[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 85 (Thursday, June 29, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6112-S6113]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        TRIBUTE TO LUCY CALAUTTI

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I rise today to pay tribute to a 
woman who has dedicated her career to public service and is a good 
friend, Lucy Calautti.
  I have known Lucy Calautti for twenty years, since she was the Chief 
of Staff for then Congressman Dorgan, even before becoming his chief of 
staff in the U.S. Senate. Throughout the years I have been inspired by 
her intelligence and political skills in the service of the United 
States Congress.
  Many people on the Hill know about Lucy's professional 
accomplishments, but few of them know about the incredible service she 
has rendered our nation before she can to Washington. Lucy Calautti's 
extensive and varied career in the interest of the public, includes 
service in the United States Navy as an aerial photographer during the 
Vietnam War. After that her inspiration to serve the American people 
never faded--in fact it was enhanced--as she photographed protesters 
outside the 1968 Democratic convention. Her experience in Chicago at 
the convention of the social turmoil in our country at that them were 
some of the experiences that has made Lucy the dynamic and sensitive 
person she is.
  Lucy headed west to North Dakota from her birthplace in Queens, New 
York. She fell in love with the people and land of North Dakota as much 
as the people and land of North Dakota fell in love with her. She 
admired North Dakotans' independence, their hard work, and their 
idealism. It wasn't long after Lucy arrived in North Dakota that she 
began working with now Senator Dorgan when he became the elected State 
Tax Commissioner. Theirs was a unique working partnership--one that has 
lasted more than a quarter of a century.
  In her lifetime, Lucy has also been a champion for the rights of 
women, children, and working families. Some may not know how tirelessly 
Lucy Calautti has fought for women's rights throughout her career. Lucy 
began her dedication to the rights of women when she participated in 
landmark anti-discrimination litigation. As a female GI, she was a 
courageous pioneer who realized first-hand that the benefits extended 
to women paled in comparison to the benefits extended to her male 
colleagues. Lucy took up the cause, and made sure that, for the first 
time, full GI benefits were provided to women serving in the military. 
Lucy continued her career in grassroots organizing on behalf of the 
Women's Democratic Caucus in North Dakota. In fact, The Hill newspaper 
would later anoint Lucy the ``best political organizer the state of 
North Dakota has ever seen.'' And while so many people would have 
stopped with just these accomplishments, Lucy continued to establish 
the first public child care center in North Dakota, extending the most 
necessary service to women who juggle work, family, and far too often, 
poverty.
  Lucy's career in public service has also included one of the most 
important positions in American society today--teaching. Lucy shaped 
the minds of our future leaders through her years as a high school and 
college-level teacher. To this day, Lucy continues her commitment to 
our nation's children, reading to DC-area children every week. Truly, 
an inspiration.
  Lucy has, literally, shifted the political landscape in North Dakota 
and the U.S. Senate. As campaign manager Lucy  Calautti engineered a 
come-from-behind victory for Kent Conrad in the 1986 U.S. Senate race 
against a seated Republican, marking the first time since 1944 that an 
incumbent North Dakota Senator lost a reelection bid. Her knowledge of 
the people of North Dakota coupled with her superior grassroots 
organizing skills and her media savvy resulted in a campaign that is so 
respected, it was the subject of a book entitled ``When Incumbency 
Fails.''

  Contemporaries know Lucy most for her leadership in the office of 
Senator Dorgan, as she has served as Chief of Staff to Senator Dorgan 
for more than twenty years. During this time, Lucy performed a key role 
in shepherding key legislation through the United States Senate. It 
wasn't too long ago that Lucy played an instrumental role with the 
Democratic party, staving off the Republican push for a Balanced Budget 
Amendment, and worked to push an amendment that would not harm Social 
Security. In those tense days, Lucy was the calm inside the storm, as 
she quickly worked for a common-sense approach to the issue at the same 
time she helped bring the state of North Dakota into the limelight. For 
her skills in politics and legislation, Lucy has been praised 
universally by her peers. A former aide to the late Senator Quentin 
Burdick lauded Lucy Calautti as ``incredibly astute about politics and 
human nature, and absolutely brilliant at running a campaign.'' Former 
coworkers reserve the highest accolades for Lucy, including one, who 
praised Lucy as ``smart, analytical, meticulous, loyal, and a hard 
worker.'' The Hill newspaper even crowned Lucy Calautti with the title 
of ``most powerful woman in the nation's capital.''
  Now, we are losing Lucy to one of her lifetime loves--baseball. I 
suppose it is only natural that Lucy return to one of her first and 
most ardent interests. Growing up in Queens, Lucy lived not too far 
from Shea Stadium where she began her love of our nation's favorite 
pastime. Last week, her father passed away. He instilled in her a love 
of the game of baseball, among so many other attributes. She walks in 
her father's footsteps, and I'm sure he's the proudest Dad in the 
world. It is with a great deal of respect that I pay tribute to Lucy 
Calautti today. Soon, Lucy will join the Major League Baseball 
Organization as Director of Government Relations. She'll still be 
playing ball with us, and it's be fun.
  Thank you, Lucy, for the time we have been able to enjoy your 
magnificent intellect and skills in the United States Senate. I thank 
you for your hard work, your dedication, your idealism, and your 
service to our country

[[Page S6113]]

and most of all for you and Kent being the good friends you have been 
to Landra and to me.

                          ____________________