[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 39 (Wednesday, March 20, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E389-E390]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    DR. ELIZABETH BOGGS: IN MEMORIAM

                                 ______


                      HON. RODNEY P. FRELINGHUYSEN

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, March 19, 1996

  Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. Mr. Speaker, I rise to revise and extend my 
remarks to mark the memory of Elizabeth Boggs who died on January 27, 
1996. I am privileged to join many other Americans in paying tribute to 
Dr. Elizabeth Boggs.
  We met when I first entered the New Jersey State Legislature in the 
early 1980's. She was

[[Page E390]]

physically striking--but it was her towering mind that was totally 
overwhelming. Elizabeth had an encyclopedic memory and when she said 
she knew the law, she meant it. Elizabeth would quote chapter and verse 
of most every statute since she in most cases wrote them. She was not 
boastful, but rather quite matter of fact: facts, figures, dates, 
times, locations, and people. When she looked down at you through her 
glasses you'd better be prepared to be questioned, grilled, 
interrogated, and vastly overpowered and outmanned on all counts.
  When I chaired the appropriations process in the New Jersey 
Legislature, she would confront me in person and write long and 
detailed letters citing the most irrefutable evidence for her 
arguments. Elizabeth Boggs took my breath away literally with her 
intellect. Her integrity was unquestioned, so the force of her 
arguments made many of us rewrite our policy and appropriations bills 
accordingly. As well, she put a human face on her advocacy for 
individuals with mental retardation and developmental disabilities.
  I consider myself lucky to have been in her company during my time in 
Trenton and more recently in Washington. Most of us in politics and 
government are lay people, thank goodness, so we benefit from those who 
educate us. While there are many teachers in my past, Elizabeth Boggs 
was one of the best and most memorable. Her education formula: 
perseverance, patience, repetition, love, and lots of heart.

                          ____________________