[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 21]
[House]
[Page 28912]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          HONORING ABE POLLIN

  (Mr. HOYER asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, our Capital City is mourning the death of one 
of its leading citizens, a man I was proud to call my friend: Abe 
Pollin. Our thoughts and sympathy are with his wife, Irene, and his 
sons, Robert and Jim.
  Abe Pollin's business skill, his philanthropy, and his civic spirit 
changed Washington, D.C., for the better; and, indeed, his legacy 
extends far beyond this city. It is a legacy that will long outlive Abe 
Pollin himself, but I rise today to honor the man behind it.
  Abe was the son of a Russian immigrant who came to this country 
speaking no English, and he rose to become one of this city's most 
successful developers.
  He was a boy whose fondest memories were of paying 25 cents to sit in 
the bleachers at Washington Senators games. And even when he had 
brought basketball and hockey teams to Washington, he kept his 
childhood passion for sports.
  The same work ethic that sent him to local railroad yards at 4 in the 
morning to buy supplies for his father's contracting business helped 
make him a fortune building housing for thousands. For some that would 
have been enough, but for Abe it was only the beginning.
  Like his father, Morris, whose generosity earned him the nickname 
``Charity'' in the Washington Jewish community, Abe Pollin has a proud 
place in the great American and Jewish traditions of philanthropy. 
There are thousands and thousands who owe him thanks, whether or not 
they knew him firsthand. They are sons and daughters of 9/11 victims 
whose education Abe helped pay for, D.C. families who live in 
affordable housing that Abe built.
  Speaking in 1997 of the arena that was the centerpiece of 
Washington's downtown rebirth, Abe said this:
  ``I walk through that building and I get tears in my eyes. I've got 
everything I've ever done in my life on the line.''
  It was his money that paid to build that arena.
  ``My advisers think I'm nuts. But I wanted to do something special 
for my town.''
  Indeed, Abe Pollin's life was something special for this town, for 
sports not only in this town but in America, and for his country.

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