[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 29 (Tuesday, March 9, 2004)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2433-S2434]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

                                 ______
                                 

                        TRIBUTE TO MARY F. DIAZ

 Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, yesterday I paid tribute to Mary 
Diaz, who died on February 12 in New York after a long battle with 
cancer. Mary was executive director of the Women's Commission for 
Refugee Women and Children, an affiliate of the International Rescue 
Committee, and one of this Nation's most effective and most 
compassionate advocates for women and children throughout the world.
  I ask to have printed in the Record the attached articles, including 
a tribute to Mary from the Women's Commission for Refugee Women and 
Children, an article by the International Rescue Committee, as well as 
articles that appeared in the New York Times and the Boston Globe.
  The articles follow.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

      [From the Women's Commission for Refuge Women and Children]

                            Tributes to Mary

       I was most saddened to learn of the death of Ms. Mary Diaz, 
     the Executive Director of the Women's Commission. Mary's 
     death touches us at UNHCR profoundly as she was known and 
     admired by many colleagues.
       Her death will be a great loss to those who work for the 
     cause of refugees. Ms. Diaz was a tireless and committed 
     advocate for the rights of displaced women and children whose 
     voices are so often unheard. Last year I was pleased to 
     honour Ms. Diaz as a recipient of the UNHCR Gender Equality 
     Award for her work in promoting the equal rights of refugee 
     women. Under her leadership, the Women's Commission made a 
     considerable contribution to UNHCR's policies on refugee 
     women and children, most recently in our efforts to address 
     sexual and gender-based violence. She will be greatly missed.
       On behalf of all my colleagues at UNHCR, I offer you and 
     the staff of the Women's Commission for Refugee Women and 
     Children our sincere condolences.
       --Ruud Lubbers, UN High Commissioner for Refugees.
       I wish to express PRM's sincerest condolences to you and 
     the colleagues and family of Mary Diaz. Mary's dedication, 
     commitment, passion and leadership had a tangible impact on 
     the lives of millions of refugee women and children around 
     the world. Mary was truly admired by many, including by those 
     of us in the bureau that knew her well. She was a shining 
     example of what it means to be a true humanitarian.
       Mary has left behind a legacy that will continue to bear 
     fruit for many, many years. We will miss her tireless spirit 
     and everlasting smile. Please know that we share your grief.
       --Arthur E. Dewey, Assistant Secretary of State, Bureau of 
     Population, Refugees, and Migration.
       On behalf of the staff at Human Rights Watch, we would like 
     to express our deepest sympathy and support for you all at 
     the loss of our wonderful colleague, Mary Diaz.
       Mary was one of a kind. She was not only an outstanding 
     champion for the rights of women and children in the most 
     difficult circumstances, but a warm and loving person who 
     brought great humanity and humility to her work. She touched 
     many of us deeply--as colleague, friend and mentor. We drew 
     special inspiration from the courage, dedication and grace 
     with which she faced these last difficult months. Be assured 
     of our support at this difficult time. we will continue to 
     work closely with you on these issues to which Mary gave her 
     life.
       --Kenneth Roth, Jo Becker, Widney Brown, Diane Goodman, 
     LaShawn Jefferson, Iain Levine, Rory Mungoven, Alison Parker, 
     Rachael Reilly, Joanna Weschler, Lois Whithman--Human Rights 
     Watch.
                                  ____


        [From the International Rescue Committee, Feb. 19, 2004]

    Mary Diaz Is Mourned as Tireless Advocate for Refugee Women and 
                                Children

       Mary Diaz, executive director of the Women's Commission for 
     Refugee Women and Children died February 12 in New York after 
     a long illness. She was 43.
       During her 10 years as leader of the Women's Commission, an 
     affiliate of the International Rescue Committee, she earned 
     an international reputation as an effective and knowledgeable 
     advocate for refugee women and children.
       George Rupp, president of the IRC, said, ``Mary was a 
     remarkable person. She cared deeply about the women and 
     children whose cause she served, and on their behalf she used 
     her exceptional advocacy and organizational skills to ensure 
     that their needs were addressed at the highest levels. Under 
     her creative leadership over the last 10 years, the Women's 
     Commission continued to grow in stature and influence.
       ``Mary enjoyed the respect, admiration and affection of 
     everyone who had the opportunity to work closely with her. It 
     was a pleasure to be in her company. She will be greatly 
     missed.''
       A tribute published in the New York Times on Feb. 13 by the 
     IRC's board of directors said, ``Mary was among the world's 
     most eloquent, devoted, tireless and effective advocates for 
     the protection and empowerment of women and children affected 
     by war and persecution. Her courageous work and vibrant 
     spirit touched the lives of tens of thousands of vulnerable 
     refugee women and children.''
                                  ____


                [From the New York Times, Feb. 18, 2004]

      Mary F. Diaz, 42, Head of Commission for War Refugees, Dies

                          (By Wolfgang Saxon)

       Mary Frances Diaz, the executive director of the Women's 
     Commission for Refugee Women and Children, died last Thursday 
     at Columbia Presbyterian Center of New York-Presbyterian 
     Hospital. She was 42 and lived on the Upper West Side of 
     Manhattan.
       The cause was pancreatic cancer, the commission announced.
       Ms. Diaz's organization, a volunteer group that works to 
     provide a voice for women and children in war zones, is a 
     nongovernmental group that advocates for refugees before the 
     United Nations and around the world.
       Mary Diaz had led the group since 1994 and continued her 
     work until late last year.
       The Commission, working under the auspices of the 
     International Rescue Committee, was founded in 1989 by the 
     actress Liv Ullman. Ms. Diaz became its chief investigator, 
     strategist, watchdog and lobbyist.
       She deployed volunteers in Africa, the Middle East, South 
     America and trouble spots like Kosovo and Afghanistan. She 
     often went to the scene herself, visiting refugees in Bosnia 
     and Burundi fleeing to the relative safety in Tanzania.
       Mary Diaz was born in Newport News, Va., and grew up in 
     suburban Pottstown, Pa.
       She focused on international relations at Brown, graduating 
     in 1982. She took a job at

[[Page S2434]]

     a Philadelphia television station writing news late in the 
     day, which left her time for volunteer work helping refugees 
     to settle in the city. Her calling gradually shifted from the 
     newsroom to the outside world. She studied administration, 
     planning and social policy at the Harvard Graduate School of 
     Education, receiving a master's degree in international 
     education in 1988. She became director of refugee and 
     immigration services for Catholic Charities in Boston before 
     becoming head of the Women's Commission in New York.
       Ms. Diaz is survived by her partner, Tom Ferguson; her 
     mother, Bertha Diaz of Pottstown; two brothers, Dr. Philip 
     Diaz of Columbus, Ohio, and Dr. Joseph Diaz of Barrington, 
     R.I.; and two sisters, Teresa Diaz of Reading, Pa., and 
     Bernadette Diaz of Oak Park, Ill.
                                  ____


                 [From the Boston Globe, Feb. 20, 2004]

              Mary Diaz, Headed Agency on World's Refugees

                           (By Gloria Negri)

       For 10 years, Mary F. Diaz traveled to the world's trouble 
     spots, dodging minefields, tsetse flies, lions, and wars on 
     her mission to help refugee women and children reclaim their 
     lives.
       As executive director of the New York-based Women's 
     Commission for Refugee Women and Children, Ms. Diaz went on 
     fact-finding missions to places such as Serbia, Angola, 
     Rwanda, Nepal, Pakistan, Haiti, and South America to talk to 
     the displaced women and children firsthand.
       On her return to the United States, she would plead their 
     cases before the United Nations and lobby law makers and 
     relief agencies to improve their conditions. When they needed 
     asylum in this country, she fought for that, as well.
       Ms. Diaz, 43, who formerly worked in Boston, died Feb. 12 
     of pancreatic cancer at New York's Columbia Presbyterian 
     Hospital.
       ``Mary was passionate about her work and was dedicating her 
     life to it,'' said the commission spokeswoman, Diana Quick.
       She often got results, Quick said. After Ms. Diaz's report 
     on her trip to Bosnia, the Clinton administration provided a 
     fund for its women refugees. During a visit to Tanzania, she 
     got the rules changed to allow Burundian women as well as men 
     to distribute food to fellow refugees--and, as a result, many 
     women got food.
       After a visit to Afghanistan in 2002, Ms. Diaz initiated a 
     fund for programs for Afghan women.
       ``Since Mary became executive director,'' Quick said, ``the 
     commission has grown from a small organization with a staff 
     of four and a budget of $425,000 to one with more than 20 
     staff and a budget of $4 million.''
       Ms. Diaz's death, said Ruud Lubbers, who heads the United 
     Nations High Commission for Refugees in Geneva, ``left a void 
     in the refugee and humanitarian world, where she touched many 
     lives.''
       In Boston, where Ms. Diaz worked for Catholic Charities 
     from 1984 to 1994, the last six years as its director of 
     refugee and immigration services, Judith Whitmarsh of 
     Catholic Charities described her as ``the kindest and most 
     compassionate person I've known.''
       Whitmarsh, a former program coordinator of the state Office 
     for Refugees and Immigrants, said Ms. Diaz was ``particularly 
     concerned with people who were disenfranchised.
       ``When new immigrants arrived at the airport, Mary would 
     always make sure there was a friendly face to greet them and 
     that there would be some cultural orientation for them. If 
     they had experienced trauma, there would be help. If they 
     didn't know English, she got them into classes so they could 
     find jobs.''
       Ms. Diaz became executive director of the Women's 
     Commission, a nongovernmental organization, in 1994, five 
     years after it was founded by actress Liv Ullman.
       Ms. Diaz also gave eloquent and poignant speeches about the 
     plight of refugee women and children to potential donors. 
     ``Mary was very strong in a very quiet way,'' Quick said.
       In an address in Minneapolis in 2002, seeking support for 
     the reproductive health care and rights of adolescents in 
     refugee settings and war zones, Ms. Diaz told the story of 
     Marion, a 14-year-old girl she had met in Sierra Leone.
       ``Marion was living with her family near Freetown when 
     rebels forced their way into her home and demanded her mother 
     surrender one of the children,'' Ms. Diaz said in her speech. 
     ``When her mother refused, the rebels threatened to kill 
     everyone in the house. Her mother pointed to Marion.''
       ``Marion was gang-raped almost immediately,'' Ms. Diaz 
     said, ``but told she had to walk with the rebels or be shot. 
     She lived with different commanders as a slave for more than 
     two years, escaping one day when she was given permission to 
     go to the market. She gave birth to a baby a year after being 
     abducted.''
       Marion developed serious health problems that couldn't be 
     addressed in Sierra Leone, Ms. Diaz said. She had a chance to 
     go home, but her mother wouldn't take her back.
       Ms. Diaz believed the international community had a 
     responsibility to help children like Marion.
       Ms. Diaz was born in Newport News, Va. Tom Ferguson of New 
     York City, her longtime partner, said her desire to serve 
     others came naturally. Her late father, from the Philippines, 
     was a doctor; her mother is a nurse. Two brothers are 
     doctors. One sister is a teacher, another a librarian.
       Ms. Diaz grew up in Pottstown, Pa. After high school, she 
     graduated from Brown University in 1982, with a major in 
     international relations. She worked briefly for a 
     Philadelphia television station and then came to Boston, 
     where she studied for a master's degree in international 
     education at Harvard University, which she earned in 1988.
       Four years later, while she was at Catholic Charities, a 
     group of 112 Haitian children got separated from their 
     parents en route to refugee camps at Guantanamo Bay. They 
     ended up in Boston, under Ms. Diaz's care. First, she met the 
     children at the airport, Ferguson said, then took them all 
     for lunch at Buzzy's Fabulous Roast Beef and a swim in a pool 
     before reuniting them with their parents.
       Ms. Diaz ``left her mark wherever she went,'' Whitmarsh 
     said.
       In addition to Ferguson, Ms. Diaz leaves her mother, Bertha 
     of Pottstown, Pa.; two brothers, Philip of Columbus, Ohio, 
     and Joseph of Barrington, R.I.; and two sisters, Theresa of 
     Reading, Pa., and Bernadette of Oak Park, Ill.
       A memorial service will be held tomorrow at 2 p.m. in The 
     Church of the Ascension in New York City.

                          ____________________