[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 5 (Tuesday, January 9, 2018)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E17]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         LIFE OF MARCUS RASKIN

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. STEVE COHEN

                              of tennessee

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, January 9, 2018

  Mr. COHEN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to the fiercely 
independent progressive think tank co-founder Professor Marcus G. 
Raskin and to pay my respects to his family, especially to my 
colleague, Maryland Congressman Jamie Raskin. Mr. Raskin died December 
24 at 83. As a founder of the Institute for Policy Studies in 1963, Mr. 
Raskin was at the forefront shaping important policy proposals for more 
than five decades as the intellectual force against ``the national 
security state,'' a term he coined. Mr. Raskin was instrumental in 
galvanizing the anti-Vietnam War movement and in seeing the Pentagon 
Papers were published. He was indicted in 1968 as one of the ``Boston 
Five''--including William Sloane Coffin and Dr. Benjamin Spock--for 
conspiracy to aid resistance to the draft, and was acquitted. Later, 
practicing what he called ``passionate scholarship''--pairing ideas 
with action--he was instrumental in organizing the IPS campaign that 
ultimately persuaded 350 cities across the country to vote on 
resolutions opposing the Iraq War. A graduate of the University of 
Chicago and its law school, Mr. Raskin joined the Kennedy 
administration in early 1961 as an aide to National Security Adviser 
McGeorge Bundy. Along with Richard J. Barnet, he founded the Institute 
for Policy Studies as a national vehicle for promoting progressive 
policies for the left-leaning elements of the Democratic Party. IPS 
became the model for policy think tanks in Washington and remained 
independent by refusing to take government grants. The author or editor 
of 20 books, Mr. Raskin was a leading force in progressive social 
causes, including the anti-nuclear arms debate, civil rights, women's 
rights, the environment and consumer affairs. In 1977, IPS was asked by 
56 members of Congress, led by members of the Congressional Black 
Caucus, to analyze the federal budget, leading to the 1980 publication 
of The Federal Budget and Social Reconstruction. After the 9/11 
attacks, he wrote three books forging a new approach to threats, 
including, with Robert Spero, The Four Freedoms Under Siege: The Clear 
and Present Danger from Our National Security State (2006). In 2012, he 
co-edited Warfare Welfare: The Not-So-Hidden Coasts of America's War 
Economy. I want to express my condolences to Mr. Raskin's family. The 
country was strengthened and enlightened my Marcus Raskin's persuasive 
ideas. As an American citizen who took an active role shaping public 
policy, he will be missed.

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