[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 2]
[Senate]
[Pages 2052-2053]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

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                   RECOGNIZING DEBRA BROWN STEINBERG

 Mr. COLEMAN. Madam President, today I want to recognize the 
accomplishments of Ms. Debra Brown Steinberg. Last year, Ms. Steinberg 
received the Ellis Island Medal of Honor from the National Ethnic 
Coalition of Organizations for her services in representing the 
families of noncitizen

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victims of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the World Trade 
Center. With this award, she joins past notable recipients such as 
former Presidents Gerald Ford, George H.W. Bush, and Bill Clinton.
  Ms. Steinberg has worked tirelessly to help the families of 9/11 
victims. She played a leading role in the creation of the New York 
Lawyers for the Public Interest 9/11 Project shortly after the attacks. 
Ms. Steinberg was a driving force in the creation of the 9/11 Victims 
Compensation Fund, which provided a total of $7 billion to the families 
of those killed in the attacks, and she drafted a substantial portion 
of the New York 9/11 Victims and Families Relief Act. Over the 6 years 
following that tragic day, her selfless service to these families has 
never ceased.
  The Ellis Island Medal of Honor is only the latest in a series of 
honors that have been appropriately awarded to Ms. Steinberg. In 2006, 
she received the American Bar Association's Pro Bono Publico award for 
her many extraordinary efforts on behalf of the families of 9/11 
victims, which she performed without compensation. Her public services 
have also been honored twice by the U.S. House of Representatives, in a 
New York State Senate resolution, and by New York City mayor Michael 
Bloomberg. Ms. Steinberg's work was also featured in the documentary 
film entitled ``The Legal Community's Response to September 11th'' and 
in a similar study entitled ``Public Service in a Time of Crisis.''
  Ms. Steinberg's service should serve as an inspiration not only her 
peers in the legal profession but to all Americans.

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