[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 7]
[Senate]
[Page 10250]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



          THE JEWISH COMMUNITY COUNCIL OF METROPOLITAN DETROIT

 Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, I rise today to pay tribute to the 
Jewish Community Council of Metropolitan Detroit, which is celebrating 
its 60th anniversary on May 23, 1999.
  The Jewish Community Council brings together more than 200 Jewish 
community organizations under one umbrella, enabling the community to 
act in a unified way on issues of shared interest and concern. The 
Council's activities include building partnerships between people of 
different faiths and ethnic backgrounds, working to strengthen 
Metropolitan Detroit's Jewish community, and providing information to 
state and federal legislators about important issues.
  The people of Metropolitan Detroit have always been able to count on 
the Jewish Community Council for assistance. The Council administers an 
annual food drive conducted by a broad-based coalition of community 
organizations, provides volunteers to an interfaith effort to 
revitalize economically distressed areas of the City of Detroit, and 
has fought to restore food stamps for legal immigrants.
  One of the Council's most impressive achievements is its continuing 
effort to build bridges between people of different backgrounds. Some 
of the programs sponsored by the Council include the Detroit/Israel 
Student Exchange and Seeds of Peace program. The Detroit/Israel Student 
Exchange sends Detroit Public School students to Israel, and the 
students subsequently host Israeli teens at their homes in Detroit. 
Seeds of Peace is an innovative program which works to achieve lasting 
peace in the Middle East by bringing together Arab and Israeli 
teenagers at a summer camp in Maine with daily conflict-resolution 
sessions led by professional American, Arab and Israeli facilitators. 
The Council also works with other ethnic communities to welcome new 
immigrants to Michigan and to provide swearing-in ceremonies for new 
American citizens.
  As I travel across America and too often see people disconnected from 
each other, I am more and more certain that the strong sense of 
community in the Jewish community is a pillar of our strength and an 
essential path to our well-being. The Jewish community comes together 
to educate our young, house our seniors, take care of immigrants, and 
provide culture and recreation. I watched this sense of community with 
wonder when I was a boy and I see it with great pride as a man. This 
deeply felt sense of community--of being part of something larger than 
our individual selves-- is a vital part of who we are.
  The Jewish Community Council serves as the ``public face'' of this 
extraordinary community and I know my colleagues will join me in 
offering congratulations on its 60th anniversary, and in wishing the 
Council continued success in the future.

                          ____________________