[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 18 (Thursday, January 25, 2018)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E95]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      HONORING DR. SURIN PITSUWAN

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. JOSEPH P. KENNEDY III

                            of massachusetts

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, January 25, 2018

  Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to remember the life of Dr. 
Surin Pitsuwan of the Kingdom of Thailand.
   Dr. Surin, a great friend to countless Americans in the diplomatic 
and Peace Corps communities, passed away on November 30, 2017.
   Dr. Surin became a household name in U.S. diplomatic circles, first 
as Thailand's foreign minister and later as Secretary General of the 
Association of Southeast Asian Nations. Throughout his life in 
government and academia, Dr. Surin wielded his skills to influence and 
forge peaceful partnerships with America and the world.
   Dr. Surin first entered the American experience as an impoverished 
teenager in southern Thailand as a student of David and Phyllis 
Johnston--his ``Angels of Hope'' as he called them--two Peace Corps 
volunteers who helped him receive an American Field Service scholarship 
to attend his senior year of high school in Minnesota. With the help of 
grants from the Rockefeller Foundation and the Winston S. Churchill 
Association, Dr. Surin received his bachelor's degree from Claremont 
Men's College (now Claremont McKenna College) in California and a 
master's and doctorate from Harvard University, and through a 
Congressional Fellowship from the Asia Foundation worked in the office 
of Representative Geraldine Ferraro.
   For a Muslim of Malay-descent who didn't own a pair of shoes until 
the age of 11 to later become a globetrotting envoy, Dr. Surin never 
lost his deep sense of humility and grace and ease with communicating. 
Dedicated to improving the lives of others, he always made time during 
his frequent trips to his family's hometown to meet with the poor and 
see how he could help them. He is survived by his wife, Alisa, and 
their three sons, to whom I extend my deepest thoughts and condolences.
   I had the pleasure of meeting with Dr. Surin in 2014 while he was in 
America to receive the National Peace Corps Association's Harris 
Wofford Global Citizen Award. Dr. Surin accepted the award on behalf of 
what he called ``the millions of other so called `Peace Corps Products' 
all around the world whose lives have been enriched and influenced by 
[Peace Corps volunteers].'' From his ``Big Break,'' as he called it, 
with volunteers David and Phyllis until the day he died, Dr. Surin 
channeled the spirit of the Peace Corps to partner in peace, progress, 
and understanding. I hope that Dr. Surin's life and work can serve as a 
model for all of us.

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