[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 82 (Tuesday, June 15, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1128]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       TRIBUTE TO PETER J. PURDY

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JOSEPH CROWLEY

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 15, 2004

  Mr. CROWLEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to Peter J. 
Purdy, President of the U.S. Committee for the U.N. Population Fund, 
who will be retiring at the end of this summer after a thirty-year 
career dedicated to improving the lives of women and children in the 
developing world.
  Peter began his remarkable career as Country Director in India for 
the Thomas A. Dooley Foundation and later as Country Representative in 
Indonesia for Church World Service. These early experiences in India 
and Indonesia were to set the stage for a lifelong commitment to 
helping the world's poorest women have access to quality reproductive 
and maternal health care services.
  For the next twenty-seven years, Peter traveled throughout the 
developing world as the Director of the Margaret Sanger Center, the 
international-arm of the Planned Parenthood Federation of New York 
City. Peter worked closely with both Government and NonGovernmental 
Organizations to improve the quality and availability of reproductive 
health care for women in Africa, Asia and Latin America.
  Since 1999, Peter has directed his considerable talents to building 
support with American citizens for the work of the United Nations 
Population Fund. It is through this context, I have had the pleasure of 
getting to know Peter as both a friend as well as an expert guide to 
some of the poorest and most forgotten places in the world. In Malawi, 
Peter introduced me to a traditional birth attendant who regularly 
delivered babies in a humble mud hut without any modern medical 
assistance. When asked what the U.S. Government could provide her, she 
said simply ``clean razor blades and kerosene to provide light for 
night deliveries.'' My meeting her was a singularly memorable 
experience but for Peter she was but one of the many women he has met 
and helped along the way of his career devoted to saving women's lives. 
Peter was a joy to travel with, and his insight and dedication added 
greatly to my experience in Africa.
  Peter has told me that he plans to devote his retirement to spending 
time with his wonderful wife, Susan, and playing jazz piano. Knowing 
Peter, however, I am confident that he will continue to advocate and 
educate all that he meets on improving the lives of women and their 
families around the world.
  Thank you, Peter, for your lifelong dedication to making the world a 
better place by enabling women to live healthy lives and to have 
healthy babies. Millions of people around the world have been touched 
by your work over the last thirty years. Best wishes in your 
retirement.

                          ____________________