Congratulating Alcee Hastings

CONGRATULATING ALCEE HASTINGS -- (House of Representatives - July 09, 2004)

The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Gingrey). Under a previous order of the House, the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer) is recognized for 5 minutes.

Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I rise with a great deal of pride to announce to the Members of the House the election of our colleague, the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Hastings), as president of the Organization on Security and Cooperation in Europe's Parliamentary Assembly.

That assembly, Mr. Speaker, is an assembly of 55 signatory states to the Helsinki Final Act. Those 55 nations were represented by over 300 parliamentarians at their annual meeting in Edinburgh, Scotland, this past week.

Earlier today, Edinburgh time, the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Hastings) received on the first ballot over 55 percent of the votes. This is a historic occasion. He is the first American ever elected president of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly. Not only that, he is the first minority to be elected president of the Organization on Security and Cooperation in Europe and, based upon the information I have, I believe the first and only African American to ever be elected president of one of the interparliamentary assemblies, combining Europe and the United States.

The gentleman from Florida (Mr. Hastings), a distinguished member of our body, has served on the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe since 2001 and has been vice president of the OSCE for the past 2 years. He also has gained important experience in international affairs as a member of the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. The gentleman from Florida (Mr. Hastings) is now serving his seventh term in the Congress of the United States.

I want to thank the gentleman from Illinois (Speaker Hastert) and the bipartisan delegation. The gentleman from Florida (Mr. Hastings) serves in this body and is a Democrat; but he ran as an American, and he was supported by the American delegation, Republicans and Democrats. And I want to thank the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith) for his leadership of our delegation, the chairman of the Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe Commission here in the Congress.

The gentleman from Illinois (Speaker Hastert), in his letter supporting the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Hastings), said, "Never one to retreat from a challenge, Alcee Hastings possesses an instinctive ability to identify solutions and build common ground for their implementation."

It was that ability, that quality, that determination that the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Hastings) had which led to his overwhelming election. Gert Weisskirchen, in Germantown, who withdrew in favor of the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Hastings) this week, said to the Palm Beach Post that the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Hastings) represents the best of the United States. Now, Mr. Weisskirchen and the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Hastings) have served together for almost a decade in the organization's parliamentary assembly, so his observations are well founded and based upon his experience.

The gentleman from Florida (Mr. Hastings) will bring credit to our country, credit to our Congress, and credit to the Parliamentary Assembly. I will tell my colleagues that the United States has the privilege next year in July on our July 4 break of hosting the 55 nations that make up the Parliamentary Assembly. I know that all of us look forward to welcoming our colleagues from throughout Europe and Canada, the signatory states, with the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Hastings) as the president of that organization to our Capitol city and showing them American hospitality, while at the same time cementing a relationship with our allies and raising very significant and important issues to international security, peace, and economic well-being.

Mr. Speaker, I thank you for this time to honor our colleague, the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Hastings), on this historic election as president of the Parliamentary Assembly of the OSCE.