New York Lawmaker Praises Secretary's Commitment to Diversity.

It was a Thursday in August and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was on a stopover in Washington during a busy schedule of international diplomatic travel. Congressman Charles Rangel had just returned to the U.S. from a visit to South America where he had met with President Alan Garcia to negotiate the final details of a free trade agreement with Peru.

Here, in the Treaty Room of the State Department, the Secretary and the Congressman had taken time out from their international duties to meet with a group of 20 students, including members of the latest graduating class of the Charles B. Rangel International Affairs Program. They would soon take their own places in the international arena as members of the U.S. Foreign Service.

Secretary Rice and Congressman Rangel were in festive moods as they praised the young people's academic accomplishments and commitment to serve as representatives of the U.S. overseas. The Secretary assured them that they would have careers full of challenge and opportunity while doing essential work promoting U.S. interests around the world.

Congressman Rangel described the program as a "breakthrough in the effort to make the representation of our country overseas look like America." He added later, "I can't commend Secretary Rice enough for her support of this initiative and her commitment to diversity in the nation's diplomatic corps."

Participants in the Charles B. Rangel International Affairs Program, the students are part of a larger coterie who have either completed, or are near completion, of subsidized graduate studies in a program designed to enhance diversity in the Foreign Service.

The results are impressive: thirteen Rangel Fellows are already serving in the Foreign Service--10 in U.S. embassies overseas, including postings in Mexico, Germany, Panama, and Burkina Faso, and international hotspots such as Vietnam, Yemen and Burma. Three others are in training awaiting their first assignments.

Six more Fellows will be sworn in as Foreign Service officers in September, bringing the total to nineteen by the end of the year. Twenty-two Rangel Fellows are currently in graduate programs at universities across the country and will enter the Foreign Service in 2008 and 2009.

The so-called Rangel program is a cooperative initiative among the U.S. State Department, the U.S. Congress, and the Ralph J. Bunche International Center at Howard University, which administers the program. Entering its fifth year, the program can point to significant success in promoting the involvement of members of minority groups in international affairs in a rigorous program of academic study, internships in the U.S. and overseas, as well as tutelage under professionals in the State Department and non-governmental organizations.

"I remember visiting embassies in Africa, Asia, and Latin America thirty years ago and not seeing a single American in the embassy who looked anything like the people we were trying to impress in those countries," Congressman Rangel said. "You would have thought America was a country where everybody was a member of the Harvard elite. These young people are going to make a difference in changing that impression for everybody."

The Fellows, selected in a highly competitive nationwide competition, are provided up to $28,000 per year to support their work toward master's degrees in international affairs. Of the 41 students currently in the program or who have successfully completed it, 88 percent are from minority groups, including African-Americans, Asian-Americans and Hispanics. Twelve percent are Caucasians. Seventy-one percent are female.

Most are from backgrounds of significant financial need. Chansonette Hall, attending graduate school at the University of Pittsburgh, is the child of missionaries and grew up in West Africa. Leah Martin, attending the University of Denver, is a Sicilian-American from Louisiana who left home while in high school to pursue her education on her own, often by working full-time jobs. Kanika Mak, a Cambodian-American, became the first Rangel Fellow employed as a State Department Foreign Service officer. Mak's family fled the communist regime in Cambodia and settled in the U.S.

"The Foreign Service is the best kept secret in Washington," Congressman Rangel said. "I can't think of a better way for a young person to serve their country while pursuing a highly respected and exciting career."

■

Return to Press Releases

Soldier of Dominican Descent Becomes the Latest Washington Heights Resident Killed in Iraq.

Congressman Charles B. Rangel on Friday expressed his sorrow over the death of Washington Heights resident Cpl. Juan Alcántara, the 22-year old Army soldier who was killed this week while serving in Iraq.

"No amount of words can replace this young hero, no amount of time will completely heal the wound for his mother Maria, his sister Fredelinda, his fiancé Sayonara, and his one month old daughter Jayleni Marie," said Rangel. "I cannot help but wonder what a difference this young man would have made in the life of not only his family, but the community that he loved so much."

Rangel called Alcántara's death a tragedy because, like many soldiers who are fighting in Iraq, family members say that he enlisted not out of a desire to fight and kill, but instead for a chance to secure the military's lucrative post-service benefits. It was especially heart wrenching because Alcántara was assigned to 2nd Infantry Division out of Fort. Lewis, Washington -- the same infantry division that Rangel served during the Korean War.

"This neighborhood -- like many communities in this country -- have seen too many of their best and brightest come home in body bags," said Congressman Rangel. "'Why? Is there no other way to get a college education or decent health care or own a home? Do you have to stare into the barrel of a gun or dodge a roadside bomb in order to have your fair shot at the American Dream?"

According to Army officials, Cpl Alcántara died of injuries sustained when an improvised explosive device detonated near his dismounted patrol. Local elected officials, including Congressman's Rangel's office, have reached out to family members to provide assistance. No date has been set for the return of the serviceman's body to the states.

■

Congressman Charles Rangel Sponsored House Bill Honoring Harlem-Raised Former Secretary of Commerce.

A bill to designate the Federal building under construction at 799 First Avenue in New York in honor of the late Commerce Secretary Ron Brown was passed by the House of Representatives this week. The legislation now awaits passage by the Senate.

The 26-story building, which is expected to be ready for occupancy in 2009, will house the U.S. Mission to the United Nations and be called the Ronald H. Brown United States Mission to the United Nations Building.

Secretary Brown, who died in a plane crash in 1996, was a distinguished member of President Bill Clinton's cabinet and the first African-American to serve as Secretary of Commerce. As chairman of the Democratic National Committee, he played an integral role in running the 1992 Democratic National Convention which culminated in Bill Clinton's successful 1992 presidential candidacy. He was appointed Secretary of Commerce in 1993.

Secretary Brown, a native of Washington, DC, grew up in Harlem, where his father, William Brown, once worked as manager of the Theresa Hotel.

Congressman Rangel offered the following remarks during floor debate on the Ronald Brown building legislation:

"Madame Speaker, thank you so much for giving me this opportunity to share with this body a few thoughts on the life of a great American named Ron Brown, and I'm asking your support to have a Federal building, the U.S. Mission to the United Nations, to be named after him.

Even though Ron Brown was an African American from Harlem, his story is more of an American story than one of color. On the streets of Harlem you don't find too many people exposed to dreams of ever becoming a Secretary of Commerce, indeed an ambassador to the world for this great country.

I was proud to be a desk clerk at the time that Ron and his family were living in a hotel in Harlem where his father was the manager. So I know that Ron never forgot Harlem, and it was the Urban League that drove him to do things in the civil rights movement. It was his dedication to his country that drove him to spend four years in the military, but everywhere that he went as Secretary of Commerce, he was there not just to sell business to the country. He was there to sell the American flag, the principles the flag represented and the things that we stand for.

I went with him to South Africa and saw how he negotiated with political leaders there. He didn't talk just about which party was right or which party was wrong or how to bring about solidarity. He asked how could America help the people get clean water, medicine, food. He let them know that our multinational companies were there, not just for their shareholders, but for the shareholders of the world.

And so, when you come to New York, where you always see diversity, people of different colors, different languages, different cultures, you will see the U.S. Mission to the United Nations. There could not be a sight that would be more reminiscent of Ron Brown and the contributions he made to my community, my country, and indeed, the entire world.

Thank you for shepherding this wonderful bill so that his family and his friends and his supporters and kids to follow would know that in Harlem we planted the seed that allowed him to make the ultimate sacrifice for this country on a mission to the Balkans for President Clinton. He will forever be in my mind, and I hope in yours, as history recounts the story of great Americans who lost their lives for this great country."

■