{"database": "openregs", "table": "congressional_record", "rows": [["CREC-1994-12-20-pt1-PgE11", "1994-12-20", 103, 2, null, null, "HIAS AWARDS DINNER HONOREES", "HOUSE", "EXTENSIONS", "FRONTMATTER", "E", "E", "[{\"name\": \"Benjamin A. Gilman\", \"role\": \"speaking\"}]", null, "140 Cong. Rec. E", "Congressional Record, Volume 140 Issue 150 (Tuesday, December 20, 1994)\n\n[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 150 (Tuesday, December 20, 1994)]\n[Extensions of Remarks]\n[Page E]\nFrom the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]\n\n[Congressional Record: December 20, 1994]\nFrom the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]\n\n                      HIAS AWARDS DINNER HONOREES\n\n                                 ______\n\n                        HON. BENJAMIN A. GILMAN\n\n                              of new york\n\n                    in the house of representatives\n\n                       Tuesday, December 20, 1994\n\n  Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, this past fall the Hebrew Immigrant Aid\nSociety [HIAS] held its annual awards dinner in New York City, and\nconferred celebratory awards to individuals who have contributed to\nhumanitarian efforts. One of those honored was our distinguished\nranking Republican Member of the House Judiciary Committee,\nRepresentative Hamilton Fish, Jr., who was awarded HIAS' Liberty Award.\n  The Liberty Award recognizes an individual who has helped further\nworld peace and freedom. Congressman Fish, during his decades of\nservice to his constituents, New York State, and the Nation, on the\nHouse Judiciary Committee, has made important and lasting contributions\nto the lives of immigrants and refugees. He is richly deserving of this\naward, and I wish to congratulate him on behalf of our colleagues in\nthe House of Representatives.\n  Also recognized at the awards dinner were the recipients of HIAS'\nHarold Friedman Memorial Award. Benjamin and Vladka Meed of the\nAmerican Gathering/Federation of Jewish Holocaust Survivors received\nthis newly established honor, which recognizes former refugees who have\nachieved noteworthy success in the United States. Mr. and Mrs. Meed\nhave devoted their lives to the memory of the Holocaust and the welfare\nof its survivors, and are leaders in Holocaust education efforts.\n  Accordingly, Mr. Speaker, I would like to share the acceptance\nspeeches of Congressman Fish and Benjamin Meed with my colleagues.\nTheir responses illuminate lifetimes of service for the benefit of\nothers, as well as a dedication to one of the highest principles of\nJewish tradition, that of tikkun olam, repairing the world.\nAccordingly, I request that their statements be printed at this point\nin the Congressional Record for the benefit of our Members and other\ninterested individuals.\n\n   Remarks by the Honorable Hamilton Fish, Jr., HIAS Awards Dinner,\n                            October 13, 1994\n\n       I am honored to receive this award and humbled by the\n     company of former recipients I am joining. Emanuel Celler and\n     Peter Rodino, past chairman of the House Judiciary Committee,\n     mentored me in immigration and refugee affairs. Father Ted\n     Hesburgh led the efforts of the Select Commission on\n     Immigration and Refugee Policy in articulating our national\n     commitment to a generous immigration policy and a humane\n     response to refugee crises.\n       HIAS' vigilance and guidance over the years energized and\n     sustained those of us in the Congress who believe in the\n     ennobling work of helping persecuted people. Under the\n     leadership of Martin Kesselhaut and Marty Wenick, HIAS is a\n     positive and constructive voice in the heated national debate\n     over immigration policy. Ed Shapiro, a former HIAS president\n     and personal friend, continues to inspire me with his\n     involvement in HIAS's work of rescue and resettlement.\n       The Liberty Award has special meaning of me because I have\n     admired--for many years--the devotion of the HIAS leadership\n     and staff to compassionate values. The satisfaction I have\n     derived, however, from participating in endeavors on behalf\n     of refugees has been its own record. Over the years,\n     opportunities to visit refuseniks in Moscow, spend time in\n     Rome and Vienna with Jews in transit, and learn in Israel in\n     the the United States about the meaning of freedom directly\n     from former victims of religious hatred is a source of\n     continuing personal satisfaction.\n       The current refugee program for Jews from the former Soviet\n     Union--as you all know so well--represents a culmination of\n     our long struggle to lower emigration barriers. Opportunities\n     for Jews in that region to find havens in Israel and in the\n     United States must continue to be facilitated and sustained.\n     Any discussion of winding down U.S. admissions is premature\n     because anti-Semitism remains a potent force. The Immigration\n     and Naturalization Service refugee interviewing capacity in\n     the former Soviet Union cannot be compromised if the\n     essential humanitarian work of identifying individuals and\n     families qualified for U.S. resettlement is to be maintained.\n     Pressures to cut admission numbers must be resisted as long\n     as significant backlogs remain.\n       This period of transition for me is an opportunity to\n     reflect on the most significant migration-related legislation\n     that has become law during my congressional service. Since\n     1980, in contrast to earlier periods, we have had a strong\n     and flexible refugee law that can facilitate the expeditious\n     admission of persons escaping persecution. We successfully\n     resisted attempts, in the early 80s, to lump refugees and\n     immigrants together under the same ceiling--a step that would\n     have placed the need to save lives in competition with\n     legitimate desires to bring relatives to this country. In\n     enacting the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986, we\n     sought to effectuate the interrelated goals of discouraging\n     future illegal immigration and responding humanely to the\n     plight of those undocumented aliens who already had become a\n     part of our society. At the beginning of the new decade--with\n     the passage of the Immigration Act of 1990--we gave enhanced\n     expression to the principle of family reunification and\n     provided expanded opportunities for persons without family\n     ties to contribute to our country's economic life.\n       In my view, the major principles that find expression in\n     American immigration and refugee law remain sound. The\n     biggest challenge we face is sentiment that fails to\n     distinguish between people who act in contravention of our\n     laws without persecution claims and legal immigrants,\n     asylees, and refugees who all must receive a welcome\n     consistent with our traditions. HIAS has a critical role to\n     play in preventing the erosion of support for our refugee and\n     legal immigration policies.\n       The United States' willingness to welcome refugees and\n     immigrants to our shores is one of the great sources of our\n     nation's strength. The humanitarian work of providing refuge\n     is satisfying not only because the United States--a leader in\n     refugee resettlement--is helping people who need our\n     assistance but also because that same effort adds to our\n     country's vitality. When we display generosity toward persons\n     escaping persecution, we not only express our compassion as a\n     nation, but also advance the foreign policy interests of the\n     United States, set an example for other countries, and\n     reaffirm our commitment to individual freedom. Continued\n     American receptivity to refugees must go hand in hand with an\n     immigration policy that promotes the goal of family unity and\n     gives expression to the values of a pluralistic society.\n       In the decade of the 90s, I have every confidence the\n     United States will continue to benefit greatly from the\n     contributions of those we welcome as refugees and immigrants.\n     I look forward to remaining active on these issues of mutual\n     concern in the years ahead.\n       Thank you.\n\n   Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society [HIAS] First Annual Harold Friedman\n                             Memorial Award\n\n (Acceptance Speech by Benjamin Meed, Co-recipient (With Vladka Meed))\n\n       Ladies and Gentlemen: Vladka and I are deeply moved to be\n     honored as the first recipients of the Harold Friendman\n     Memorial Award. We also very much appreciate the kind words\n     spoken about us here tonight. However, we feel that this\n     award, although given to us, is really intended to honor the\n     achievements of all of the Holocaust survivors who--with the\n     help of the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society--came to rebuild\n     their lives in this and other countries.\n       It is a long way, in time, in distance and in feelings--\n     from the German Nazi concentration camps, partisan forests,\n     witnessing the destruction of the Warsaw ghetto and, after\n     the war, the displaced person camps--to be here this evening\n     to be honored by the HIAS. What survivor would have dared\n     even to dream, 50 years ago, of such an evening as we are\n     experiencing tonight?\n       I remember very clearly the day, almost half a century ago,\n     when a gentleman, wearing the uniform of the UNRRA, climbed\n     up the four flights of steps to the small apartment Vladka\n     and I shared with others in Munich, Germany. That man came to\n     give us the affidavit and other papers necessary to travel to\n     the goldene medina, the USA. His name was Mr. Ilja Dijour. At\n     the time, he was the HIAS director of operations in Germany\n     and Austria.\n       He spoke to us in Yiddish and made us feel that a family\n     member had found us. We will never forget his kind words as\n     he explained what our trip and our new country, America,\n     would be like. He told us there would be many people there\n     who spoke Yiddish, and that we would even be able to read a\n     daily Yiddish newspaper and listen to the radio in our own\n     language. He said, ``In America you will feel at home.''\n       We will never forget his thoughtful expressions of hope for\n     our new life. I remember that when I asked him, why did you\n     come to us, he showed us a telegram he had received from the\n     Jewish Labor Committee in New York. The telegram said, ``Your\n     friends are waiting for you.''\n       Today, I know how right he was. I still have Mr. Dijour's\n     image in my mind. And whatever words I use tonight will not\n     do justice to him and his actions in helping thousands upon\n     thousands of people to come to the United States.\n       Two weeks later we were in Bremerhaven, along with a few\n     hundred other Holocaust survivors, boarding the Marine Perch,\n     one of the first ships to leave for the United States. Eight\n     days later, on May 24, 1946, we arrived in New York. And as\n     we left the ship, HIAS distributed to each one of us our\n     first $10 in U.S. currency. Excited but anxious, not knowing\n     what to expect, we arrived in our first home in the U.S.: The\n     HIAS building at 425 Lafayette Street. From there we started\n     our new life in this country. Vladka and I are two among the\n     hundreds of thousands of immigrants who have come here\n     because of the tireless efforts of HIAS. For both of us, I\n     thank you again for all the help we were given.\n       I also want to say something more about the Holocaust\n     survivors who, many with the assistance of HIAS, came to and\n     settled in this country. For many years, the images which\n     came to mind when the word ``survivor'' was uttered were\n     those terrible pictures of concentration camp inmates taken\n     from the German archives. They are such pitiful images. But\n     today, we survivors--who came from the pit of Hell itself--\n     have shown the world a very different picture of our lives in\n     these 50 years after the Holocast.\n       Most of us came here with very little, or nothing at all.\n     We knew nothing of this country's language or culture. Yet we\n     did not despair. Nor did we become embittered or controlled\n     by hatred, as would have been easy based on our experiences.\n     We worked hard--day and night--doing whatever was necessary\n     to take advantage of the great opportunity this nation\n     provided to start anew.\n       We know that America is a country built by immigrants, but\n     Holocaust survivors are immigrants whose relatives were\n     murdered, and the villages, towns and countries of our birth\n     have become cemeteries. Jewish life and culture are gone from\n     so many places. We had nothing to look back on, so we had to\n     look forward. Here, in our adopted country, we gradually\n     established new homes, rebuilt our families, provided our\n     children with the best education, and contributed--in every\n     way we could--to our communities and to the life of this\n     great nation.\n       And the Holocaust not only robbed us of our homes and\n     families; it also destroyed our chances for education. Yet\n     education is so highly prized by us all, and I am proud to\n     say that today the vast majority of our children--estimated\n     to number close to 250,000--have academic degrees. These\n     wonderful children are represented in every field of\n     endeavor, and thirty percent of them are doctors, lawyers,\n     and teachers.\n       In addition to our contributions to country and community--\n     in the professions, business, the arts, and home life--\n     survivors and their families have also become pillars of the\n     Jewish community, holding leadership positions, supporting\n     significant activities, and infusing Jewish life with their\n     special energy.\n       It should also be said that if not for the motivation and\n     support of survivors, there probably would be no Holocaust\n     remembrance commemorations in the nation's capitol and around\n     the country. And there would be far fewer, if any, Holocaust-\n     related museums, memorials and resource centers. We are\n     pleased that Holocaust survivors have taken on the mission of\n     remembrance, and have been integral in helping to build the\n     U.S. Holocasust Museum in Washington.\n       We are so proud of all that our fellow survivors have\n     achieved, against overwhelming odds, in the past fifty years.\n     Yes, we still have a long way to go. There are many things we\n     still need to accomplish, both for ourselves and for history.\n     Our principal enemy is time, but--somehow--our goals must be\n     reached.\n       Again, we thank HIAS for its wonderful work through all of\n     these years. we have learned through our terrible experiences\n     that the greatest danger was, and will continue to be,\n     indifference. HIAS has never stood idle. Instead, it has\n     played a major role in helping our people wherever they are\n     in need. HIAS has always understood that we must be our\n     brothers'--and sisters'--keepers. HIAS embodies the best of\n     the Jewish spirit.\n       Thank you for being with us tonight.\n\n                          ____________________"]], "columns": ["granule_id", "date", "congress", "session", "volume", "issue", "title", "chamber", "granule_class", "sub_granule_class", "page_start", "page_end", "speakers", "bills", "citation", "full_text"], "primary_keys": ["granule_id"], "primary_key_values": ["CREC-1994-12-20-pt1-PgE11"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.1281108018010855, "source": "Federal Register API & Regulations.gov API", "source_url": "https://www.federalregister.gov/developers/api/v1", "license": "Public Domain (U.S. Government data)", "license_url": "https://www.regulations.gov/faq"}