[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 1]
[House]
[Pages 1073-1074]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




          REQUESTING AN INVESTIGATION CONCERNING MYRON KUROPAS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Emanuel) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. EMANUEL. Mr. Speaker, today I sent a letter to the Secretary of 
State requesting an investigation into how an individual, a professor 
at Northern Illinois University who is known for anti-Jewish comments, 
was selected to participate in an official U.S. delegation to the 
inaugural ceremonies of Ukrainian president, Viktor Yuschenko.
  For those who might not be aware of this story, last week the Chicago 
Tribune and the Chicago Sun Times reported that Myron Kuropas, an 
adjunct professor at Northern Illinois University, accompanied former 
Secretary of State Colin Powell on a presidential delegation to the 
Ukrainian inauguration.
  At first glance, the professor's selection as a member of the 
delegation seems perfectly normal. He is of Ukrainian descent and a 
well-known expert in the region. Furthermore, the professor is a former 
Ford administration official and had served on the staff of a Senator. 
Yet Professor Kuropas also has a disturbing history of anti-Jewish 
remarks.
  In 1998, he said, ``Let the Jews go on the defensive for a change. 
The crimes of their people cannot be explained away easily.''
  In 2000, he said, ``Big money drives the Holocaust industry. To 
survive, the Holocaust industry is always searching for its next mark. 
Ukraine's turn is just around the corner.''
  He also accused the Jewish people of being ``instrumental in the rise 
of Soviet Communism and the horrors of Stalinism,'' which is an 
interesting take for a professor of history.
  It is pretty clear where Professor Kuropas stands. He is entitled to 
his views, but it is disturbing that an individual whose views are not 
only inconsistent with those of most Americans

[[Page 1074]]

but also dangerous would be selected to represent the United States on 
a presidential delegation to the Ukrainian inauguration.
  Inexplicably, when asked whether or not he renounced his previous 
statements, the professor stood by his previous comments. What is more, 
it is unclear to this date who selected the professor to go on the 
delegation, which was the basis of the letter I sent to the Secretary 
of State.
  The State Department, when asked, said, ``I think that's really a 
White House question. It was a White House delegation.''
  When the White House was asked, they said that they had no idea how 
he was selected.
  He comes from Northern Illinois University, in the Speaker's 
district. The Speaker said he had no involvement in this, which I 
believe to be true.
  But the question is, how does a known anti-Semite walk on the plane 
of the United States Government with the Secretary of State as a 
representative of a presidential delegation, representing the American 
people, who constantly and consistently has published and speaks out in 
a vile way, in my view, against the Jewish people and yet nobody from 
the State Department to the White House or anybody else involved can 
tell us how he got there or who recommended him? And yet he represented 
the United States, and I would assume some would say our values of 
democracy, while in the Ukraine as a part of that delegation and yet 
consistently refuses to back away from comments that, in my view, are 
just one individual's take, are neither pro to the Jewish people or to 
those who border, in my view, on anti-Semitism.

                              {time}  1945

  It is ironic that the professor who has done the best job of summing 
up the issue, because he wrote criticisms of Jews, and I am quoting 
him, ``All of a sudden I do not have a right to be a part of the 
American delegation?'' I could not have said it better myself. The 
United States should not and does not condone anti-Semitism or 
discrimination of any kind.
  Allowing a known anti-Semite to represent America, which I find 
ironic on the same week that we celebrate the 60th anniversary of the 
liberation of Auschwitz, is an embarrassment and a contradiction of all 
of our values regardless of party.
  Mr. Speaker, the issue before us is how did the professor get on the 
plane and who recommended him to represent the United States of 
America? We deserve an answer. And in the letter I ask the Secretary of 
State to provide that answer and to look into this. And I look forward 
to that answer so we can clear up the question of how a professor who 
does not hide his views when it comes to the Jewish people was selected 
to represent the United States with the Secretary of State on an 
official plane in an official delegation, whose views are abhorrent to 
our values of decency and respect for people of diverse ethnicity.

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