[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 178 (Friday, October 8, 2021)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1071-E1072]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      RECOGNIZING JESSICA NEUWIRTH

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. CAROLYN B. MALONEY

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, October 8, 2021

  Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York. Madam Speaker, I rise to 
recognize my friend, Jessica Neuwirth, for her longstanding commitment 
to women's rights and her work against human trafficking around the 
world.
  As one of America's preeminent lawyers and activists on women's 
rights and a graduate of Harvard Law School, Jessica has worked 
extensively in the international women's rights movement with the 
United Nations, in international criminal courts, and within the larger 
global women's movement. She served as Special Advisor on Sexual 
Violence to the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, drafting 
the sections on sexual violence of the historic Akayesu judgement in 
1998, which defined rape for the first time in international law and 
found sexual violence to constitute a form of genocide.
  Jessica continued her important work in the international sphere, 
helping to organize a global Afghan Women's Summit just three months 
after 9/11 in December 2001, and a Beijing +10 campaign on laws which 
discriminate against women, resulting in the creation by the Human 
Rights Council of a UN Working Group on Discrimination Against Women in 
Law and Practice. She played a key role in the passage of the 
Trafficking Victims Protection Act in 2000, as well as the 
international Palermo Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish 
Trafficking in Persons, adopted by the United Nations in 2000. Jessica 
has also served as Special Advisor on Sexual Violence to the UN High 
Commissioner for Human Rights, where she continued to highlight the 
gruesome use of rape as a weapon in armed conflicts around the world. 
Today, as the Rita E. Hauser Director of the Human Rights Program at 
the Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute at Hunter College, Jessica 
serves as an incubator for the Global Reparations Fund for Victims of 
Sexual Violence launched last year at the United Nations.
  It is therefore no surprise that Jessica was honored this past week 
with the insignia of Knight of the French Legion of Honour. This is the 
highest award that a citizen or noncitizen of France can receive, and 
speaks volumes about the strong devotion, and enduring drive for 
justice that has characterized Jessica for her entire life.

[[Page E1072]]

  She can now add the Legion of Honour to the host of other accolades 
bestowed upon her over the years, including the National Organization 
for Women's Susan B. Anthony Award (1997), the Visionary Ending 
Violence Award from the Harvard Office of Sexual Assault Prevention and 
Response (2005), the New York County Lawyer's Association Edith I. 
Spivack Award (2009), and the Civic Spirit Award from the Women's City 
Club (2016), among a plethora of others throughout her storied career.
  I am so pleased that our long-time ally has recognized Jessica for 
her critical contributions to anti-trafficking and women's rights 
around the world, and I am proud to be able to do the same today.

                          ____________________