[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 84 (Tuesday, June 15, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1255-E1256]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        REMEMBERING SYLVIA WURF

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JERROLD NADLER

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 15, 1999

  Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, recently Brooklyn lost one of its most 
outstanding citizens, Sylvia Wurf. Sylvia worked for our former 
colleague, Representative Stephen J. Solarz, in his Coney Island 
District Office, in what is now the Eighth Congressional District. 
Sylvia Wurf was a remarkable public servant whose efforts on behalf of 
average citizens was legendary and an inspiration.
  Steve Solarz, who knew her for many years, memorialized Sylvia, and I 
commend his moving eulogy to my colleagues' attention.

                       Sylvia Wurf: A Great Lady

       Sylvia Wurf was an extraordinary woman--brilliant, 
     tenacious, caring--but also ornary, cantankerous, 
     exasperating.
       She was a memorable person who, in a triumph of will and 
     determination, not only fulfilled her potential as a human 
     being, but made a difference in the lives of thousands of 
     people who turned to her for assistance.
       She may well have been the best Congressional case worker 
     in the history of the Republic.
       As I thought of Sylvia these last few days, I recalled the 
     colloquy of Hotspur and Glendower in Shakespeare's Henry IV, 
     when Hotspur says, ``I can summon spirits from the vast and 
     murky deep'', and Glendower replies, ``Why so can I. So can 
     any man, but will they come when you dost call them?''
       In Sylvia's case, the answer was, ``yes''. She could summon 
     spirits, and they did come when she called them.
       I used to say, ``If I were ever in some remote part of the 
     world and were kidnapped and thrown into a dungeon of slime, 
     and I were given the chance to make one phone call, it would 
     be to Sylvia. Where others would throw up their hands in 
     despair, she would get on the phone and go to work.
       Woe to the feckless bureaucrat whom Sylvia nagged until she 
     got what she wanted. Pity the poor Ambassadors whom she awoke 
     at 3:00 a.m. (their time) to assist someone with a visa 
     problem. Weep for the Fortune 500 CEO, like the President of 
     AT&T, whom she routed in his idyllic country home one summer 
     Sunday to get an unlisted phone number.
       The flip side of the coin was that she could be impossible, 
     even insulting, not just to government bureaucrats, but even 
     with constituents.
       My favorite story about Sylvia was the one in which a 
     constituent came up to see Sylvia, sat down at her desk, and 
     said, ``I'm Mrs. Schwartz.'' Sylvia replied, ``I'm Mrs. 
     Wurf.'' ``You're Mrs. Wurf'', the woman said, ``I'm so 
     surprised. You sounded so much younger on the phone.'' 
     Realizing immediately that she had made a mistake, Mrs. 
     Schwartz said, ``Oh, what a stupid thing for me to say.'' 
     ``Don't worry, Mrs. Schwartz'', said Sylvia. ``I deal with 
     stupid people all day long. Why should you be any 
     different?''

[[Page E1256]]

       It was, I am told on occasions like this, in our old Kings 
     Highway office where everyone sat in one large room, that 
     someone on the staff would hold up a sign saying, ``Another 
     Satisfied Customer''.
       Sylvia broke every rule in the book. There were innumerable 
     occasions when I considered letting her go--but there were 
     three reasons why I never did.
       First, because working in the office gave meaning and 
     purpose to her existence. And I could never bring myself to 
     deprive her of the opportunity it afforded her to live a 
     successful and satisfying life.
       Second, and more importantly, because she was the Mark 
     McGwire of Congressional case workers. If she struck out a 
     lot--she also hit more home runs than anyone else. She was, 
     in a very real sense, the most valuable case worker in the 
     Congressional league.
       But third, and most importantly, because she was a genuine 
     inspiration.
       I have always felt that nothing is more admirable than when 
     an individual triumphs over adversity. And Sylvia, more so 
     than anyone I ever knew personally, triumphed over adversity. 
     I often used to think of how many other Sylvias there must be 
     who never had the chance to do with their lives what Sylvia 
     did with hers. And I never ceased to take pride from the 
     incredulous reaction of so many of the people who asked for 
     her assistance, but who never met her, when I told them she 
     was legally blind.
       About 15 years ago, at the funeral of Congressman Phil 
     Burton, shortly after he had re-drawn the map of the 
     California Congressional districts which guaranteed a 
     Democratic majority in the California Congressional 
     delegation for a decade, then Mayor Diane Feinstein of San 
     Francisco said, ``If Phil is where I think he is, he's 
     already re-drawing the map of heaven.''
       Well, if Sylvia is where I think she is, she is already 
     doing case work on behalf of the Lord for those in the lower 
     reaches who want to join her in the more deluxe atmosphere 
     upstairs. And you know what. She's getting some of them in!

     

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