christian 
Archdiocese of North America can bestow upon a member.
  Born in Homs, Syria, Nicola Antakli came to the United States as a 
student in 1955. After establishing Middle East/African operations for 
an auto company, he founded Intraco Corp., an international trading, 
consulting and export management company with branches in Lebanon, 
Syria, Cyprus, and the United Arab Emirates. Through his guidance and 
vision, the company has mastered the art of developing mutually 
beneficial business partnerships in the world economy.
  Nicola has been honored by many different organizations for his hard 
work and dedication to international commerce, but his church and 
community involvement are his most rewarding duty. His civic interests 
range from state, local and national politics to philanthropic 
associations and Arab-American groups. He is, of course, deeply 
involved in his church. A life member of the Order of St. Ignatius, he 
has served as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Antiochian 
Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America for the past 11 years. 
Currently Nicola is a member of St. George Antiochian Orthodox Church 
in Troy, MI, and is a founding member of St. Paul Antiochian Orthodox 
Church in Naples, FL.
  Few have achieved the same success in life as Nicola Antakli has. 
Fewer still have dedicated so much of the energy and resources of that 
success to the betterment of others. I am proud to know Nicola Antakli 
and to consider him a friend. I understand the devotion and sense of 
civic responsibility that one must have in order to receive an Antonian 
Gold Medal Award, and I ask each of you join me in recognizing this 
remarkable achievement.

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