[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 40 (Tuesday, April 8, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E599]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        JERRY PACHT, IN MEMORIAM

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. JANE HARMAN

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, April 8, 1997

  Ms. HARMAN. Mr. Speaker, every Member here has a story about the 
beginning of his or her interest in politics. Mine begins with an 
extraordinary pixie of a man named Jerry Pacht, who died last week in 
Los Angeles at age 75.
  Before embarking on a distinguished career on the Los Angeles 
Municipal Court followed by decades on the L.A. County Superior Court, 
Jerry ran for Congress, twice. His campaigns were high principle and 
low budget, and he recruited and excited a large band of volunteers.
  I was a high school student in 1960, the first year Jerry ran, and 
led what he called the kiddie brigade. Our colleague, Howard Berman, 
then president of the UCLA Young Democrats, played a far more senior 
role in the campaign.
  I learned a lot. My role was confined in substantial part to stuffing 
envelopes and mimeographing materials, but I saw how valuable those 
tasks were. In the days before television ads, communication of Jerry's 
message and his passion depended on people like me. Even in these 
slicker and more cynical times, the hub of campaigns still is centered 
on volunteers. Without them, candidates don't win.
  Of course it matters what the message is, and whether the messenger 
is credible. Though Jerry's runs for office may not have persuaded a 
majority of the voters, the qualities in him that excited me and others 
were on full display during his long and successful judicial career 
that followed.
  Son of a judge, Jerry's interest in a judicial career became known to 
Gov. Pat Brown who appointed him to the local bench in 1965 and 
promoted him a year later.
  He was a beloved figure--always insisting that the law be fairly 
applied, even if the cause it benefited was unpopular. No one ever 
accused Judge Pacht of any motive other than serving the public. In a 
press interview, he once said: ``I am not into making money. I always 
wanted to make some kind of mark, to change my society, do something to 
make it run better * * *.'' He surely achieved his goal.
  In his obituary in the Los Angeles Times, I learned that Jerry had 
visions of becoming a singer, and was delighted to be asked to sing the 
national anthem at a Dodger game. Jerry, I heard your song. I still do. 
I always will. My interest in politics goes back to my early experience 
on your campaign. It goes forward with your melody in my head.
  Godspeed.

                          ____________________