[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 211 (Tuesday, December 7, 2021)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1319-E1320]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         HONORING KURT RICHTER

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. ELISSA SLOTKIN

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, December 7, 2021

  Ms. SLOTKIN. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor an essential member 
of our team who helped us identify--and eventually evacuate--vulnerable 
Afghans after the fall of Kabul, Dr. Kurt Richter of Michigan State 
University.
  If you read his biography on the university website, you'll learn 
that Dr. Richter is a nationally-recognized leader of international 
development implementation. For over 25 years, he's been a dedicated 
academic, and administrator, devoted to improving lives abroad. His 
work has taken him around the world to some of the most complex and 
challenging environments for international development, from Guatemala 
to Georgia, South Sudan to Tajikistan.
  However, it's in his role as director of the Grain Research and 
Innovation (GRAIN) programs at MSU that he was connected to scientists 
in Afghanistan working to grow wheat in arid conditions. It's essential 
research, particularly in a country where shortages of wheat are the 
primary causes for hunger and economic instability. But when the 
Taliban began advancing, and finally took Kabul, their connection to an 
American university and USAID funding put them in grave danger.

[[Page E1320]]

  This is when Dr. Richter sprang into action, first submitting visa 
applications for his staff and scholars. When the timeline for 
evacuation shrank from months to weeks to days, he worked around the 
clock to find them a seat on one of the planes leaving Hamid Karzai 
International Airport. Dr. Richter had firsthand experience with the 
chaos of an evacuation--he himself was airlifted out of South Sudan 
when a civil war broke out in 2013.
  Thankfully, his tireless efforts paid off. The GRAIN program scholars 
and their families made it onto our convoy of buses and finally made it 
through the airport gates after multiple attempts and nearly 24 
harrowing hours. Madam Speaker, words alone can't express my gratitude 
for everything that Dr. Richter did--and continues to do--for the 
individuals that he vouched for. Simply put, his advocacy saved lives 
and it deserves to be recognized by a grateful community and nation.
  Madam Speaker, I rise to honor Mr. Kurt Richter for his willingness 
to go above and beyond the call of duty in our effort to evacuate 
Afghan allies from Kabul and support them in their new life. For his 
efforts to identify vulnerable scientists, particularly female 
scholars, when they feared for their lives and for his character that 
faithfully upholds the values of Michigan State University, I submit 
these words--may they stand as a tribute to his dedicated service when 
the moment called for it most.

                          ____________________