[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 42 (Thursday, March 13, 2014)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E375-E376]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       IN TRIBUTE TO FRED A. KAHN

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. CHRIS VAN HOLLEN

                              of maryland

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 13, 2014

  Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the 
outstanding achievements and remarkable life story of Fred A. Kahn. In 
addition to his 30 years of distinguished service as a federal 
employee, Mr. Kahn is credited for his role as an original architect of 
the modern American Presidential debate and for his work to promote 
tolerance and understanding through Holocaust education.
  Mr. Kahn was born to Jewish parents in Wiesbaden, Germany on December 
19, 1932. In January 1933, when Hitler rose to power as Chancellor of 
Germany, Mr. Kahn's parents fled to Belgium, leaving their infant son 
behind in Germany in the care of his Uncle Siegfried and Aunt Rosa. On 
October 1, 1938, six weeks before the terror of Kristallnacht, 
Siegfried and Rosa arranged for six-year-old Fred's dramatic escape and 
successful reunification with his parents on the German-Belgian border. 
Following the occupation of Belgium by the Germans in May 1940, the 
family went into hiding until Belgium's liberation in September 1944. 
Sadly, Siegfried and Rosa were both murdered by the Nazis.
  Mr. Kahn immigrated to the United States when he was 19, settled in 
Baltimore, Maryland, and was inducted into the U.S. Army on March 17, 
1953. He became a naturalized U.S. citizen on November 24, 1953 at Fort 
Bragg, North Carolina while serving with the 82nd Airborne Division. 
After basic training, he was assigned to the 525th Military 
Intelligence Service where he worked as an intelligence analyst. In 
March 1954, he returned to Germany, this time as an American soldier.
  After his honorable discharge from the Army in 1955, Mr. Kahn 
enrolled in the University of Maryland. Mr. Kahn devised an idea that 
would later become a revered tradition in American politics. In 1956, 
Mr. Kahn approached the University administration with a novel idea--a 
proposal for an on-campus Presidential debate. The Maryland Board of 
Regents rejected the proposal. However, former First Lady Eleanor 
Roosevelt endorsed the idea. When Mr. Kahn attended the 1958 Brussels 
World's Fair as an employee of the U.S. Department of State, he met 
with Gov. Adlai Stevenson, the Democratic Party's Presidential 
candidate in 1952 and 1956. Governor Stevenson endorsed the idea as 
well. In 1960 the League of Women Voters organized the first 
Presidential debate between Richard Nixon and John F. Kennedy.
  After graduating from the University of Maryland, Mr. Kahn was 
awarded a Woodrow Wilson Fellowship to the School of Advanced 
International Studies at Johns Hopkins University. He spent the next 30 
years as a political economist for the U.S. government and was 
instrumental in the creation of the Job Corps for the U.S. Office of 
Economic Opportunity. He later finished his career as an economist for 
the U.S. Department of Labor. Mr. Kahn served on the Board of the 
National Council of the American Society of Public Administration 
(ASPA), the Board of Editors of the Public Administration Review, and 
the Board of Directors of the Society of Government Economists. He was 
awarded a Distinguished Career Service Award by the U.S. Secretary of 
Labor.
  After his 1992 retirement from federal service, Mr. Kahn continued to 
serve his community as a teacher of Holocaust history, promoting 
tolerance and understanding. In 2005 Maryland Governor Robert Ehrlich 
appointed Mr. Kahn to his Task Force to Implement Holocaust, Genocide, 
Human Rights and Tolerance Education. Today, he moderates an online 
Holocaust remembrance group of over 300 members worldwide and is an 
active member of the Maryland-Washington, D.C.

[[Page E376]]

chapter of the World Federation of Child Survivors of the Holocaust.
  Mr. Speaker, I am honored to recognize the extraordinary life and 
achievements of Fred A. Kahn. Throughout his life, Mr. Kahn has worked 
tirelessly to make our world more tolerant and compassionate. He has 
made outstanding contributions to our government, our country, and our 
community, and I ask my colleagues to join me in expressing our 
appreciation for his service.

                          ____________________