[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 53 (Wednesday, April 27, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4394-S4395]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                TOM RUSSO AND THE SCHOLAR-RESCUE PROGRAM

 Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, today I wish to make a short 
statement on the work of Tom Russo. Mr. Russo is a vice chairman of 
Lehman Brothers, making his time some of the most valuable time in the 
world. But, it is precisely what Mr. Russo does with this time that I 
would like to speak about here today--in particular his work with the 
Institute of International Education--IIE--and the scholar-rescue 
program.
  Mr. Russo has played a leadership role in working with IIE to 
establish a program that helps to bring scholars, whose lives are in 
danger in their home countries, to the United States. Once in the 
United States, the scholars are matched with host universities 
according to their academic specialty and the needs of the university. 
In many ways, this program is a win-win. The scholars, and in some 
cases their families, are removed from harm's way. Universities in the 
U.S. get top-rate scholars to teach and conduct research, while IIE 
helps to defray some of the costs to these institutions.
  Of course, everyone would prefer that these scholars were able to 
remain in their home countries shaping the intellectual culture there, 
especially the scholars themselves. But, these are cases where there is 
no other option. It is either leave or be killed. And we have a moral 
responsibility to help these scholars escape and continue their work, 
in hopes of one day returning and advancing the knowledge base in their 
home nations.
  One only has to look at the newspaper to see that there is virtually 
unlimited demand for this program. Let me read a few sentences from an 
article in last Wednesday's Washington Post, entitled ``Attacks Across 
Iraq kill 12, Wound Over 60''. The article reads: ``Elsewhere in the 
capital, masked men shot and killed a professor, Fuad Ibrahim Mohamed 
Bayati, as he left home for the University of Baghdad, police said.''
  Tom Russo and his colleagues, including Henry Jarecki, a board member 
of IIE, and Alan Goodman, the president of IIE, have worked tirelessly 
to build this program. I know this because on several different 
occasions I have met with Henry, Alan, or Tom about the scholar-rescue 
program. It is abundantly clear from our conversations that they are 
deeply involved with the program and are passionate about the good work 
that it is doing around the world. While the scholar-rescue program 
cannot prevent every tragedy, I can attest it is making a difference. I 
also know that, instead of resting on their laurels, Mr. Russo, Dr. 
Jarecki, Dr. Goodman, and others are laboring day and night to expand 
the program to come to the aid of more scholars and their families.
  I appreciate all Mr. Russo is doing and wanted to bring his work to 
the attention of the Senate. I encourage all of my colleagues to read 
about Tom Russo and the scholar-rescue program. I ask that an article 
from the New York Sun on Mr. Russo be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the article was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                 [From the New York Sun, Apr. 11, 2005]

     Lehman's Russo: ``Create a Culture of Doing the Right Thing''

                           (By Pranay Gupte)

       Thomas Russo, vice chairman of Lehman Brothers Incorporated 
     and the 155-year-old investment bank's chief legal officer, 
     had started this day with a meeting at 7:30 a.m. By the time 
     he came to lunch, he'd had three more meetings, and taken 
     several overseas and domestic calls in his additional role as 
     head of Lehman's corporate advisory division, with 
     responsibility for compliance, internal audit, government 
     relations, and the documentation group.
       There was also some work in connection with Lehman's new 
     products committee and also the operating exposures 
     committee, both of which he chairs. There were a couple of 
     matters related to the Institute of International Education, 
     which administers the State Department's Fulbright Program, 
     and whose executive committee he heads.
       And yes, there was a one-hour workout at a gym before his 
     workday started.
       Were there enough hours in the clock for him, the 
     reporter--whose own deadline driven schedule had spawned 
     portliness, in contrast to his guest's dapper trimness--asked 
     Mr. Russo,
       ``In everything I do, I always ask myself, `Am I doing the 
     best that I can?' '' Mr. Russo said. ``If you feel good about 
     what you do, then you can be at peace with yourself.''
       He's handsomely compensated for what he does. Lehman gave 
     him $3 million last year, making him the highest-paid 
     corporate legal counsel in America after General Electric's 
     chief lawyer, Benjamin Heineman Jr., who drew $4.3 million, 
     according to a survey by Corporate Legal Times.
       Mr. Russo certainly earns his salary and bonuses, 
     especially these days when Wall Street is under increased 
     scrutiny by regulatory institutions on account of assorted 
     scandals concerning corporate behavior. As Lehman's chief 
     legal officer, its Mr. Russo's responsibility to ensure 
     strict compliance with the law--particularly the 2002 
     Sarbanes-Oxley Act on accounting and governance--on the part 
     of the firm's 20,300 employees.
       Indeed, Mr. Russo was a key player in bringing about the 
     record $1.4 billion settlement by 10 Wall Street companies in 
     April 2003. Lehman, which paid $80 million in fines--
     Citigroup paid $400 million--was among those accused by the 
     Securities and Exchange Commission and New York State 
     Attorney General Eliot Spitzer of conflicts of interest while 
     aiming to increase their investment-banking business.
       ``The whole episode was bad for the industry, it was bad 
     for business,'' Mr. Russo said. ``It could be cited as an 
     example of us being our own worst enemy. While some have 
     accused regulators for being excessively zealous, for the 
     most part the industry brought this upon itself.''
       What about the continuing tensions and torque of his work, 
     the reporter asked. How does he go about ensuring compliance 
     with the law in such a large organization as Lehman?
       ``The only way to regain investors' trust is to create a 
     culture of doing the right thing,'' Mr. Russo said. ``I 
     always say to my colleagues, `If it feels wrong, just don't 
     do it.' You cannot compromise your integrity. Everyone in 
     financial services always needs to keep in mind that, first 
     and foremost, customers must be served to the best of our 
     ability. I cannot emphasize enough the importance of doing 
     the right thing.''
       Mr. Russo's emphasis on ``doing the right thing,'' and his 
     probity, has acquired an almost mythic dimension in the 
     financial services industry. Some 84 million Americans have 
     invested more than $14 trillion in the equities markets in 
     the United States; more than 3.2 billion shares are typically 
     traded on the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq every day.
       That emphasis on morality is transmitted by Mr. Russo not 
     only to his associates at Lehman (which he joined in January 
     1993). It's a message that he conveys to hundreds of

[[Page S4395]]

     other professionals, students, and young people with whom he 
     comes into contact each year through institutions such as the 
     IIE, the Economic Club of New York, the Foreign Policy 
     Association, the Fellows of the Phi Beta Kappa Society, and 
     U.S. Council for International Business.
       He's not a proselytizer, nor is his style preachy. The 
     soft-spoken Mr. Russo learned the art of subtlety from his 
     late father, Lucio, a Staten Island lawyer who was also a 
     member of the state Assembly for 22 years. He also learned 
     forthrightness and resourcefulness from his late mother, 
     Tina, who encouraged him to get summer jobs on the floor of 
     the American Stock Exchange; it was his mother who elicited 
     his continuing involvement with the March of Dimes, where 
     he's vice chairman. (His parents died in a car accident last 
     year.)
       ``I figured out early in life that success is a matter of 
     focus and energy,'' Mr. Russo said. ``If you find something 
     that you like to do, then you've got to do it with all your 
     passion.''
       It's an attitude that helped him ace undergraduate studies 
     at Fordham University, and Cornell University, where he 
     earned an MBA as well as a law degree. Mr. Russo was also 
     elected to the honor societies Phi Beta Kappa and Phi Kappa 
     Phi. It's an attitude that helped him distinguish himself as 
     a young lawyer at the SEC, which he joined after Cornell.
       It's an attitude that helped him become partner and member 
     of the management committee of the prestigious law firm 
     Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft. And it's an attitude that most 
     certainly helped land him the job of the first director of 
     the Commodity Futures Trading Commission's Division of 
     Trading and Markets. (Mr. Russo is also the author of two 
     books on federal securities and commodities laws, and 
     frequently writes for trade and mainstream publications on 
     commodities, securities, banking, and financial market 
     regulation.)
       His career has fetched him numerous honors. The National 
     Law Journal listed him as one of the ``100 Most Influential 
     Lawyers in America.'' Not long ago, Mr. Russo was an 
     inaugural inductee into the Futures Industry Association Hall 
     of Fame. These honors are to be savored, of course, but Mr. 
     Russo isn't one to brag about them. During lunch, in fact, he 
     credited his colleagues and parents, and averred: ``I've been 
     enormously lucky in my life.''
       There's one aspect of his luck that Mr. Russo chooses to 
     highlight--his wife, Marcy, who helps run a Jewish 
     educational foundation; and his children: twin daughters 
     Alexa and Morgan, 15, and son Tyler, 9.
       The reporter obtained a sense of how much Mr. Russo's 
     family shares his dedication to education and cultural 
     bridge-building--which he said were essential not only for 
     sustaining America's economic might but also for engendering 
     enhanced awareness overseas of the homespun values of 
     tolerance, friendship, and hospitality that serve as 
     underpinnings of American society.
       On the evening after the lunch with Mr. Russo, he'd invited 
     several young Fulbright scholars from Iraq, India, China, 
     Syria, and other countries to his Fifth Avenue apartment for 
     a reception. The view of Central Park was stunning; the food 
     was scrumptious. But the highlight of the evening was clearly 
     violin renditions of Bach by Alexa and Morgan, accompanied on 
     the piano by their fellow student from the Dalton School, 
     Gennifer Tsoi.
       They often give such performances, Mr. Russo said, they 
     visit senior citizens' homes and hospices to give comfort and 
     spread good will through their music. The reporter thought: 
     Like father, like daughters.

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