[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 75 (Tuesday, May 20, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6699-S6701]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              MIKE JENDRZEJCZYK: A LEGEND IN HUMAN RIGHTS

  Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, all of us who knew him and admired him 
and worked with him were deeply saddened earlier this month by the 
sudden and untimely death of Mike Jendrzejczyk, and we extend our 
deepest condolences to his wife Janet and their family during this 
difficult time. Mike was one of a kind, and his ability and dedication, 
his tireless energy, his wonderful personality, and his many 
achievements for human rights will always be remenbered.
  I met Mike soon after he came to Washington more than a decade ago to 
work on human rights issues in Asia for the Washington, D.C. office of 
Human Rights Watch. Mike's work benefitted all of us who care about 
promoting respect for human rights. We quickly learned that his last 
Name was easy to pronounce even if we could never spell it. During the 
debates on most-favored nation trade status for China, he was a 
constant adviser to Senators and staff alike on the human rights 
aspects of the issue. He also helped draft legislation on a code of 
conduct for U.S. companies operating in China, and his proposals set 
the standard for many human rights codes developed by those firms.
  I last saw Mike earlier this year as he escorted Xu Wenli, one of the 
many Chinese dissidents he assisted, on a round of visits to meet with 
members of Congress. He greeted me with his trademark good welcome and 
the unforgettable spirit and drive he brought to all his work. He was 
loved by everyone and his death is a great loss for all of us, and for 
the cause of human rights he served so brilliantly,
  I ask unanimously consent that a series of articles on Mike be 
printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                 [From the New York Times, May 4, 2003]

          Michael Jendrzejczyk, 53, Advocate for Asians, Dies

                         (By Elizabeth Becker)

       Michael Jendrzejczyk, a human rights expert whose advocacy 
     on behalf of victims in Asian nations made him an unlikely 
     power broker in Washington, died on Thursday. He was 53 and 
     lived in Tacoma Park, Md.
       He died after collapsing during a walk near his office in 
     Washington, has wife, Janet, said.
       During more than a dozen years at the Washington office of 
     Human Rights Watch, Mr. Jendrzejczyk (pronounced jen-DREE-
     zick) established himself as the Capitol's leading expert on 
     Asian human rights, routinely testifying before Congress, 
     writing opinion articles for newspapers and promoting his 
     causes.
       He made his name after the 1989 Chinese military action in 
     Tiananmen Square by encouraging the United States to demand 
     that the victims be protected or, at least, accounted for.
       He later became prominent in Asian human rights issues like 
     the protection of refugees from North Korea, ending financial 
     assistance to the military government in Burma, connecting 
     human rights to free trade and defending the religious 
     freedom of Tibetans in China and Montagnards in Vietnam.
       What set him apart from advocates was his mastery of 
     details of subject as well as his networks of contacts with 
     officials, academics and dissidents he helped protect.
       The House Democratic leader, Nancy Pelosi of California, 
     said it would be ``difficult to count'' the contributions Mr. 
     Jendrzejczyk made in his promotion of human rights.
       ``We can point to famous dissidents who have been released 
     from prison because of Mike, but there are tens of thousands 
     of ordinary people, whose names we'll never know, whose lives 
     were improved by his work,'' she said.
       Mr. Jendrzejczyk, who was born and reared in New Britain, 
     Conn., was a graduate of the University of Hartford. He 
     joined the Army reserve during the Vietnam War but was 
     discharged as a conscientious objector.
       He taught at a preschool while protesting the Vietnam War 
     and working in the civil rights movement. He became a peace 
     advocate for the Fellowship of Reconciliation in Nyack, N.Y., 
     and for Amnesty International in New York and London.
       In addition to his wife, he is survived by his sister, Lynn 
     Ashmore of Willimantic, Conn.
       He joked about the difficulty of pronouncing his surname, 
     telling others not to waste their time learning to say it or 
     spell it, but just to call him Mike J. His easy manner was 
     partly responsible for his wide reach.
       Establishing himself in the relatively new field of human 
     rights advocacy in Washington, Mr. Jendrzejczyk broke ground 
     as a lobbyist for a cause without any obvious base of 
     support. Susan Osnos, former associate director of Human 
     Rights Watch, said he used information to promote his ideas.
       ``Over the years he evolved into someone who worked well in 
     Washington, creating two-way streets that are the bread and 
     butter of getting things done, especially when you are 
     advocating things that people aren't naturally interested 
     in,'' she said.
       His constituents were the Asian dissidents who might have 
     remained faceless without Mr. Jendrzejczyk's interventions. 
     Tibetans, Burmese, Chinese, Indonesians and other dissidents 
     came to rely on him as their most reliable voice in 
     Washington. When the Chinese dissident Liu Qing was released 
     after 11 years in prison, Mr. Jendrzejczyk took him around 
     Washington to explain to policy makers the human consequences 
     of their votes. Today Mr. Liu works for the New York-based 
     Human Rights in China.
       During the final years of the Clinton administration, Mr. 
     Jendrzejczyk took many dissidents to meet Harold Hongju Koh, 
     a Yale law professor who was then an assistant secretary of 
     state for human rights. Mr. Koh said while Mr. Jendrzejczyk 
     pressed for countless changes in foreign policy to reflect 
     human rights concerns he was never irritated by his demands.
       ``You start out in a professional relationship with him and 
     end up considering him a dear friend,'' Mr. Koh said. ``He 
     was one of those happy warriors who never let you forget that 
     you are holding a job not for personal gain but for the 
     betterment of American policy.''
                                  ____


                [From the Washington Post, May 4, 2003]

                            A Quiet Champion

       In the culture of federal Washington, no doubt as in all 
     cultures, there is a class of people who accomplish much by 
     seeking little credit. These people bring information to 
     reporters, suggest legislative language to Senate staffers, 
     introduce experts from different fields to promote 
     collaborations. Some do this work for profit, others for 
     principle. One of the latter was Mike Jendrzejczyk, who died 
     unexpectedly Thursday at age 53. He was far more influential 
     than famous, and his death is a setback to the cause of 
     freedom in Asia.
       For Mr. Jendrzejczyk was in that subset of Washington 
     achievers known as human rights advocates: Specifically, he 
     was the Washington director of the Asia division of the 
     nonprofit organization Human Rights Watch. He was not the 
     sort of human rights champion who sneaks into totalitarian 
     countries and emerges with damning videotape, nor did he 
     devote much time to rhetoric or arcane points of 
     international law and doctrine. Mr. Jendrzejczyk believed in 
     getting things done. His ambitions were lofty, but they never 
     stood in the way of accomplishment. He would rather see two 
     dissidents freed from Chinese prisons than one, but he would 
     take one over zero--and over the years, the number of 
     political prisoners who owed their liberty in large part to 
     his persistence grew to a formidable total. He would have 
     liked to have seen democracy in China and Burma and Vietnam 
     yesterday if not sooner, but he worked hard for intermediate 
     steps: a loosening of political control, an improvement of 
     conditions for workers, a visit by a United Nations human 
     rights commissioner.
       Those who knew Mike were always amazed at his perpetual 
     cheerfulness even as he sought to bring attention to the 
     worst horrors of human cruelty, to the sufferings of North 
     Korean refugees and Burmese child laborers. He understood 
     that human rights would always compete with commerce and 
     security and other national interests in the formulation of 
     foreign policy; he just wanted the voices of the oppressed 
     not to be drowned out altogether. He was influential in part 
     because his passion never diminished his honesty; if you 
     asked for the best argument on the other side, he would 
     deliver it, probably more eloquently than its true champions 
     could. He influenced us, and will continue to do so.
                                  ____


   Human Rights Watch Mourns Death of Asia Advocate Mike Jendrzejczyk

       New York, May 2, 2003.--Human Rights Watch is deeply 
     saddened to announce the

[[Page S6700]]

     death of our beloved colleague Mike Jendrzejczyk. Mike was 
     the Washington Director for the Asia division. He died of 
     natural causes in Washington, D.C. on May 1. He was 53.
       Mike has left a void that simply cannot be filled--not only 
     as a powerful advocate for human rights, but also as a 
     colleague and friend whose infectious energy, and passion for 
     social justice inspired us all.
       In his 13 years with Human Rights Watch, Mike was the 
     leading advocate in the United States on human rights in 
     Asia. His depth and breadth of knowledge was astounding. He 
     was widely respected for his expertise on China, Japan's 
     emerging global role, the World Bank and human rights, trade 
     policy and worker rights, and US foreign policy in Asia. He 
     was particularly engaged in seeking accountability for the 
     1989 Chinese military crackdown in Tiananmen Square, getting 
     assistance to North Korean refugees, denying funding to 
     abusive security forces across Asia, including Burma and 
     Indonesia, and in defending religious freedom for minorities 
     from Tibetans in China to Montagnards in Vietnam. In the past 
     several years, Mike was also increasingly engaged in South 
     Asian affairs, from the humanitarian consequences of the war 
     in Afghanistan, to the human rights consequences of the 
     military coup in Pakistan and the rise of religious 
     intolerance in India.
       Mike, who grew up in Connecticut, was the grandson of 
     Polish immigrants, and an avid Bruce Springsteen fan. With 
     his white short sleeve dress shirts, yellow ties, and 
     contagious laugh, he used far more than his fair share of 
     exclamation points!! Colleagues joked that if you could 
     harness Mike's energy, it would power a small city. There's 
     no one in D.C. who didn't know him, and no one in military 
     fatigues in Asia who didn't have reason to fear him. He was 
     late for every meeting, but only because he was saving the 
     world on the other line. No email went unanswered, no phone 
     call went unreturned, and no opportunity to make a difference 
     was ever passed up. He has changed and saved the lives of so 
     many.
       For those who didn't know Mike, a comment from Human Rights 
     Watch's former Asia Director Sidney Jones sums up the 
     difference he made in so many people's lives:
       ``Mike has become an institution in DC. I have people I 
     barely know who, once they know I'm from Human Rights Watch, 
     begin to tell me how Mike is a national treasure; how 
     effective he is, and how knowledgeable and well plugged-in. 
     NGO colleagues from India to Indonesia know that by going 
     through Mike, they can get access to more and higher-level 
     officials than they can by going through anyone else.
       Mike's ability to trade information is by now legendary. If 
     he's gone into the stock market, he could have made a 
     killing. He gets a piece of human rights news or gossip, 
     floats it, and watches it circulate as everybody in a 
     position to check it chases it down, and then waits until 
     they call him back with the facts, grateful for the heads up 
     he's given them.''
       Mike first became involved in the human rights movement as 
     a Vietnam war protester in the 1970s and an anti-nuclear 
     demonstrator in the 1980s. He began working at Amnesty 
     International USA in the mid-1980's, then went on to work on 
     the staff of the Amnesty International Secretariat in London 
     in 1988. In 1990, he became Washington Director for the Asia 
     division of Human Rights Watch. Once a pre-school teacher, he 
     continued to teach us all.
       Though most of us are unable still to correctly spell his 
     last name, we simply could not have gotten through each day 
     without him. It is hard to imagine how we will.
       Our sincerest condolences go to Mike's wife, Janet.

  Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, Mike Jendrzejczyk was an unusually decent 
man whose commitment to human freedom left an indelible imprint on all 
of us who knew him, and laid the foundation for a legacy of lasting 
importance to the cause of human rights in Asia and the world.
  Everybody who works on Asia in Washington knew Mike, and many of us 
came to rely on his singular knowledge of human rights conditions 
across Asia, as well as his operational ability to get things done by 
astutely working with and through the myriad components of our 
government. Time and again, I found Mike to be a unique authority on 
the human rights agenda in Asia, and an extremely skilled advocate who 
was able to cajole, charm, shame, and ultimately convince his listener 
that a particular human rights initiative was not only a moral 
imperative, but would best serve the national interest. Mike's 
pragmatism never detracted from his high principles; on the contrary, 
the combination of pragmatism and principle was what led people in 
Government to reach out to Mike, time and again, for advice on how to 
advance the human rights agenda, given his unique talent for producing 
deliverables, in terms of policy and legislation, that advanced human 
freedom.
  Mike was a man of unimpeachable integrity. You could trust his word 
and his judgment, a particularly admirable quality in Washington. He 
could speak to so many audiences so well: whether to Burmese 
dissidents, Tibetan exiles, Cambodian reformers, Chinese activists, 
Republicans, or Democrats, Mike had a way of engaging his listener 
without abandoning his trademark straight talk about practical 
solutions to the grave challenges that confront those who fight 
oppression every day. Mike had a friendly way of co-opting many of his 
allies, making them want to pursue the goals he had laid out, with the 
means he had proposed, in order to earn his respect and, as 
importantly, the respect associated with those causes that met with his 
approval.
  Mike was in the process of helping my staff draft a bill related to 
human rights in Vietnam when we lost him. Just as he accomplished so 
much, Mike left behind so much more to do. I'd like to think Mike will 
remain a voice of conscience to each of us who had the privilege of 
working with him, and who found his work inspiring. Perhaps each of us 
will try a little harder to fill the space Mike left behind in his 
quest to advance the cause of basic human dignity, and hope.
  There was no one like Mike. But if Mike's memory doesn't fade; if we 
still rhetorically fumble his amazing last name in recollecting his 
full life; if we each absorb a small bit of the energy that drove him; 
and if we are true to the principles he held so deeply, reminding us of 
our own obligation to uphold them as well, he will stay with us, and 
freedom's light will shine a little more brightly for it.
  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, on May 1, 2003, the world lost one of those 
rare people who die long before their time but who touch the lives of 
more people than most of us do in a lifetime far longer.
  I did not know Mike Jendrzejczyk well, although I had met him. I did 
know of his work, and my staff worked closely with him for over a 
decade. Shortly after Mike's sudden death, the New York Times and the 
Washington Post printed obituaries which described at length Mike's 
extraordinary career. I will not repeat what was written there, other 
than to say that they were remarkable for a person so young. They 
portrayed very movingly the extent and impact of Mike's work in the 
field of human rights.
  It was because of Mike Jendrzejczyk and his colleague Sidney Jones at 
Human Rights Watch that I first became concerned about human rights 
violations in East Timor and Indonesia. In 1991, it was Mike's 
encouragement and advice that enabled me to sponsor the amendment which 
prohibited Indonesian military officers from participating in the 
International Military Education and Training program, after they 
slaughtered an estimated 200 peaceful demonstrators in a cemetery in 
Dili, East Timor. It was also Mike who helped me with a similar 
amendment after the Indonesian military orchestrated the mayhem in East 
Timor following the independence referendum there in 1999. Those were 
difficult issues, and the amendments were controversial. Without Mike's 
guidance, they would not have become law.
  Today, as the Indonesian military launches a major attack against 
rebels in Aceh, the potential for widespread human rights violations is 
of great concern. Mike's absence will make it far harder for us to 
monitor what is happening there, and people in Aceh and throughout Asia 
will suffer because he is no longer here to stand up for them.
  Mike was also a regular source of information and advice on Burma, 
Cambodia, and China, and many of the initiatives we have undertaken in 
those countries were a result of his input. I can remember an 
appearance of Mike's on ABC's Nightline when he spoke passionately 
about human rights in China.
  Mike was so effective because of his ability to balance his deeply 
held beliefs about human rights with his understanding of the political 
realities we deal with every day here. He was a close observer of 
events in Southeast Asia. He saw opportunities for the U.S. Government 
to act to support the development of civil society and to protect human 
rights, the rule of law, and individuals who were persecuted for their 
political beliefs, and his recommendations to us of what action to take 
reflected his best judgment of what was possible.

[[Page S6701]]

  Anyone who knew Mike, as my staff did over the course of so many 
years, saw that he was motivated out of a deep commitment to the rights 
and freedoms that the United States stands for. He believed, as I do, 
that those rights and freedoms are universal, and that Asians, like 
people in so many countries, yearn deeply for the right to express 
themselves and to associate freely, without fear of persecution. 
Throughout his career, Mike was a source of hope and support to 
thousands of people who he never met.
  His goal was for Asian people to have the chance to enjoy those same 
rights and freedoms, and for the United States to live up to its own 
ideals, and he worked tirelessly to achieve those goals. They are goals 
I share, as do many others here. They are goals that I will continue to 
work towards in Mike Jendrzejczyk's memory.
  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, I rise today to remember and pay 
tribute to Mike Jendrzejczyk, a tireless and dedicated champion of 
human rights who passed away earlier this month. A gaping hole has been 
left with his passing, but his life and commitment to fundamental 
values we all cherish will continue to inspire and motivate us all.
  As the Washington director for the Asia Division of Human Rights 
Watch for 13 years, Mike became an institution in this city and a 
leader in his field. Few human rights issues in Asia escaped his 
attention and few of his colleagues could surpass his knowledge and 
level of expertise.
  As Human Rights Watch noted, ``There's no one in D.C. who didn't know 
him, and no one in military fatigues in Asia who didn't have a reason 
to fear him.''
  From Burma and Indonesia, to Vietnam and North Korea, Mike spoke up 
for those who could not speak for themselves. He shined a light on 
human rights abuses and made it his mission to see that justice was 
done. Time and time again he called on the United States to live up to 
the values that made this country great and be the leader for human 
rights that the world so desperately needed.
  Recently, my office had worked with Mike on the need to bring safety 
and stability to the people of Afghanistan, particularly women and 
girls. We have lost a partner in that endeavor, but we have not lost 
the example he set, and I know his memory will push us to work even 
harder in the days and weeks ahead.
  My thoughts and prayers go out to his wife Janet and his colleagues 
and friends at Human Rights Watch. Mike Jendrzejczyk will be sorely 
missed.
  Mr. FEINGOLD. Mr. President, today I honor the late Mike 
Jendrzejczyk, the Washington director for the Asia division of Human 
Rights Watch, and a voice I have trusted and valued for many years. 
Mike was kind, smart, unquestionably committed, and amazingly 
energetic. He kept so many of us in Congress informed, always combining 
savvy and idealism in his updates and enthusiastic calls to action. He 
brought extraordinary human rights leaders from Asia to the Hill, and 
by connecting us to these courageous people, he helped to round out our 
view of faraway places--showing us not just the ugly reality of abuse, 
but also the promise and bravery of those who resist.
  By introducing Washington to these heros, Mike turned resignation to 
resolve and did the crucial work of sustaining momentum for action and 
change. He became a hero himself. Mike helped countless people overseas 
in profound ways, but he helped the Congress as well. Mike helped us to 
believe that it is possible to do the right thing. His death is a 
terrible loss.

                          ____________________