Mitchell's scheduled visit to Damascus was preceded by two trips there since March by Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Jeffrey Feltman and White House National Security Council Middle East expert Daniel Shapiro.

VOA: standard.2009.06.09

"What this bill will effectively do is shut us down, " said Dr. Daniel Shapiro, a fertility doctor in Atlanta.

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Daniel Shapiro, who graduated from Horace Mann in 1973, says he was abused by a teacher when he was 15 years old.

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Jeffrey Feltman -- an assistant secretary of state who is the department's top official on the Middle East -- and National Security Council official Daniel Shapiro traveled to Damascus twice in recent months in an effort to improve ties with Syria.

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