[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 152 (Monday, December 11, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2168]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


 TRIBUTE TO AMBASSADOR DENNIS B. ROSS--SPECIAL MIDDLE EAST COORDINATOR

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                            HON. TOM LANTOS

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Monday, December 11, 2000

  Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I invite my colleagues in the Congress to 
join me in paying tribute to Ambassador Dennis B. Ross, who has served 
both Democratic and Republican Presidents and Secretaries of State as 
the Special Middle East Coordinator at the Department of State. Over 
the past decade, Dennis has done more than anyone else in the effort to 
bring peace and stability to that troubled region of the world.
  A short while ago, Dennis made public his intention to work through 
the end of this current Administration, but he also made clear that he 
does not intend to work in the next administration. The reasons for his 
departure are quite understandable--he wants to spend more time with 
his wife and three children. Considering the time that he has devoted 
to shuttling between the United States and the Middle East--many times 
at very short notice and under extremely difficult circumstances--he 
deserves the opportunity for more time with his family.
  Dennis Ross will be sorely missed as we seek to bring an end to the 
violence, hostility and instability that have plagued the Middle East 
for so long. He has played a critical role in dealing with that 
troubled part of the world for over the past decade. He knows all of 
the key players, he has worked with them, he understands their 
political constraints, and he has an intimate grasp of their 
ideological points of view.
  A native of California, Dennis Ross did undergraduate and graduate 
studies at the University of California at Los Angeles, where his 
doctoral thesis focused on Soviet decision-making. He began his career 
in Washington in the early 1980s working at the Department of Defense 
and the Department of State. From 1986 to 1988 he held the Middle East 
portfolio at the National Security Council staff at the White House. At 
the beginning of the George Bush Administration, Dennis became Director 
of the Policy Planning Staff of the Department of State with the rank 
of Ambassador. He worked closely and directly with James A. Baker on a 
broad range of U.S. foreign policy issues, but he played a particularly 
critical role in bringing about the Madrid Conference of 1991 which 
began the peace process negotiations that led to the Oslo accord of 
1993.
  When the Clinton administration took office in early 1993, Dennis 
remained at the Department of State as Special Middle East Coordinator. 
He continued his efforts to further the peace process, working actively 
and directly with Secretary Warren Christopher and Secretary Madeleine 
Albright.
  Mr. Speaker, Dennis Ross has been an outstanding and a devoted public 
servant--he has spent incredible time and energy in furthering the 
foreign policies of the United States. His service to our nation is the 
epitome of bipartisanship in foreign policy. I invite my colleagues to 
join me in paying tribute to Dennis Ross for his committed service to 
our nation and in wishing him success in his future endeavors.

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