[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 102 (Wednesday, September 6, 2000)]
[House]
[Page H7241]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            IN MEMORY OF KANSAS SENATOR JANICE HARDENBURGER

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Kansas (Mr. Moran) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. MORAN of Kansas. Mr. Speaker, something sad happened back home in 
Kansas last week. Cancer took the life of one more of our State's 
citizens. Our State has many treasures: beautiful sunsets, rolling 
prairie hills, city factories, waves of wheat, meadowlarks, cottonwood 
trees, and grazing cattle. But what matters to us Kansans most, what 
makes our place the State we choose to call home is our people, 
Kansans.
  The death of one Kansan takes something away from every Kansan. With 
the death of Janice Hardenburger, the loss is evident. Janice is the 
epitome of who we are and what we would like to be, one who knew 
reality of how things are, yet one who could envision how things ought 
to be.
  A fighter for her beliefs, strong willed and plain spoken, devoted to 
her family as a wife and mother and grandmother, she was generous with 
her time, a farmer, a rancher, a listener and a doer, a supporter of 
others and, for the last 8 years, a State senator, a public servant.
  For more than 25 years, Janice has been my friend. For 4 years she 
was my colleague in the State senate. Born in the small north central 
Kansas town of Haddam, Janice had a lifelong love for education and 
politics. She graduated valedictorian from Haddam Rural High School 
before attending Kansas State University and graduating with a degree 
in home economics and education.
  She married her husband in 1952, and due to his career in the Air 
Force, she and her family moved often. During these years, she kept 
busy as a volunteer and raising two sons, Joseph and Thomas.
  With Bill's retirement from the military in 1971, the Hardenburgers 
moved back home to Kansas. Janice got involved in her community, and 
she sought a seat on the Washington County Commission. She recognized 
the importance of health care in rural communities, and she developed 
the first rural health initiative project in Kansas.
  She chaired Ronald Reagan's campaign for President in our State and 
served the Reagan administration in the Department of Health and Human 
Services regional office in Kansas City. She worked hard every time to 
see that her fellow Kansan, Bob Dole, would be elected President.
  In 1992, she decided she could even do more for others and was 
elected to State senator for the 21st district. She was reelected in 
1996 and was campaigning for reelection at the time of her death. 
During her time in the Kansas senate, she worked hard on health care 
issues and fought for local control. She believed that government 
should be local and limited. She chaired the elections on local 
government committee.
  Janice was ill during the last session of the legislature. She could 
not eat, and she had pain. But despite huge impediments, she worked all 
session long to fashion an ethics law worthy of passage. As State 
Senator Dave Kerr indicated at her memorial service, that legislation 
now stands as a lasting tribute to one highly ethical lady who gave her 
waning strength to bring higher standards of ethics in all elective 
politics in Kansas. Senator Hardenburger never became silent about 
things that mattered.
  For those of us who are privileged to work in public service, where 
the toll for entry can be excruciatingly high and the price of staying 
even higher, we do not always expect to find true friendship, true 
loyalty, and a true devotion for making things better. We had that in 
State Senator Janice Hardenburger.
  Our State and its people are better off because of one life, a life 
that will be greatly missed. I offer my condolences to Janice's family, 
but we also praise God for a life well lived and the legacy she leaves 
behind.

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