[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 37 (Tuesday, March 23, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E421-E422]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    IN RECOGNITION OF SHULAMITH KOENIG: A CHAMPION FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. CHARLES B. RANGEL

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, March 23, 2004

  Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Shulamith Koenig's 
outstanding contributions in the field of human rights. Ms. Koenig is 
the founder and executive director of PDHRE-People's Movement for Human 
Rights Education, an organization dedicated to promoting human rights 
and democracy worldwide through workshops, lectures, articles and

[[Page E422]]

books. Ms. Koenig has conducted workshops with educators, human rights 
advocates and community leaders in Asia, Africa, Central Europe, Latin 
America and the Middle East.
  For the last 14 years, Ms. Koenig has dedicated her life to educating 
people in the field of human rights as well as economic and social 
development around the world. Her efforts were recognized when the 
United Nations Prize in the Field of Human Rights award was presented 
to her on December 10, 2003. The United Nations Prize is given to 
individuals and organizations every 5 years in recognition of their 
outstanding contribution to the promotion and protection of human 
rights and fundamental freedoms. I am proud to say that Ms. Koenig is a 
resident of my congressional district and I commend her receipt of this 
prestigious honor. She now joins the list of prominent persons who have 
received the prize, including Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt, Reverend Dr. 
Martin Luther King, former South African President Nelson Mandela, and 
President Jimmy Carter.
  Supported by the United Nations Development Program, Ms. Koenig 
spearheads the Human Rights Cities project, which has trained 500 young 
community leaders as human rights educators in 30 cities around the 
world. Founded by Ms. Koenig in 1989, the People's Movement for Human 
Rights Education is a nonprofit international organization, designed to 
improve the lives of people in more than 60 countries around the world. 
The organization has offices in New York, Argentina, India, 
Philippines, Mali, and Austria. There are schools and libraries bearing 
Ms. Koenig's name in Mumbai, India; Chenai, India; and Bamaco, Mali; 
and the library Kensington Rights Welfare Union in Philadelphia, PA.
  Ms. Koenig was born in Jerusalem and majored in Industrial 
Engineering and Management at Columbia University. She has edited and 
published articles in numerous books and journals and is a lecturer and 
an award-winning sculptor. Ms. Koenig and her husband Jerome have three 
children and four grandchildren.

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