[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 188 (Thursday, November 29, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7235-S7236]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      TRIBUTE TO HANNAH ROSENTHAL

  Ms. BALDWIN. Mr. President, today I wish to recognize Hannah 
Rosenthal's extraordinary career as she celebrates her retirement as 
President and CEO of the Milwaukee Jewish Federation. Hannah has had a 
long and distinguished career as an influential advocate of tolerance, 
and her mark on the Jewish community is indelible. She is best known 
for building bridges between disparate factions and believing that 
everyone, no matter their background or perspective, deserves a seat at 
the table.
  Hannah transferred from Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts to the 
University of Wisconsin-Madison after falling in love with the city and 
the university during a Hebrew class she attended the summer after her 
sophomore year. She received her bachelor of arts degree from UW-
Madison and studied for the rabbinate in Jerusalem and California.
  Hannah's father was a rabbi and Holocaust survivor who inspired her 
to lead a life shaped by her Jewish faith. Rabbi Franz Rosenthal's 
experiences as a prisoner at Buchenwald and a refugee in this country 
helped forge his daughter's identity as an avid champion of human 
rights.
  Hannah's extensive career includes impressive experience at State, 
local, national, and international levels. She served as the founding 
executive director of the Wisconsin Women's Council and head of the 
Jewish Council for Public Affairs. In 1995, she was appointed by 
President Bill Clinton to serve as the midwest regional director of the 
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
  Although I had the pleasure of working with Hannah at many points in 
her remarkable career, I am especially grateful for all she taught me 
about effective advocacy, particularly advocacy on behalf of women. 
Early in my career, I worked with Hannah in her role leading the 
Wisconsin Women's Council to organize support for State efforts to 
guarantee equal pay for equal work.
  Hannah is perhaps best known for her role as the U.S. Special Envoy 
to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism. Appointed by President Barack 
Obama in 2009, she used her role to build coalitions of sometimes 
unlikely allies to denounce hatred around the world. She was not afraid 
to confront bigotry head on. She personally took those who denied the 
Holocaust on tours of concentration camps. In 2010, she switched her 
speech on anti-Semitism at an international conference on tolerance 
with the Special Representative to Muslim Communities so that she 
condemned Islamophobia in the strongest possible terms while her Muslim 
counterpart strongly denounced anti-Semitism. She summed up her 
philosophy succinctly in an interview with the U.S. Holocaust Memorial 
Museum by saying, ``This isn't just about the Jews, this is about 
hatred, and that affects everyone.''
  Hannah is bold, resolute, and fearless. She believes there is no room 
in this world for intolerance toward others, and she has made it her 
mission in life to speak out against hatred and bigotry in all forms. 
It is the mindset that shaped her legacy at the Milwaukee Jewish 
Federation and led her to challenge young people to volunteer at 
organizations that serve people unlike them through the creation of the 
Hours Against Hate global campaign.
  Hannah deserves to be proud of her many national and international 
accomplishments, but her heart remains rooted at home in Wisconsin with 
her friends, family, and community. Hannah has made many close friends 
along her journey who stuck by her through thick and thin. She also 
takes much pride and delight in her two daughters and young grandson.
  Public servant, activist, icon, and pioneer are words that only begin 
to

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describe the contributions Hannah has made in the fight for a more kind 
and just world. Although Hannah's retirement marks the end of a 
chapter, she will never stop fighting for what she believes to be 
right. I will forever be grateful for Hannah's loyal advocacy and 
forever honored to call her my friend.

                          ____________________