By Denise Ross

From the files of stuff you couldn’t dream up, South Dakota’s own Larry Pressler has a post in the Obama administration. If that’s not awesome enough, it’s on a commision that I - at least - would not have imagined possible. It’s the Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad.

It’s the “abroad” part that gets me. Seems like that maybe ought to be a private non-profit or something. Must be the South Dakotan in me.

 In any case, here’s what came out in a White House press release:

Larry Pressler, Member, Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad
Former Senator Larry Pressler served as a Member of Congress for 22 years—four years in the U.S. House of Representatives and eighteen years as a U.S. Senator from the state of South Dakota. Senator Pressler sat on numerous Committees during his tenure, including the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, where he served for sixteen years. He chaired the Senate Commerce Committee. He also twice served as a Congressional Delegate to the United Nations. In addition to his work in Congress, Senator Pressler serves as a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and has lectured at several universities in the United States and overseas. He was awarded a Fulbright grant as a Professor at the University of Bologna, Italy where he lectured in International Relations for five months during the 2009 Spring Semester. Senator Pressler was a Rhodes Scholar and served two tours of duty in Vietnam in the U.S. Army.

Oh, the University of Bologna. Let the wise-cracking begin. 

Meanwhile, back to the commission, here’s an excerpt from its website:

The establishment of the Commission recognized that the population of the United States is mostly comprised of immigrants and their descendents. Because it is, the United States has an interest in the preservation of sites in other countries. These sites are an important part of the cultural heritage of many Americans.

The Holocaust and 45 years of atheistic, Communist governments created a critical need that led to the Commission’s establishment. The Holocaust annihilated much of Europe’s Jewish population, killing most Jews and forcing others to flee. In many countries, none were left to continue to care for the communal properties that represented an historic culture in the area and constitute an integral part of the Jewish religion.

Hoghouse Blog congratulates Sen. Pressler on his new appointment and notes the bipartisan achievement - and is grateful to have learned something new today.

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