[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 141 (Monday, September 8, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1715-E1716]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 RECOGNIZING ROBERT A. HAND'S 25 YEARS OF SERVICE AT THE COMMISSION ON 
                   SECURITY AND COOPERATION IN EUROPE

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. ALCEE L. HASTINGS

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                       Monday, September 8, 2008

  Mr. HASTINGS of Florida. Madam Speaker, today I am pleased to pay 
tribute to Bob Hand for his 25 years of untiring service to the 
Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, the Helsinki 
Commission. Bob joined the Commission's professional staff on August 1, 
1983, though his human rights advocacy work began years earlier and 
included a stint as an intern with the Commission. A man of deep 
principles and convictions, Bob has approached each challenge with 
determination and diligence.
  Driven by a quiet passion for upholding the human rights commitments 
enshrined in the Helsinki Final Act, Bob helped compile lists of 
individuals denied their fundamental freedoms by regimes in Eastern 
Europe and the Soviet Union. His work in promoting free market 
principles and protection of the environment included efforts 
specifically aimed at encouraging individual entrepreneurs and 
strengthening the role of non-governmental organizations. A case in 
point was his active role in defending environmental activists during 
the 1989 Sofia Meeting on the Protection of the Environment, an event 
that paved the way for the ouster of the Bulgarian dictatorship. Bob 
played a leading role in preparations for the 1990 Bonn Conference on 
Economic Cooperation in Europe, an historic East-West meeting that 
embraced key principles, such as rights to private property and the 
importance of the rule of law in the economic sphere, among others.
  For more than two decades, Bob has served as the Commission's point 
person for the Balkans region. He was an early advocate of raising 
human rights concerns with Belgrade when Yugoslavia was still included 
among the ranks of the Neutral and Non-Aligned countries. A keen 
analyst of developments in the Balkans, Bob began drawing attention to 
potential flash points like Kosovo long before others. He volunteered 
to be deployed as an expert on the Mission to Kosovo, Sanjak, and 
Vojvodina fielded by the then Conference on Security and Cooperation in 
Europe in the early 1990s. With his able assistance, the Helsinki 
Commission remained at the forefront of efforts to uphold Bosnia's 
right to self defense in the face of armed aggression and genocide. He 
has persistently worked to document the human toll suffered by victims, 
among them those who perished during the massacre at Srebrenica, and to 
press for

[[Page E1716]]

apprehension of indicted war criminals like Ratko Mladic, who remain at 
large. Elsewhere in the region, Bob has worked particularly hard to 
promote democracy, human rights and rule of law in Albania, a country 
he first visited in 1990. Beyond his responsibilities monitoring 
developments in the Balkans region, Bob ably serves as secretary for 
the U.S. delegation to the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly.
  Madam Speaker, as Chairman of the Helsinki Commission, I am pleased 
to recognize and commend Bob Hand for his faithful, dedicated, and 
tireless service to me and my colleagues.

                          ____________________