[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 148 (Tuesday, October 21, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2122]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               TRIBUTE TO DR. MOHAMMED ALI ODEEN ISHMAEL

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. DONNA M. CHRISTENSEN

                         of the virgin islands

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, October 21, 2003

  Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Mr. Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to my friend Dr. 
Mohammed Ali Odeen Ishmael, Ambassador of Guyana to the United States 
of America and Permanent Representative of Guyana to the Organization 
of American States.
  Ambassador Odeen Ishmael, who was born in 1948, was appointed to his 
current post, more than 10 years ago, in June 1993 and is presently the 
Dean of the Caribbean Ambassador.
  Before becoming an Ambassador, Dr. Ishmael previously worked as a 
teacher in Guyana, and served during the 1970s in the Ministry of 
Foreign Affairs of Guyana. He returned to teaching after his stint in 
Foreign Affairs. From 1985 to early 1993 he worked in The Bahamas in 
the areas of both secondary and adult education. He has represented 
Guyana at the OAS General Assemblies, and other specialized meetings of 
the hemispheric body in various countries of the hemisphere and has 
participated as a member of Guyana's delegation at the U.N. General 
Assembly since 1993. In addition, he has headed Guyana's delegation to 
meetings of the Regional Negotiating Machinery (of CARICOM) from 1997. 
From 1997, he has headed Guyana's delegations to meetings Foreign 
Ministers of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC); and he also 
participated in the Summits of Heads of States of the OIC in Tehran 
(1997) and Qatar (2000).
  Ambassador Ishmael was also Guyana's chief negotiator at the Summits 
of the Americas of 1994 (Miami), 1998 (Santiago de Chile) and 2001 
(Quebec City), and also at the Summit of Sustainable Development in 
Bolivia (1996). At the OAS, he served as Chairman of the Permanent 
Council in late 1994, and oversaw the restoration of democratic 
government in Haiti. He is the only Guyanese to serve in this 
prestigious position in the hemispheric organization.
  He had previously served as Vice-Chairman of the Permanent Council 
during July-September 1993, and as Vice-Chairman of the Environmental 
Committee of the Permanent Council from August 1993 to July 1994. In 
1994 he was also elected Chairman of the General Committee to prepare 
the OAS draft convention on the situation of persons with disabilities. 
In 1996, he was elected Vice-Chairman of the OAS Working Group on 
Sustainable Development.
  In May 1997, Ambassador Ishmael was awarded one of Guyana's highest 
honors, the Cacique Crown on Honor (CCH). Many years earlier, in 1974, 
he was awarded the Gandhi Centenary Medal at the University of Guyana. 
In political life, Ambassador Ishmael served in the Central Committees 
of the Progressive Youth Organization (PYO)--serving as Second 
Secretary--and the People's Progressive Party (PPP) of Guyana, and in 
the course of his political work, he participated in numerous 
international conferences and activities in many different countries. 
He also assisted in lobbying Guyana's case for electoral reforms in 
different countries in North and South America, Europe and the 
Caribbean.
  He has written numerous articles on Education, Guyanese history and 
international political issues, which have been published in newspapers 
and journals in Guyana, the Caribbean and North America. His published 
books include Problems of the Transition of education in the Third 
World, Towards Education Reform in Guyana, and Amerindian Legends of 
Guyana. An Internet edition of a fourth book, The Trail of Diplomacy, 
was released in late 1998. He is currently in the process of compiling 
and editing a lengthy collection of original documents on the Guyana-
Venezuela border issue under the title, Guyana's Western Border. He is 
married and has two children.
  I met Ambassador Ishmael when I was first elected to the House of 
Representatives and served as the Honorary Co-Chair of the Institute 
for Caribbean Studies Annual Awards Dinner. In the flowing years, I had 
the pleasure of working with him and his other Caribbean Ambassador 
colleagues on the several issues, from Trade to Immigration, and 
economic development, which continue to impact our democratic neighbors 
to the south.
  I want to thank Ambassador Ishmael and his family for his commitment 
and dedication, during his tenure here in Washington, not only to 
issues affecting his home country Guyana but also to the issues and 
concerns of all of the countries of the Caribbean. I want to wish him 
much success in his new assignment and to say that Washington, DC 
Caribbean community will greatly surely miss his insightful, quiet 
leadership as well as his earnest friendship.

                          ____________________