[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 67 (Wednesday, May 16, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E812]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      TRIBUTE TO DONALD J. SIEGEL

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. MICHAEL E. CAPUANO

                            of masschusetts

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, May 16, 2001

  Mr. CAPUANO. Mr. Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to Donald J. Siegel. 
On May 16, the Israel Bond National Labor Division will honor Don 
Siegel with the Habonim Yisrael, the Builders of Israel, Award. It is 
fitting that Don will receive this honor in a union hall. It is 
fitting, too, that Edward C. Sullivan, President of the Building and 
Construction Trades Department of the AFL-CIO, serves as honorary chair 
of the celebration. This ceremony, like Don Siegel himself, exemplifies 
all that is best in our country: men and women of good will working to 
understand and help one another.
  Don has served for many years as counsel to the Massachusetts 
Building Trades Council. He began practicing labor law in 1971, and, 
since then, he has been a trusted friend and advisor to many unions and 
employee benefit funds. In 1994, the Archdiocese of Boston honored him 
with its Cushing-Gavin award, recognizing his moral integrity, 
professional competence, and community concern. There is no faith 
community in Massachusetts, and, I think, few activists of any 
political or religious persuasion, who do not recognize him as a 
tireless, persuasive advocate for working people.
  Don is a man who assumes responsibility as naturally as he breathes, 
and as unaffectedly. He is the immediate past president of the Jewish 
Community Relations Council and now chairs its Israel Strategy group. 
He has taken pains to educate non-Jews--and for this I am personally 
grateful--about Israeli society, about Israel's success in absorbing 
new immigrants, and about the difficult and important attempts, like 
those in the city of Haifa, to build understanding between Jewish and 
Arab Israelis.
  Don Siegel is a righteous man. He lives, teaches, and inspires others 
to uphold the principles of ts'dakkah v'hessid: justice and loving-
kindness.

                          ____________________