[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 126 (Thursday, July 16, 2020)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E638]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       CELEBRATING THE 90TH BIRTHDAY OF PROFESSOR JEROME A. COHEN

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                         HON. JAMES P. McGOVERN

                            of massachusetts

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 16, 2020

  Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to Professor 
Jerome Alan Cohen, the Founder and Faculty Director Emeritus of the 
U.S.-Asia Law Institute of the New York University School of Law. 
Professor Jerry Cohen is a true champion of human rights and the rule 
of law in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and South Korea. This month, he is 
celebrating his 90th birthday with his family and friends.
  Professor Cohen--or ``Jerry,'' as he prefers to be called by friends, 
colleagues, and students alike--is one of the foremost experts in 
Chinese law and government in the United States and internationally. He 
has provided sage advice and wise counsel to international leaders, 
U.S. government officials, and Members of Congress throughout his 
illustrious career, including in testimony to the Congressional-
Executive Commission on China of which I currently serve as Chair. Not 
long out of Yale Law School, Jerry was a law clerk to Chief Justice 
Earl Warren and to Justice Felix Frankfurter, of the U.S. Supreme 
Court. Jerry also was an Assistant U.S. Attorney here in Washington, 
D.C.
  Jerry's extraordinary career on China began in the 1960s while he was 
teaching at Boalt School of Law at University of California Berkeley. A 
grant to UC Berkeley from the Rockefeller Foundation allowed him to 
begin his study of Mandarin Chinese. Later, he created the East Asia 
Legal Studies Association at Harvard School of Law, where he would go 
on to teach for 17 years.
  In 2018, Harvard Law alumni established the Jerome A. and Joan L. 
Cohen Professorship of Law at Harvard Law School to honor his 
pioneering work. His students over the years include prominent legal 
scholars, lawyers, law professors, journalists, and diplomats, such as 
former Taiwanese president, Ma Ying-jeou and former U.S. Ambassador to 
China Clark Randt, Jr.
  Jerry and a group of colleagues were also early advocates in 
encouraging the United States to engage with the People's Republic of 
China. During his first trip to China in 1972, Jerry met with Chinese 
Premier Zhou Enlai, and, years later accompanied Senator Ted Kennedy to 
Beijing to meet with Deng Xiaoping.
  Jerry has been an energetic advocate for human rights in China and 
critic of the Chinese government. At the US-Asia Law Institute, he has 
developed programs on criminal justice reform in China with Chinese 
counterparts. Jerry also has led the way in supporting the release of 
political prisoners in China, including John T. Downey, a former Yale 
College classmate and CIA agent who was released in 1973 after more 
than 20 years' imprisonment in China. He played a crucial role in the 
release of Annette Lu, who would go to be Taiwanese vice president 
under Chen Shui-bian. Jerry also has advocated for and helped secure 
the release of many Chinese political prisoners, including Song Yongyi 
and Chen Guangcheng.
  Professor Jerry Cohen has not only participated in the history of 
U.S.-China relations, he has shaped it. All those who advocate for 
human rights and the rule of law in China owe him a great debt of 
gratitude. I thank Professor Cohen for his exemplary service for 
humanity.

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