[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 38 (Thursday, March 6, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E329-E330]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                HONORING DAVID L. HYMAN OF PHILADELPHIA

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. CHAKA FATTAH

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 6, 2008

  Mr. FATTAH. Madam Speaker, it is my honor to salute today a great and 
valued citizen of Philadelphia who is receiving one of our city's truly 
prestigious awards for members of the legal community.
  David L. Hyman, Esquire earns his living as Managing Partner and 
partner for Business Development at Kleinbard, Bell & Brecker LLP, one 
of Philadelphia's outstanding law firms, where he leads the government 
relations practice. But that barely begins to describe the depth and 
breadth of his commitment to the city he loves.
  David is a soft-spoken man with a ready and infectious smile who 
travels the fast lane of Philadelphia governance, religious, 
philanthropic and civic life, skilled at winning confidence and making 
things happen.
  I have known David for more than two decades, since our days of 
pickup basketball at the Bright Hope Baptist Church in North 
Philadelphia. We have spent our declining jump-shot years on many of 
the same critical issues and causes, improving the lives and life 
chances for our young and underserved citizens.
  David settled in Philadelphia to launch a legal career after 
graduating cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania in 1975 and 
from the University of California, Davis, School of Law in 1980. He 
served as Law Clerk for United States District Court Judge Peter B. 
Scuderi.
  David is former Co-President and current advisory board member of 
Operation Understanding, a unique Philadelphia program that brings 
together African American and Jewish teenagers and trains them for 
cooperative leadership roles. He has been a bridge builder and 
passionate advocate for these two communities. -
  More recently, David L. Hyman served for eight years as Chairman of 
the Philadelphia Facilities Management Corporation, which oversees the 
Philadelphia Gas Works. He continues as Vice Chairman of the Greater 
Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation, which spreads the good word 
about our city, and serves on the board of the Building Industry 
Association of Philadelphia among numerous other private, public and 
nonprofit appointments. He has also been a champion for development, 
community improvement and empowerment in Mount Airy and across 
Northwest Philadelphia, along with his wife Farah Jimenez, the 
executive director of Mount Airy USA.
  David L. Hyman has served the American Jewish Committee and its 
Philadelphia/Southern New Jersey chapter as President and Board 
Chairman. Now the organization he has led so ably and selflessly is 
returning the favor.
  On Wednesday March 12, 2008, at the Rittenhouse Hotel, David L. 
Hyman, Esquire will receive the 2008 Judge Learned Hand Award of the 
AJC.
  The significance of this award can be judged by the man for whom it 
is named. Judge Learned Hand, according to the AJC citation, served as 
senior judge of the United States Circuit Court of Appeals for the 
Second Circuit from 1924 to 1951. Widely admired as a dean of American 
jurists, Judge Hand was renowned for his extensive range of decisions 
which he rendered in more than two thousand cases.
  David L. Hyman fittingly receives an award presented each year to a 
member of the Philadelphia legal community whose social conscience and 
devotion to philanthropy mirrors the century-old values of the American 
Jewish Committee. He is the 28th recipient of Philadelphia's Learned 
Hand Award. -The American Jewish Committee proudly proclaimed that, for 
more than 100 years, it has ``worked to safeguard minorities, fight 
terrorism, anti-Semitism, hatred and bigotry, pursue social justice, 
advance human dignity,

[[Page E330]]

support Israel's right to exist in peace and security, defend religious 
freedom and provide humanitarian relief to those in need.''
  By choosing David L. Hyman for this recognition, the American Jewish 
Committee brings honor to the award itself and to the legal profession 
of Philadelphia. I extend my own best wishes to this richly deserving 
super citizen in our midst, and I say: Mazel Tov, Counselor.

                          ____________________