Stephen Solarz | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromNew York's13th district | |
| In office January 3, 1975 – January 3, 1993 | |
| Preceded by | Bertram L. Podell |
| Succeeded by | Nydia Velázquez (Redistricting) |
| Member of theNew York State Assembly from the 45th district | |
| In office January 1, 1969 – December 31, 1974 | |
| Preceded by | Max M. Turshen |
| Succeeded by | Chuck Schumer |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Stephen Joshua Solarz (1940-09-12)September 12, 1940 New York City, U.S. |
| Died | November 29, 2010(2010-11-29) (aged 70) Washington, D.C., U.S. |
| Resting place | Congressional Cemetery |
| Party | Democratic |
| Spouse | Nina Koldin |
Stephen Joshua Solarz (/ˈsoʊlɑːrz/; September 12, 1940 – November 29, 2010) was an American educator and politician who served as aUnited States representative fromNew York until his political career ended in the wake of theHouse banking scandal in 1992.
Solarz was active in international relations issues. In Congress, he was both an outspoken critic of PresidentRonald Reagan'sdeployment of Marines toLebanon in 1982 and acosponsor of the 1991Gulf War Authorization Act during the presidency ofGeorge H. W. Bush.[1]
Born inManhattan,New York City, Solarz attended public schools in New York City. He graduated fromMidwood High School in 1958, and later received aB.A. fromBrandeis University in 1962 and anM.A. inpublic law and government fromColumbia University in 1967.[2] Solarz taught political science atBrooklyn College during the 1967–1968 academic year.[3]
In 1966, Solarz was the campaign manager for an anti-war campaign, for a U.S. House seat. He used that experience to make a successful run for the State Assembly two years later. He was a member of theNew York State Assembly from 1969 to 1974, sitting in the178th,179th and180th New York State Legislatures.[4]
In the 1973 Democratic primary, Solarz ran againstSebastian Leone forBrooklyn borough president and lost. That was not unexpected since Solarz had run mostly for improved name recognition and to make political and fundraising contacts.[4] In 1974, he was a delegate to the Democratic National Mid-term Convention.
In September 1974, Solarz defeated incumbent DemocratBertram L. Podell in the Democratic primary for the New York 13th District. At the time, Podell was under federal indictment; he was later convicted.[4] In November 1974, Solarz was elected to theU.S. House of Representatives, to the 94th Congress, beginning January 3, 1975. He was re-elected eight more times, serving until January 3, 1993.
On July 18, 1980, Solarz became the first American public official to visitNorth Korea since the end of theKorean War, and the first to meet withKim Il-sung.[5] In the 1980s, he chaired the Asian and Pacific Affairs Subcommittee of theHouse Foreign Affairs Committee, an area of growing interest to America in that decade. He is remembered for his leadership on thePhilippines, and had departedManila just asBenigno S. Aquino Jr. was coming home to challengedictatorPresidentFerdinand E. Marcos. AfterAquino's assassination, Solarz immediately returned with his wife to Manila for the wake and funeral, then began pushing President Reagan’s administration to distance itself from theMarcos government. Shortly after Marcos had fled to exile inHawaiʻi after his ouster in the1986 People Power Revolution, Solarz visitedMalacañang Palace and publicizedFirst LadyImelda Marcos's massive shoe collection. He then worked closely with Aquino's widow and the new President,Corazon, who dubbed Solarz the "Lafayette of the Philippines."[6]
Solarz also had strong ties toIndia and was held in high esteem by Indian leaders across the political spectrum. His motivations were partly driven by the presence of prosperousIndian Americans in his district. He visited India dozens of times during and after his Congressional term, once receiving a standing ovation on the floor of theIndian Parliament as has happened to only a few other Westerners such as PresidentsBill Clinton andJohn F. Kennedy. He received bipartisan credit for having helped set the stage for substantial improvements inU.S.-India relations since the 1990s.[7]
In 1982 and 1986, Solarz met withIraqiPresidentSaddam Hussein.[8] In 1998, he co-signed, along with severalneoconservative intellectuals, an open letter sent to President Clinton, declaring that Saddam still held chemical and biological weapons and had no intention to give them up. The open letter went on to urge President Clinton to use military force to overthrow Saddam.[9]
The round of redistricting following the1990 Census divided his district into six pieces, reflecting his cold relations with many state lawmakers inAlbany. After conducting extensive polling, Solarz decided that rather than challenge Democratic incumbentTed Weiss or Republican incumbentS. William Green, he would seek election to the open seat in the heavily-Hispanic 12th congressional district. Solarz entered the race damaged by theHouse banking scandal, having written 743 overdrafts; he was not charged, but his wife pleaded guilty to two criminal charges of writing bad checks on their joint account.[10] Solarz was defeated in the Democratic primary byNydia Velazquez.[11] Neither Weiss nor Green were re-elected, as Weiss died before the election and was replaced on the ballot byJerrold Nadler, while Green was defeated by DemocratCarolyn Maloney.
In 1993, Solarz was appointed as chairman of the U.S. government-funded Central Asian-American Enterprise Fund by President Bill Clinton to bring private sector development toCentral Asia. He remained in this role until 1998.[12]
In 1994, Solarz was a leading candidate forUnited States Ambassador to India. However, Solarz was forced to withdraw from consideration after scrutiny of his efforts to obtain avisa forAlbert Yeung, aHong Kong businessman with a criminal record. Solarz's poor relations with members of theUnited States Foreign Service and the New York State political establishment were also identified as causes behind the failure of his nomination.[13][14] The post instead went toFrank G. Wisner.
From 1994 to his death, Solarz remained active with theNational Democratic Institute for International Affairs. He was also a member of theIntellibridge Expert Network and of the executive committee of theInternational Crisis Group. Along withZbigniew Brzezinski, Solarz served as co-chairman of the American Committee for Peace in theCaucasus.[15][better source needed]
Solarz served on the board of directors of theNational Endowment for Democracy from 1992 to 2001,[16] and was awarded its Democracy Service Medal on retirement.[17] He was also a founding member of the board of directors of theHollings Center for International Dialogue, helping to establish the organization's presence inTurkey, and served until his death in 2010.[citation needed]
_04_-_Stephen_J._Solarz_Way.jpg)
Solarz died ofesophageal cancer at the age of 70 on November 29, 2010, atGeorge Washington University Hospital inWashington, D.C.[2] He was buried at theCongressional Cemetery in theHill East neighbourhood of Washington, D.C.[18]
She pleaded guilty in 1995 to two criminal charges of writing bad checks against their account at the House bank. Mr. Solarz, despite 743 overdrafts, was not charged.
| New York State Assembly | ||
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| Preceded by | New York State Assembly 45th District 1969–1974 | Succeeded by |
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
| Preceded by | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromNew York's 13th congressional district 1975–1993 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
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| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
