[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 4]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 4707]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                   IN MEMORY OF THE LATE MORRIS ABRAM

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. BENJAMIN A. GILMAN

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, April 5, 2000

  Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to Morris B. 
Abram, an outstanding leader of the American Jewish community and an 
activist in the civil rights movement whose accomplishments helped 
shape our country and typified the ideal of public service. His death 
last month at the age of 81 was a loss to all of us who counted this 
great American as a friend and mentor on the ways to promote civil 
rights at home and human rights abroad.
  He served as the president of Brandeis University and was asked by 
five presidents to take a lead role in a number of commissions and 
panels that promoted equal educational and housing opportunities for 
all Americans, and protection of our seniors against corruption in the 
nursing home industry and greater respect for human rights around the 
world.
  Having served on the staff of the International Military Tribunal at 
Nuremburg, he learned first-hand about the Holocaust and dedicated 
himself to the Jewish community, serving as national president of the 
American Jewish Committee from 1963 through 1968, Chairman of the 
National Conference on Soviet Jewry from 1983 through 1988, and 
chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations 
from 1986 through 1989.
  President Bush designated him as the United States Permanent 
Representative to the United Nations in Geneva, and he remained in this 
city after completing his ambassadorial term to head up Human Rights 
Watch which highlights the successes and shortcomings of the United 
Nations. In his capacity as chairman of this group he testified before 
the International Relations Committee in July of last year on promoting 
equal treatment of Israel in the United Nations.
  Earlier this year on a committee trip on UN issues in Geneva, I was 
privileged to have dinner with him and his wife, the former Bruna 
Molina, where I sought his counsel on how we can ensure the all UN 
members, including Israel, have the right to sit on all UN bodies 
including the UN Security Council, I ask my colleagues to join me in 
remembering this Great American who battled injustice and 
discrimination wherever and whenever he found it.

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