Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, and Congressman
Charles B. Rangel announced today that the United States Senate passed
legislation originally introduced by Congressman Rangel in the House of Representatives
which designates a new State Department building in New York City after Ron
Brown, the late Commerce Department Secretary and New York resident who died in
a plane crash in 1996. The bill, which was passed in the House of
Representatives this past March, passed the Senate unanimously last
night.
The
new 26-story building, located at 799 United Nations Plaza across the street
from the United Nations (U.N.) General Assembly, will house the United States
delegation to the U.N., which carries out the nation’s participation in the
world body. It will be named the Ronald H. Brown United States Mission to
the United Nations Building. The building is expected to be completed
this fall.
“I am pleased and excited for the people of New
York, especially Harlem, that the Senate has passed this legislation to honor
the late Commerce Secretary Ron Brown,” Congressman Rangel said.
“This bill, which I have introduced in the past three Congresses, is long
overdue. Thanks to the leadership of Committee Chairman Barbara Boxer,
and the support of my New York colleague, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, I feel
very hopeful that Congress will finally and rightfully recognize this great
public servant as one of the greatest international salesman of the United
States in our history.”
“My relationship with Ron Brown was longstanding
and personal,” added Congressman Rangel. “While in school, I
was a desk clerk at the famous Theresa Hotel in Harlem where Ron’s father
worked as the manager. Ron and his family lived there, so I got to know
him at an early age and witness the beginnings of a remarkable career that he
staked out for himself.”
“As Secretary of Commerce under the Clinton
administration, he became one of the greatest ambassadors that the American
government ever had abroad,” Congressman Rangel said. “He did
more than just extend trade and get people to buy our goods and services.
He extended love, attention, and sensitivity, especially in the developing
countries where we had not spent the time that we should have. He not
only sold our wares, but was able to sell our reputation as a country that
wanted to help other countries.”
“I am proud to have supported Chairman Rangel’s
legislation that will provide a long overdue and fitting tribute to the late
Commerce Secretary Ron Brown,” said Senator Kirsten Gillibrand. “Ron Brown was
a truly remarkable person and an outstanding public servant for our country.
Naming this building in his honor will ensure that his important legacy of
expanding economic opportunity, while enhancing America’s reputation around the
world, will be passed on to all future members of the United States delegation
to the United Nations.”
Brown
also served as deputy executive director at the National Urban League, helped
revive and reunite the Democratic Party as the Democratic National Committee
Chairman, and was instrumental in the election of President Bill Clinton in
1992. Brown was the first African American to chair a national political
party and serve as Secretary of Commerce, being appointed in 1993. As
Secretary, he effectively utilized and expanded the role of the Department and
was known for his amiable political style and his deft skill in
negotiations. He effectively promoted U.S. trade, expanded foreign
markets for American businesses, placed a focus on Africa, and spurred domestic
job growth and economic development.
The Department of State requested that Ron personally
undertake an official Commerce Department trade mission to boost economic
reconstruction of the war torn region of former Yugoslavia. On April 3,
1996, he died when the plane carrying him crashed on the coast of the Adriatic
Sea.