[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 44 (Thursday, March 12, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E661]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL FOR RABBI ARTHUR SCHNEIER

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. CAROLYN B. MALONEY

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 12, 2009

  Mrs. MALONEY. Madam Speaker, for almost half a century Rabbi Arthur 
Schneier has promoted religious freedom and human rights throughout the 
world. A Holocaust survivor, and the Founder and President of the 
Appeal of Conscience Foundation, Rabbi Schneier has devoted his life to 
overcoming the forces of hatred and intolerance.
  He has been a pioneer in bringing together religious leaders to 
address, ethnic or religious conflicts. For example, in Bosnia in 1997, 
he convened government and religious leaders to promote healing and 
conciliation between Orthodox, Muslim and Jewish communities. In the 
Balkans, the Caucasus and Central Asia he worked with the Orthodox 
Patriarch and the Turkish Government to hold the Peace and Tolerance 
Conference in 1994 and address religious and ethnic tensions in that 
area. In the former Yugoslavia, he mobilized religious leaders to halt 
the bloodshed of the early 90s, holding the Religious Summit on the 
Former Yugoslavia and the Conflict Resolution Conference to build 
support and consensus among religious leaders of different faiths. 
Since the early 1980s, he has led delegations of religious leaders to 
China to open a dialogue on religious freedom.
  Born in Vienna, Austria, in 1930, Rabbi Schneier lived under Nazi 
occupation in Budapest during World War II and came to the United 
States in 1947. He has been the Spiritual Leader of the Park East 
Synagogue in New York City since 1962.
  Today I am reintroducing the Rabbi Arthur Schneier Gold Medal act and 
I urge my colleague to support this legislation in recognition of a 
truly remarkable man.

                          ____________________