[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 11]
[House]
[Pages 15029-15030]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1630
                     CONGRATULATING ALCEE HASTINGS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Gingrey). Under a previous order of the 
House, the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer) is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I rise with a great deal of pride to announce 
to the Members of the House the election of our colleague, the 
gentleman from Florida (Mr. Hastings), as president of the Organization 
on Security and Cooperation in Europe's Parliamentary Assembly.
  That assembly, Mr. Speaker, is an assembly of 55 signatory states to 
the Helsinki Final Act. Those 55 nations were represented by over 300 
parliamentarians at their annual meeting in Edinburgh, Scotland, this 
past week.
  Earlier today, Edinburgh time, the gentleman from Florida (Mr. 
Hastings) received on the first ballot over 55 percent of the votes. 
This is a historic occasion. He is the first American ever elected 
president of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly. Not only that, he is the 
first minority to be elected president of the Organization on Security 
and Cooperation in Europe and, based upon the information I have, I 
believe the first and only African American to ever be elected 
president

[[Page 15030]]

of one of the interparliamentary assemblies, combining Europe and the 
United States.
  The gentleman from Florida (Mr. Hastings), a distinguished member of 
our body, has served on the Commission on Security and Cooperation in 
Europe since 2001 and has been vice president of the OSCE for the past 
2 years. He also has gained important experience in international 
affairs as a member of the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. 
The gentleman from Florida (Mr. Hastings) is now serving his seventh 
term in the Congress of the United States.
  I want to thank the gentleman from Illinois (Speaker Hastert) and the 
bipartisan delegation. The gentleman from Florida (Mr. Hastings) serves 
in this body and is a Democrat; but he ran as an American, and he was 
supported by the American delegation, Republicans and Democrats. And I 
want to thank the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith) for his 
leadership of our delegation, the chairman of the Organization of 
Security and Cooperation in Europe Commission here in the Congress.
  The gentleman from Illinois (Speaker Hastert), in his letter 
supporting the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Hastings), said, ``Never one 
to retreat from a challenge, Alcee Hastings possesses an instinctive 
ability to identify solutions and build common ground for their 
implementation.''
  It was that ability, that quality, that determination that the 
gentleman from Florida (Mr. Hastings) had which led to his overwhelming 
election. Gert Weisskirchen, in Germantown, who withdrew in favor of 
the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Hastings) this week, said to the Palm 
Beach Post that the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Hastings) represents 
the best of the United States. Now, Mr. Weisskirchen and the gentleman 
from Florida (Mr. Hastings) have served together for almost a decade in 
the organization's parliamentary assembly, so his observations are well 
founded and based upon his experience.
  The gentleman from Florida (Mr. Hastings) will bring credit to our 
country, credit to our Congress, and credit to the Parliamentary 
Assembly. I will tell my colleagues that the United States has the 
privilege next year in July on our July 4 break of hosting the 55 
nations that make up the Parliamentary Assembly. I know that all of us 
look forward to welcoming our colleagues from throughout Europe and 
Canada, the signatory states, with the gentleman from Florida (Mr. 
Hastings) as the president of that organization to our Capitol city and 
showing them American hospitality, while at the same time cementing a 
relationship with our allies and raising very significant and important 
issues to international security, peace, and economic well-being.
  Mr. Speaker, I thank you for this time to honor our colleague, the 
gentleman from Florida (Mr. Hastings), on this historic election as 
president of the Parliamentary Assembly of the OSCE.

                          ____________________