[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 8] [Senate] [Page 10783] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]HONORING MARK LEVIN Mr. SMITH. Mr. President, I rise today to pay tribute to Mark Levin, who is celebrating his 25th year with the NCSJ. In his time with NCSJ, Mark Levin has accomplished a great deal. A consummate professional, Mark has spent 25 years moving through the ranks from a professional staffer all the way to executive director. As the mandated central coordinating agency of the organized Jewish community on behalf of the estimated 1.5 million Jews of the former Soviet Union, the NCSJ comprises nearly 50 national organizations and over 300 local federations, community councils, and committees. Mark has represented NCSJ at conventions, summits, and also here in the Halls of Congress. A distinguished scholar and policy expert, Mark is unmatched in his knowledge of the Soviet Jewry, and he was instrumental in restructuring NCSJ's tactics following the breakup of the Soviet Union. But while Mark's resume is overflowing with remarkable accomplishments, it is the relationships that he has forged over the years that are his finest achievements. For 25 years, Mark has been more than an advocate--he has been a friend. It is those friendships that have made his time with NCSJ special. They are what have taken him from merely influencing policy to significantly impacting people's lives. And it is those friendships that have brought us all together to honor Mark for 25 outstanding years of service. With that, I would like to thank NCSJ for an opportunity to speak on behalf of Mark, and I would like to offer my thanks and my congratulations to an outstanding colleague and an even better friend, Mark Levin. ____________________