[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 87 (Thursday, June 21, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6597-S6598]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

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                         REVEREND LEON SULLIVAN

 Mr. SPECTER. Mr. President, I have sought recognition to pay 
tribute to Reverend Leon Sullivan who was not only a great American but 
a great citizen of the world. He was called the ``Lion of Zion,'' a 
reference to the Zion Baptist Church where he was a fixture at the 
pulpit for 38 years. His accomplishments carried him beyond the city of 
Philadelphia to nationwide acclaim and then to worldwide leadership. 
From founding the Opportunities Industrialization Center, OIC, to 
America's most prestigious corporate boards where he brought 
recognition for minority employment to initiatives on education and 
health care in Africa, Dr. Sullivan was a global leader in successfully 
striving to improve the quality of life for those in need of 
assistance.
  I first met Dr. Sullivan in the late 1950s when I was an Assistant 
District Attorney prosecuting cases in a magistrate's court at 19th and 
Oxford Streets in the heart of the city's African American community. 
Dr. Sullivan reclaimed that shambled police court and made it into 
OIC's first job training school. From that modest start, Dr. Sullivan 
went on to establish 56 centers nationally and another 46 centers 
internationally.
  Standing 6 feet 5 inches, Dr. Sullivan was a powerful orator in the 
Zion Baptist Church on Sundays and an even more powerful social 
innovator the other 6 days of the week. His towering strength gained 
national recognition when he was asked to serve on the board of 
directors of General Motors, Mellon Bank, Boy Scouts of America, and 
the Southern African Development Fund.
  With unparalleled accomplishments in the United States, Dr. Sullivan 
then turned his attention to Africa, where he initiated the Sullivan 
Principles. The Sullivan Principles are a code of conduct for 
businesses operating in South Africa which is acknowledged to be one of 
the most effective efforts in combating discrimination in the 
workplace. On April 12, 2000, I introduced a resolution along with 
Senator Feingold that called on companies large and small in every part 
of the world to support and adhere to the Global Sullivan Principles of 
Corporate Social Responsibility wherever they have operations.
  Dr. Sullivan also founded the International Foundation for Education 
and Self-Help, IFESH. IFESH was established to train people around the 
world in various disciplines including farming, teaching, healthcare, 
banking and economics.

[[Page S6598]]

  As an Assistant District Attorney in Philadelphia in the early 1960s 
and as District Attorney through the mid-1970s, I worked with Dr. 
Sullivan on a wide variety of projects to combat juvenile delinquency, 
reform prison abuses and provide for realistic rehabilitation for many 
convicted in Philadelphia's courts. For two decades in the U.S. Senate, 
I continued to work with Dr. Sullivan. As a member of the Senate 
Foreign Operations Appropriations Subcommittee, I worked with the 
Subcommittee to secure a total of $38 million in funding since 1984 to 
support the work of Opportunities Industrialization Centers, OIC, 
International. Since its founding in 1970, OIC International has 
trained and provided jobs for thousands of poverty stricken people in 
Africa, Europe, and Asia. Also, I have worked with the Department of 
Housing and Urban Development to assist Reverend Sullivan build 
Opportunities Towers, which provides affordable housing for seniors and 
retirees in Philadelphia and other major cities.
  When Dr. Sullivan passed away on Tuesday, April 24, 2001, the United 
States and the world had lost a great humanitarian, an acclaimed 
theologian, an extraordinary social activist and a great world 
leader.

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