[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 155 (Friday, December 15, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Page S11815]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      PROUD ARAB AMERICAN HERITAGE

  Mr. ABRAHAM. Mr. President, I will comment briefly on a matter of 
relevance both personally to me and to my State. Since the election, as 
a consequence of my defeat, I have heard from a number of people from 
the Arab American community, both in Michigan and across the United 
States. As a Lebanese American myself, I have been very proud to be, at 
least for the last several years, the only Arab American Member of this 
Chamber.
  A number of folks from that community expressed their disappointment 
in the results of the campaign. I take the floor today to thank so many 
people who have been in touch, but also to make several points that I 
hope will be heard by members of the community, to be taken into 
account as they consider the results of this election, as well as the 
future.
  First, I note that in recent years I believe the Arab American 
community has become a key part of the American political process. The 
participation of the community has continued to increase both in my 
State of Michigan as well as across the country. Not only are people 
voting in greater numbers as a percentage of the community, and for 
many taking the first step of participating in the elections, but their 
activism in Michigan and other States has grown considerably. I take 
great pride in seeing that happen.
  In addition, we have seen a number of Arab Americans rise to 
leadership positions at the local level of government all the way up to 
statewide offices. In the Congress itself we have several Members of 
Arab heritage on the House side who were elected in the most recent 
campaigns.
  Much of this progress, I think, has translated into progress on 
issues of importance to the Arab American community in the last 6 
years. I have been proud during my term in the Senate to have worked on 
behalf of a number of important issues relevant to the community. One 
has been to see the travel ban to Lebanon lifted in 1997, which has 
opened more opportunities for better relations between the United 
States and Lebanon, and also for more commercial activity between the 
two countries.
  This Chamber passed a resolution decrying intolerance toward people 
of Islamic faith in this country, a much needed statement, I think, for 
the Congress to make so we can be on record consistently as opposing 
intolerance toward people of any religious faith. We have supported 
important programs that have affected the Middle East. One that we have 
worked on in our office with Senator Feinstein and others is the Seeds 
of Peace Program, which I believe will have a long-term and positive 
impact on the relationships between countries in the Middle East, 
including Lebanon, Israel, Jordan, Egypt, Yemen, as well as the 
Palestinians.
  I think the potential for the future is even greater. I think it is 
very likely in the area of public policy that the people from the Arab 
American community will rise and play an ever active role and a greater 
role, as they have done in other fields of endeavor. In America's 
business community, we have many Arab American leaders today who are 
heading up important companies from one end of the country to the 
other. In sports and entertainment and the arts, we likewise have seen 
Arab Americans excel. In education, the same is true. Indeed, the level 
of educational attainment by young people of Arab American background 
continues to be one of the most important components of the Arab 
American ethnic communities' contribution to the United States.
  I am very proud of my heritage. I have talked to many other Members 
of this Chamber about my background over the years. I am glad to have 
helped in a small way--to have played a role in moving forward some of 
the policy objectives I mentioned a few minutes ago. I hope, to some 
extent, that has helped encourage others in their own communities, 
States, or even perhaps at the Federal level to do so, as well.
  Recently in Dearborn, MI, home to the largest concentration of Arab 
Americans in the United States, I was approached by a woman who had a 
young son in the seventh grade, saying how happy he was to know a 
Senator shared his Arab American heritage. I hope that in my brief 
career in the Senate maybe there are others who have similarly sparked 
an interest in government because they happen to be part of that same 
community to which I belong.
  My message is to praise the community, especially, but also to say to 
any who have harbored a sense of disappointment with the results of the 
election, I hope that disappointment will not be long standing. It 
certainly isn't the case for myself. I encourage people in the 
community to continue to play an active role in politics. Obviously, 
our political process inevitably produces success and failure from 
election to election.
  For people new to the process, sometimes they misunderstand and treat 
a setback as something that should discourage future involvement. I 
hope that across the Arab American community, and especially for those 
who first got active in the political process with this election, that 
they will continue to play an active role, even increase their 
involvement, and hopefully encourage others to do likewise. That would 
be invaluable to the community, and certainly from my point of view, it 
would be the preferable outcome.
  My grandparents came a century ago from Lebanon, where they left 
behind everything to risk their fortunes on America. As is the case 
with people not just from the Arab American community but so many other 
immigrant communities, they came here with very little in the way of 
material possessions, but they came with a great deal of desire and 
energy and the hope that by working hard and playing by the rules they 
could make a contribution.
  As I have said to the others on this floor in the past, they did not 
necessarily come here assuming they would have a grandson who would be 
in the Senate, but they wanted to live in a country where that was 
possible. Indeed, that is what our country always will be. And I think 
it always will. I am proud to have had the opportunity to fulfill, 
probably in the utmost way, the hopes that were brought here by my 
grandparents when they arrived.
  I think, as I look back on my service in the Senate, perhaps more 
than anything else, will be the source of pride that I take with me as 
I leave the Chamber today.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Massachusetts.

                          ____________________