[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 102 (Wednesday, July 24, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1325]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                        TRIBUTE TO ABE ROSENTHAL

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 23, 2002

  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to Abe 
Rosenthal, the New York Times journalist who received the Presidential 
Medal of Freedom earlier this month for his consistently insightful 
comments on human rights, and his outspoken defense of persecuted 
Christians and Jews throughout the world.
  Many observers of foreign affairs have difficulty believing that 
Christians in the modern era have been, and continue to be, persecuted 
on a wide-scale basis throughout the world. Rosenthal's articulate and 
passionate writings helped bring much-needed awareness to their plight. 
In 1997 alone, he wrote over 20 stories about persecuted Christians, 
detailing the plight of Christians in a wide variety of regions, 
including China, the Sudan, and Pakistan.
  The awareness he raised about people of many different faiths who 
suffer religious persecution helped win passage of the historic 
``International Religious Freedom Act of 1998'' which established the 
United States Commission on International Religious freedom, and laid 
out a framework for denying foreign assistance to egregious violators 
of religious freedom.
  I was very proud to have had a direct hand in writing portions of 
that legislation. I personally chaired several hearings on religious 
persecution around the world, and my committee covered the persecution 
of every faith. We took testimony from Muslim Uighurs, who are 
persecuted by Communist China; the world-wide problem of Anti-Semitism; 
as well as persecution against Christians.
  The creation of the Commission and the office of the Special 
Ambassador, as well as the institution of the annual Religious Freedom 
Reports, were among a number of measures provided by Congressman Frank 
Wolf s landmark legislation on international religious freedom, which 
my committee--the Subcommittee on International Operations and Human 
Rights--marked up in 1997, and enacted by Congress in 1998. All these 
measures represented important steps toward helping millions of people 
around the world who are persecuted simply because they are people of 
faith. But the Reports themselves clearly demonstrate that we need to 
do more.
  Some find it odd that a man who has become such a great champion for 
persecuted Christians is himself Jewish. But this is not really so 
unusual when you look beneath the surface. When Rosenthal learned that 
Christians suffered for their faith, while most in the world have 
turned a blind eye, he felt compelled to act. The Jewish community has 
a special sensitivity to religious persecution, because when it 
happens, it almost always hits their community first. ``Never again'' 
has a special meaning to a community that was almost exterminated while 
the rest of the world looked on and watched.
  Rosenthal's passionate and steadfast desire to speak out for basic 
human dignity was formulated in a profound way because of a brutal 
murder that occurred in 1964 in Queens early in his career with the New 
York Times. In that year, a woman named Catherine Genovese was brutally 
murdered in her own neighborhood. Although approximately 38 of her 
neighbors heard her cries for help, not one person responded as she was 
stabbed over 30 times.
  The incident caused Rosenthal to question our responsibility to speak 
out against injustice, not just for a neighbor suffering in our midst, 
but for all those who suffer injustice and persecution throughout the 
world. ``I am not going to be one of the 38,'' he said--one of those 
who failed to speak out or act.
  I am proud to say that Mr. Rosenthal has remained true to his 
promise. He has consistently spoken out on behalf of those suffering 
for their faith. He has acted boldly not only through moving readers 
and inspiring persecuted Christians all over the globe, but also by 
challenging leaders of government who would rather not be bothered by 
the sufferings of the oppressed, and business leaders bent on a drive 
for profits above all else. He has moved many to show a concern for 
basic human rights and re-evaluate their priorities.
  Mr. Rosenthal, you have acted, speaking out on behalf of so many, and 
you have called so many others, including us here in this Congress to 
do the same. For this, you deserve our thanks and praise.

                          ____________________