[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 132 (Tuesday, December 5, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2088]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[[Page E2088]]
                  STATEMENT HONORING SALLY LILIENTHAL

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. NANCY PELOSI

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, December 5, 2006

  Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, with deep admiration and affection I pay my 
respects to a great San Franciscan and global citizen, Sally 
Lilienthal, who died on Oct. 24 at the age of 87. I join my 
constituents in honoring her vision, her courage, her leadership and 
her immense contributions to building a safer and more peaceful world. 
A magnificent role model, she lived her conscience and practiced her 
ideals each and every day.
  In 1981, at the height of the Cold War--as superpowers stockpiled 
nuclear weapons, the international arms trade boomed and 
intercontinental ballistic missiles grew more lethal--Sally Lilienthal 
founded the Ploughshares Fund. Based in her living room and driven by 
her determination to inform the public about the issues and the danger, 
it became an enormously influential foundation dedicated to the 
prevention of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons of war.
  She supported researchers, policy activists, and scientists in the 
United States and overseas who were trying to change government 
policies and was a vital figure in shaping the anti-proliferation 
agenda during the Cold War. As of now, the fund has given away more 
than $50 million, mostly for startup research and is the largest grant-
making foundation in the United States focused exclusively on peace and 
security issues.
  Sally Ann Lowengart was 12 when her family moved to San Francisco. 
She graduated from Sarah Lawrence College and returned to San Francisco 
in 1940. During the 1950s, she studied sculpture at the San Francisco 
Art Institute. Elegant and artistic, she could have spent her life 
comfortably moving in San Francisco's art and social circles. Instead, 
she turned her attention and her might to the issues of war, peace, and 
social justice.
  Together with her husband Philip Lilienthal she founded the Northern 
California Committee of the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund in 
1970. She served on the regional ACLU board. She co-founded Amnesty 
International Western Region and was an early supporter of the 
International Campaign to Ban Landmines that, while she was vice chair, 
resulted in a global treaty and a Nobel Peace Prize in 1977. In 1990, 
the United Nations Association bestowed to her its Eleanor Roosevelt 
Humanitarian Award.
  In addition to her work for peace, for social justice, and the arts, 
Sally Lilienthal was an active member of our community supporting 
progressive policies and politicians. For 30 years I was blessed with 
her support, her advice, and her friendship.
  I extend my deepest sympathy to her family; Laurie Cohen, Liza Pike, 
Thomas Cohen, Matthew Royce, Steven Cohen, Sukey Lilienthal, Andrea 
Lilienthal, and her 11 grandchildren. I hope it is a comfort to them 
that so many people mourn her passing and will hold Sally in their 
hearts forever.

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