[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 12]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 17678-17679]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




               IN RECOGNITION OF RENEE AND ROBERT BELFER

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. CAROLYN B. MALONEY

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, November 16, 2011

  Mrs. MALONEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor Renee and Robert Belfer 
for their foresight and generosity in advancing medical research and 
countless other worthwhile charitable and non-profit causes. Partners 
in marriage and philanthropy for more than half a century, Renee and 
Robert Belfer are being honored this month by the internationally 
renowned Weill Cornell Medical College for more than two decades of 
leadership at the Medical College and at an affiliated institution, New 
York-Presbyterian Hospital.

[[Page 17679]]

  This month, a groundbreaking ceremony is being held for the new 
Belfer Research Building of the internationally renowned Weill Cornell 
College of Medicine. Its construction was made possible by an 
extraordinarily generous $100 million donation by Renee and Robert 
Belfer. The Belfer Research Building will be a state-of-the-art 18-
story facility on Manhattan's East Side that will more than double the 
Weill Cornell College of Medicine's existing research space and enhance 
its position at the cutting edge of new medical research and 
discoveries.
  The remarkable record of support provided by Renee and Robert Belfer 
and their family has helped medical researchers and doctors develop 
enduring solutions to some of today's most pressing and prevalent 
health problems. In 1980, Arthur Belfer, the father of Robert Belfer, 
established the R.A. Rees Pritchett Professorship of Microbiology at 
Weill Cornell Medical College with a gift of $1 million. In 1991, 
Robert and Renee Belfer and his two sisters and their husbands, Selma 
and Lawrence Ruben and Anita and Jack Saltz, donated $1.5 million to 
endow the Rochelle Belfer Professorship in Medicine at the College, and 
seven years later, the families contributed $4 million to endow the 
College's Arthur B. Belfer Professorship in Genetic Medicine and 
provide funding for its Arthur and Rochelle Belfer Gene Therapy Core 
Facility. With an $8 million gift to the College of Medicine in 2005, 
Robert and Renee Belfer established The Arthur and Rochelle Belfer 
Institute of Hematology and Medical Oncology, named in honor of his 
parents. The Institute is advancing critical research in fields such as 
solid tumor biology, cancer genomics and proteomics. Renee and Robert 
Belfer have also devoted financial support to programs in women's 
health, and in 2003 donated $1 million to create the Anti-Bioterrorism 
Project.
  Renee and Robert Belfer have truly distinguished themselves on a 
multitude of fronts. A graduate of Vassar College, Mrs. Belfer is 
devoted to education and the arts, serving on the Board of Trustees of 
the Metropolitan Museum of Art; as a Director of the Lincoln Center for 
the Performing Arts; as an Overseer of the Albert Einstein College of 
Medicine; an Executive Board Member of the American Friends of the 
Israel Museum; and a Member of the Chairman's Circle of the Central 
Park Conservancy, among the numerous illustrious non-profit 
institutions she and her husband have supported vigorously over the 
years. A graduate of Columbia College and Harvard Law School, Robert 
Belfer is a titan in the world of business, enjoying a long career at 
the Belco Petroleum Corporation, where he rose to become Chairman, and 
currently serving as Chairman of Belfer Management LLC, a private firm 
specializing in the energy, real estate and financial services sectors. 
He has been an extraordinary supporter of a wide variety of renowned 
educational and non-profit institutions, serving as a Member of the 
Board of Overseers and the Executive Committee of the Weill Cornell 
Medical College; on the Visiting Committee of Harvard University's 
Kennedy School; a Trustee of the Dana Farber Cancer Institute; a Member 
of the Board of Governors of the American Jewish Committee and the 
Weizmann Institute of Science; and former Chair and current Member of 
the Board of Trustees and Executive Committee of the Albert Einstein 
College of Medicine. Together, he and his wife established the Robert 
and Renee Belfer Family Foundation, which has unstintingly bestowed 
generous support on worthwhile institutions like the Weill Cornell 
College of Medicine. They raised children, Rachelle (Malkin), Laurence, 
and Elizabeth, and have five grandchildren.
  Mr. Speaker, I request that my esteemed colleagues join me in paying 
tribute to Renee and Robert Belfer for their significant and enduring 
contributions to the civic life of our nation.

                          ____________________