"I was deeply saddened to learn of the passing of my friend Rep. Alcee Hastings. He was a man of kindness and decency who lived a life of service and contribution. As a Member of Congress, he represented communities in South Florida faithfully and with great ability. He was deeply proud of his service in the Congress, and he will be remembered as an expert legislator, as a trusted colleague, as a leader, and as a patriot.
"I was honored to serve with Alcee on the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe. The Commission's major objective, in concert with fifty-seven member states, has been to promote democracy and human rights in the nations and successor-states that signed the Helsinki Final Act in 1975. Not only was Alcee the first African-American Chairman of the U.S. Commission, he also was accorded the honor of being elected President of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's (OSCE) Parliamentary Assembly, composed of legislators from all fifty-seven nations. In that position, he played an important role in strengthening our relations with many nations of the world, including those outside the OSCE. His was a powerful voice for equal justice, free expression, and parliamentary democracy in nations that had yearned for these for so long but had been denied them for generations.
"I will miss serving with Alcee, and my thoughts are with his wife Patricia, the entire Hastings family, and his dedicated staff. I also offer my condolences to the people of Florida's Twentieth Congressional District, whose communities Alcee served so well for nearly three decades."