The publication is reproduced in full below:
HONORING KURT RICHTER
______
HON. ELISSA SLOTKIN
of michigan
in the house of representatives
Tuesday, December 7, 2021
Ms. SLOTKIN. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor an essential member of our team who helped us identify--and eventually evacuate--vulnerable Afghans after the fall of Kabul, Dr. Kurt Richter of Michigan State University.
If you read his biography on the university website, you'll learn that Dr. Richter is a nationally-recognized leader of international development implementation. For over 25 years, he's been a dedicated academic, and administrator, devoted to improving lives abroad. His work has taken him around the world to some of the most complex and challenging environments for international development, from Guatemala to Georgia, South Sudan to Tajikistan.
However, it's in his role as director of the Grain Research and Innovation (GRAIN) programs at MSU that he was connected to scientists in Afghanistan working to grow wheat in arid conditions. It's essential research, particularly in a country where shortages of wheat are the primary causes for hunger and economic instability. But when the Taliban began advancing, and finally took Kabul, their connection to an American university and USAID funding put them in grave danger.
This is when Dr. Richter sprang into action, first submitting visa applications for his staff and scholars. When the timeline for evacuation shrank from months to weeks to days, he worked around the clock to find them a seat on one of the planes leaving Hamid Karzai International Airport. Dr. Richter had firsthand experience with the chaos of an evacuation--he himself was airlifted out of South Sudan when a civil war broke out in 2013.
Thankfully, his tireless efforts paid off. The GRAIN program scholars and their families made it onto our convoy of buses and finally made it through the airport gates after multiple attempts and nearly 24 harrowing hours. Madam Speaker, words alone can't express my gratitude for everything that Dr. Richter did--and continues to do--for the individuals that he vouched for. Simply put, his advocacy saved lives and it deserves to be recognized by a grateful community and nation.
Madam Speaker, I rise to honor Mr. Kurt Richter for his willingness to go above and beyond the call of duty in our effort to evacuate Afghan allies from Kabul and support them in their new life. For his efforts to identify vulnerable scientists, particularly female scholars, when they feared for their lives and for his character that faithfully upholds the values of Michigan State University, I submit these words--may they stand as a tribute to his dedicated service when the moment called for it most.
____________________
SOURCE: Congressional Record Vol. 167, No. 211(1), Congressional Record Vol. 167, No. 211(2)
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