[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 2]
[House]
[Page 2537]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                          RABBI LANCE SUSSMAN

  (Mr. HINCHEY asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. HINCHEY. Mr. Speaker, it is with a great deal of pleasure and 
privilege that I welcome here my constituent, Rabbi Lance Sussman, of 
Binghamton, New York, as the guest chaplain. We are honored to have 
Rabbi Sussman with us this morning to offer the opening prayer for 
today's session. Rabbi Sussman is a native of Baltimore, where he 
graduated from Franklin and Marshall College. He was ordained at the 
Hebrew Union College Jewish Institute of Religion, where he earned a 
Ph.D. in American Jewish history.
  In 1986, Rabbi Sussman was appointed to the faculty of Binghamton 
University, where he continues to teach Jewish history. He founded his 
own small press, called Kesher Press, and has published several notable 
works that document Jewish history in America and, specifically, in 
upstate New York.
  In 1990, the rabbi was called to lead the Temple Concord in 
Binghamton and for 11 years has served his congregation and his 
community with great distinction. He established a food pantry and a 
seasonal museum called Hanukkah House, which now attracts thousands of 
school children of all faiths from across our region of New York. 
Working with Elderhostel, the rabbi has also worked to make Temple 
Concord a leading center for adult Jewish education.
  Rabbi Sussman has been called to a new position as senior rabbi at 
the Reform Congregation Keneseth Israel in Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, 
where he will begin serving in July. He will be greatly missed by his 
congregation and the countless other residents of the Binghamton area 
whose lives he has touched.
  Mr. Speaker, I am proud that this Chamber has honored Rabbi Sussman 
with the opportunity to offer today's opening prayer. It is a wonderful 
send-off for a fine man and spiritual leader. I hope that you will join 
me in welcoming Rabbi Sussman, his wife Liz, their children, family 
members and congregants.

                          ____________________