March 30, 2006 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — Extensions of Remarks E479 however, support was lukewarm at best; many A TRIBUTE TO THE HEIGHTS Charles Taylor, the accused butcher and saw efforts to apprehend and bring to justice PLAYERS mutilator of thousands of Africans during one those responsible for heinous crimes as too of the deadliest and bloodiest regimes of mod- far-reaching, perhaps unachievable, and po- HON. EDOLPHUS TOWNS ern day Liberia and four other African states. tentially detrimental to efforts to end the con- OF NEW YORK I enter into the RECORD an article from the flict through diplomacy. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES New York Daily News entitled ‘‘Africa’s Lead- ing Lady’’ which reveals that African women The Coalition for International Justice was a Thursday, March 30, 2006 are coming to the fore, trying to right all of the tireless advocate of another view, one that Mr. TOWNS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in wrongs put and held in place by a succession saw no true peace, nor the resulting long-term recognition of a talented and distinguished of brutal and corrupt African men. Emphasis is stability, in Bosnia or anywhere else, without community theater group, the Heights Players, placed on the atrocities carried out by Taylor appropriate consideration of justice. Time has as they embark upon their 50th anniversary. It and his followers and mentions how Taylor’s since shown how correct that view has been. is an honor to represent the Heights Players greed has ‘‘casually’’ reduced Liberia to a pau- Bosnia and Herzegovina has come a long way in the House of Representatives and it be- per state. since the mid-1990s, in large part because hooves us to pay tribute to such an out- I personally believe that Ellen Johnson- those responsible for war crimes, crimes standing community organization that has Sirleaf, also known as the ‘‘Iron Lady’’ for her brought the art of performance to adults and determination and tenacity, is the very best against humanity and genocide were instead children throughout Brooklyn. person to lead Liberia from its dark, tormented removed from positions of authority and made Mr. Speaker, the Heights Players were past into a bright and productive future. accountable at the tribunal located in The founded in 1956 by a small collection of the- [From the New York Daily News, Mar. 30, Hague. Many of those people might still be at atre-lovers and successfully produced their 2006] large had the Coalition, among others, not ad- first production, Hasty Heart, in February of AFRICA’S LEADING LADY: PRESIDENT’S GUTSY vocated a tough policy toward those powers 1957. The Heights Players eventually estab- MOVE VS. WARLORD TEACHES VALUABLE who were harboring and protecting them. lished themselves as a nonprofit educational LESSON Many of us can remember the State Depart- corporation of New York, offering a workshop (By Stanley Crouch) ment’s hesitancy, let alone that of many Euro- program and expanding the group to extend When Charles Taylor, the ex-Liberian thug pean foreign ministries, to these tough meas- opportunities to new performers and directors. president, was arrested in Nigeria trying to ures. Today, however, the United States main- For the past 50 years, the Heights Players escape the clutches of international law, he was in a car with 110–pound bags of embez- tains an effective conditionality on assistance have continued to assume an active role in the community by presenting performances for zled money. Well, he was not traveling light. to Serbia and, along with the European Union, homeless groups, senior citizens and hospital- Taylor had risen to power after seven years on Serbia’s integration efforts due to the par- of civil war, had won an election with 75% of bound children. In 1962, the Heights Players ticular failure to transfer Ratko Mladic to The the vote and had casually reduced his coun- moved to their current location at the historic try to a pauper state. He is accused of start- Hague. Similar linkages apply to another at- 26 Willow Place in the basement of the Alfred ing conflicts in four other African states and large indictee, Radovan Karadzic. T. White Community Center. The Heights encouraging the chopping off of hands, feet, Representatives of the Coalition for Inter- Players, under their Board of Directors, con- lips and noses in Sierra Leone so that the national Justice participated in numerous brief- tinuously seek to enhance the quality of their terrified population would not hinder the sale of stolen diamonds. ings and hearings of the Helsinki Commission performances, facilities, and organization. The Heights Players now enjoy a large Taylor is one of those African butchers on this subject, and were always available to who could have modeled himself on King membership of 200 subscribers and a group provide useful information when justice in the Leopold II, the 19th-century Belgian king. mailing list of 2,500 supporters, including Balkans became part of our policy debates. Leopold’s colonial policies in the Congo re- those from the Brooklyn Heights Community sulted in countless slaughters and many mu- The Coalition similarly assisted the inter- along with the tri-state area. The Heights Play- tilations in the interest of producing a prof- national criminal tribunal established for Rwan- ers also continue to provide special Theater itable rubber crop. da in its efforts to be fair, responsible and ef- for Children performances, traveling entertain- Leopold became a pariah among European courts, but naturally black-faced variations fective in the provision of justice. Its mandate ment to Brooklyn hospitals, nursing homes, and Hale House in Manhattan, and special in Africa have wielded iron-fisted power later expanded to help the investigation and without compunction, worrying only about prosecutions process in East Timor, to estab- performances to nearly 1,000 homeless New being overthrown by some ambitious fellow lish a tribunal for Khmer Rouge crimes in Yorkers annually. They have been awarded monster in the military. If given the time, Cambodia, and to create a Special Court for for their ongoing laudable community efforts these monsters have fled to another African by Brooklyn Borough President Abe Stark, the country, or to the Arab states, or even to the Sierra Leone. It helped track the finance of Brooklyn Heights Association, the City Coun- French Riviera, where they have been able to such notorious figures as Charles Taylor, Sad- cil, and Borough President Howard Golden, cool out and impress everyone with their pil- dam Hussein and the Khartoum elites, in addi- who designated April 4, 1987, as ‘‘Heights fered riches. As the Taylor case has proven, that trend tion to Slobodan Milosevic and Radovan Players Day.’’ Karadzic. Most recently, the Coalition has in African politics may be coming to a Mr. Speaker, I believe that it is incumbent screeching halt. Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, the been part of the international effort not just to on this body to recognize the achievements first elected female president in all of Africa, hold those responsible for the genocide in and committed service of the Heights Players had requested that Nigeria hand over Taylor Darfur accountable from the crimes already as they continue to offer their artistic talents to the authorities in Sierra Leone, where he committed but to protect the civilian population and performances for the benefit of the com- would have to face charges of individual butchery, mutilation and crimes against hu- there from continuing to be victimized. munity. Mr. Speaker, may our country continue to manity. Mr. Speaker, I have appreciated the work of benefit from the actions of altruistic community African women are coming to the fore, try- ing to right all of the wrongs put and held in the Coalition for International Justice as a re- leaders such as the Heights Players. source of accurate information, and as an ad- place by a succession of brutal and corrupt f African men. African justice has been as po- vocate to a reasonable, practical approach to rous as Swiss cheese for more than 40 years the sometimes controversial subject of inter- AFRICA’S LEADING LADY and the African people have suffered enor- national justice. While its board and staff may mously while black Americans in or out of have concluded that the Coalition has largely HON. CHARLES B. RANGEL elected office, in or out of the civil rights es- OF NEW YORK tablishment, have either ignored the horrors accomplished the tasks it was created to ad- wrought upon the people or have figured out dress, they know, as do we, that horrible IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ways to blame it all on others. crimes continue to be committed against inno- Thursday, March 30, 2006 The women of Africa are more interested in dealing with the facts than maintaining a cent people in conflicts around the world. I am Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to confident that the dedicated individuals who cosmetic front of innocence. In a number of commend Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, the first elect- places across Africa, we see women rooting made the Coalition such a success will con- ed female president of Liberia, for her straight- out corruption and conceiving laws that will tinue, through other organizations and offices, forward opinion that addresses jurisdictional bring them closer to a standard of human in the struggle for international justice. control for prosecutorial legal action against equality.

VerDate Aug 31 2005 05:05 Mar 31, 2006 Jkt 049060 PO 00000 Frm 00017 Fmt 0626 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\A30MR8.065 E30MRPT1 ycherry on PROD1PC64 with REMARKS E480 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — Extensions of Remarks March 30, 2006 Interestingly, Oprah Winfrey, who keeps Parrish, the House of Delegates’ oldest IN HONOR AND MEMORY OF PRI- turning up, has been a model. Winfrey has member, was in his 13th term from Manas- VATE FIRST CLASS AMY inspired African women to rebel against rape sas. DUERKSEN and kidnap, to defy misogynistic laws and to He was born Feb. 19, 1922, in Fairfax Coun- face up to the ravages of AIDS. ty and moved as a child with his family to It is both sobering and exciting to realize HON. C.A. DUTCH RUPPERSBERGER Manassas, then a small, rural town. He grad- that American women, having been taught OF MARYLAND uated from Osbourn High School in 1940 and much by the civil rights movement, can in- IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES spire African women by example, and that later from Virginia Tech. elected or appointed African officials can He joined the Army Air Force in 1942 and Thursday, March 30, 2006 lead the way through the ingrained igno- began pilot training in Alabama, but was as- Mr. RUPPERSBERGER. Mr. Speaker, I rise rance, poverty and disease that block human signed to the British Royal Air Force, where before you today to mourn the loss and honor fulfillment. Such human force explains the he completed his training. the life of PFC Amy Duerksen, who died the mystery of African optimism. He was part of an allied mission to fly lum- 11th day of March 2006 in support of Oper- f bering transport planes laden with heavy ation Iraqi Freedom. REMEMBERING HARRY PARRISH supplies, weapons and ammunition from Private Duerksen was no stranger to the India into China over the world’s highest United States Armed Forces. She was third- mountain range, the Himalayas. generation military. Her father is MAJ Douglas HON. FRANK R. WOLF The C–47s like the one Parrish flew took W. Duerksen, an Army chaplain at Aberdeen OF VIRGINIA off from crude, sometimes muddy airfields in Proving Ground in Aberdeen, MD. Her grand- IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES the Indian jungles and struggled to heft their father, Wayne Duerksen, is a veteran of the Thursday, March 30, 2006 cargo over icy peaks that doomed many Navy, having served in World War II. And her flights. Because Japan controlled land routes sister, April Duerksen, is also a member of the Mr. WOLF. Mr. Speaker, it is an honor for through Burma, the airlifts over what pilots Army, stationed at Fort Sam Houston, Texas. me to remember Mr. Harry Parrish, member of called ‘‘the Hump’’ were the only way to sup- In April of last year, Amy joined the Fourth the Virginia General Assembly and decorated ply the legendary Flying Tigers, which Combat Support Battalion, First Brigade, World War II pilot from Manassas, VA, who bombed Japan from bases in China. Fourth Infantry Division, based at Fort Hood, passed away on March 28 at the age of 84. Parrish received the Distinguished Flying TX. Her unit was deployed on Christmas Day. Harry Parrish served over 50 years in elect- Cross and the Air Medal with two oak leaf On the eighth day of March 2006, Private ed office, including 13 terms in the House of clusters. He left active duty in 1946 but flew Duerksen suffered injuries in a noncombat-re- Delegates and chairman of the Finance Com- as an Air Force reservist in wars with Korea lated incident, and she was not able to re- mittee since 2000, Manassas council member, and Vietnam before retiring as a colonel and cover from those injuries. and mayor. At the time of his passing, he was command pilot. She is remembered as a dedicated soldier the oldest serving member of the House of In 2002, as one of few remaining World War who greatly loved her country and faithfully Delegates. During his 12 years as town coun- II veterans in the General Assembly, Parrish served her fellow Americans by fighting for cilman and 18 years as mayor, Harry helped helped secure Virginia’s $334,000 contribution this great nation. Private Duerksen was full of guide the transformation of Manassas from a to the National World War II Memorial in passion and life. She possessed a strong faith small Virginia town to a thriving, lively suburb. Washington, D.C. and willingly shared that with others. As a member of the House of Delegates, he ‘‘I kind of regret us being the last state, Private Duerksen risked her life to serve our was known for conducting himself in a bipar- but I’m glad we finally came around,’’ Par- country. She deserves our unending admira- tisan manner, putting Virginia first. I was proud rish said in an interview, pained that Vir- tion and appreciation. Mr. Speaker, I ask that to call Harry my friend. He was a true Virginia ginia was the last state to contribute to the you join with me in honoring the life of PFC gentleman. memorial. Amy Duerksen. She was a remarkable soldier Harry was also a decorated World War II Parrish was elected to the House in 1981 as and patriot. pilot. As part of the British Royal Air Force he part of an insignificant Republican minority. flew C–47s over the Himalayas delivering sup- Before that, he served for 12 years on the Ma- f plies, weapons and other cargo, from India to nassas Town Council and for 18 years as A TRIBUTE TO MICHAEL J. China. He received the Distinguished Flying mayor. During his mayoral term, Manassas CHAMBERS Cross and the Air Medal for his valiant efforts. transformed from a town into a thriving, af- He served as a reservist in the Korean and fluent city. HON. EDOLPHUS TOWNS Vietnam wars before retiring as a colonel. Through a total of 53 years in elected of- OF NEW YORK I insert for the RECORD the Potomac News fice, Parrish won abiding respect as a lis- IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES obituary from March 28. A northern Virginia tener and problem solver from Republicans native, Harry will be deeply missed by the and Democrats. In 2000, when the GOP ended Thursday, March 30, 2006 a century of Democratic dominance in the people of Manassas, and at home by his fam- Mr. TOWNS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in ily and wife, Mattie, of 62 years. House, Parrish became co-chairman and later chairman of the Finance Committee, recognition of Michael J. Chambers, and I [From the Potomac News, Mar. 28, 2006] where his evenhandedness endeared him del- hope my colleagues will join me in recognizing HARRY PARRISH DIES AT 84 egates and senators of both parties. the accomplishments of this outstanding mem- ber of the Brooklyn community. (By Bob Lewis) ‘‘He’s my best friend,’’ Democratic Sen. Mr. Chambers joined the North Brooklyn RICHMOND, VA—Harry Parrish, who defied Charles J. Colgan of Prince William said in a death as a decorated World War II pilot and 2004 interview. ‘‘He and I are the only Demo- Health Network in November 1998. As the headed the state’s most powerful tax-writing crat and Republican in the General Assembly senior associate executive director for the De- panel in the General Assembly, died Tues- ever known to have held a fund raiser to- partment of Psychiatry, he is responsible for day. He was 84. gether.’’ the operation of an extensive network of emer- Parrish had been in intensive care at Parrish was willing to exert his independ- gency, inpatient, and outpatient services to the Prince William Hospital for about three residents of Bushwick, Bedford Stuyvesant, weeks, suffering from pneumonia. His death ence at times, even at the risk of his own was announced by Sen. John Chichester dur- party’s wrath and his prized House leader- Fort Green, Williamsburg, and Greenpoint. ing a meeting of the Senate Finance Com- ship post. Prior to his service at the North Brooklyn Health Network, Mr. Chambers was the Ad- mittee on Capitol Square. By two votes, Parrish’s committee in 2004 Parrish had been in declining health for at advanced a bill to increase taxes by about ministrator of the Department of Psychiatry at least two years but continued a full legisla- $1.4 billion. When the bill came before the Jamaica Hospital Medical Center in Queens. tive schedule, including acting as chairman full House for a decisive vote that April, Par- He was also instrumental in the development of the House Finance Committee, one of the rish was among 17 Republicans who sided of its new Department of Psychiatry. Before most powerful leadership positions in the with House Democrats to pass it. The vote pursuing a career in hospital administration, General Assembly. was critical to ending a 115-day session that Last year, Parrish warded off a Republican Mr. Chambers had a distinguished 14-year ca- divided GOP legislators. primary challenge for his House seat—pay- reer with the New York State Office of Mental back from his party’s own conservative wing In addition to his public duties, Parrish Health, New York City Regional Office, where for defying its anti-tax orthodoxy during the also is chairman of the board of his family’s he served as director of certification for New 2004 tax battle. business, the Manassas Ice and Fuel Co. York City. He is an associate in the American

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