[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 20 (Thursday, February 1, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Page S1520]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        HONORING MARVIN FARBMAN

 Mr. DODD. Mr. President, today I honor a dedicated public 
servant, Marvin Farbman, who is retiring after 30 years of tireless 
work at Connecticut Legal Services, CLS, on behalf of the people of 
Connecticut.
  Mr. Farbman came to Connecticut Legal Services in 1977 with an 
impressive academic record. He received his undergraduate degree in 
biology at Boston University, his M.A. in Philosophy from the 
University of Western Ontario, and finally his law degree at the 
University of Connecticut, where he graduated with honors. Connecticut 
Legal Services hired him as a staff attorney, where he quickly took on 
more than 100 client cases per year, serving as counsel for low-income 
Connecticut families.
  Over the past 30 years, Marvin Farbman worked tirelessly to provide 
better housing for low-income residents of Connecticut. Only a year 
after joining the staff of Connecticut Legal Services, he created 
Equity in Housing, a ground-breaking housing cooperative that continues 
serving low-income households today. Within 2 years, Mr. Farbman was 
promoted to the position of managing attorney of the Middletown office 
of Connecticut Legal Services.
  During his years as managing attorney, Mr. Farbman continued to lead 
the fight for low-income housing improvements both in and out of the 
courtroom. He served as lead counsel in several influential court 
cases, including Korsko v. Harris, which stopped the conversion of a 
federally-subsidized 200-unit housing project into private condominiums 
with no assistance for low-income residents, Nelson v. Heintz, a 
successful lawsuit against the City of Bridgeport to obtain more 
reasonable shelter payment levels for low-income citizens, and Father 
Panik Village Tenants Assoc. v. Cisneros, which obtained a preliminary 
court settlement requiring the Bridgeport Housing Authority to replace 
more than 1,000 demolished public housing units.
  Mr. Farbman's dedication and continued success in court was matched 
by the success of his other efforts to improve the community. In 1985, 
he led the effort to create the Middlesex Red Cross homeless shelter, 
the first apartment-based family shelter in Connecticut. He also 
organized a local coalition to renovate Arriwani Hotel, a single room 
flophouse, into a nonprofit apartment building with support services 
for residents.
  When he was promoted to executive director of CLS in 1995, Mr. 
Farbman successfully guided the agency in the establishment of an 
operating plan to begin rebuilding its service capacity. Over his 
tenure as executive director, Connecticut Legal Services handled 
approximately 50,000 client cases, improving the lives of countless 
Connecticut residents and the communities where they live.
  Millions of Americans live in poverty, and many must depend on people 
like Marvin Farbman to fight for their basic needs in court. Mr. 
Farbman has dedicated his life to improving the lives of low-income 
families, and his influence can be seen throughout Connecticut. For his 
dedicated service, Connecticut, and indeed, the whole nation owe him a 
tremendous debt of gratitude.
  On February 8, a dinner will be held in honor of Marvin Farbman's 
many contributions to Connecticut Legal Services and the field of legal 
representation for low-income families. This dinner will be a wonderful 
tribute to Marvin's dedication to serving underprivileged residents of 
Connecticut.
  Once again, I extend my deep thanks to Marvin Farbman for his long 
legacy of service to his community, to the people of Connecticut, and 
to our Nation. I wish to congratulate him, his wife Evelyn, and his 
sons Daniel and Herschel on this wonderful occasion, and I wish him 
well as he embarks on this new chapter in his life.

                          ____________________