[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 62 (Wednesday, April 18, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E782]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           IN RECOGNITION OF PEACE ACTION'S 50TH ANNIVERSARY

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                        HON. FORTNEY PETE STARK

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, April 18, 2007

  Mr. STARK. Madam Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to Peace 
Action's 50th anniversary. Peace Action has been a seminal part of the 
peace movement. On the evening of April 12, 2007 at Madison's Lake 
Merritt Hotel in Oakland, California, Peace Action West, a regional 
organization of Peace Action, will celebrate their work during the last 
50 years as well as their recent victories.
  The evening celebration will include reminiscences by Peace Activist 
Norman Cousins' daughters, Candis Cousins and Shigeko Sasmori. Norman 
Cousins was an eminent activist and founder of SANE. As a child, 
Shigeko survived the Hiroshima atomic blast, and soon after was 
unofficially adopted by the Cousins family. From her experience at the 
very center and origin of the nonproliferation movement, her lifetime 
of peace activism is an inspiration to us all. Together they will speak 
to the memory of their father's work and ideals, which I find new 
expression in this generation of peace organizers.
  In 1957, motivated by the realization that nuclear weapons could put 
an end to human life on the planet, the National Committee for a Sane 
Nuclear Policy was born. SANE, as the organization came to be known, 
later merged with the Nuclear Freeze movement and became Peace Action. 
For 50 years Peace Action has galvanized a voice for a world where the 
threat of nuclear weapons is eliminated and where foreign policy is 
based on international cooperation and respect for human rights. Peace 
Action has grown into a regional organization nearly 50,000 members 
strong.
  I join the community in celebrating Peace Action's 50-year milestone 
of waging peace. I thank the members of Peace Action West for their 
exemplary efforts and deep commitment to peace and human rights and I 
applaud their five decades of accomplishments.

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