[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 16 (Wednesday, January 29, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E110-E111]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              IN HONOR OF BART DIRECTOR WILLIE B. KENNEDY

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. NANCY PELOSI

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, January 29, 2003

  Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor a remarkable woman, 
Mrs. Willie B. Kennedy, who has served with distinction on the San 
Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District (BART) Board of Directors 
since 1996. Mrs. Kennedy is retiring from the BART Board effective 
January 31, 2003. Thankfully, Mrs. Kennedy is not leaving public 
service entirely, after working for over 60 years as a political and 
social activist and elected official in the San Francisco Bay Area. She 
will continue her work in the Hunters Point neighborhood with the San 
Francisco Redevelopment Agency, which oversees development there.
  Mrs. Kennedy is an outspoken advocate for public transit and transit-
oriented development. During her six years as a BART director, she was 
chosen by her colleagues to serve as president in 2001 and vice 
president in 2000. Mrs. Kennedy pushed BART to begin a tradition of 
donating special ``flash passes'' to community organizations for train 
rides to and from San Francisco's annual Martin Luther King, Jr. parade 
and memorial ceremonies. She works diligently behind the scenes to 
respond to her constituents' concerns about BART service and 
facilities. She has been a long-time supporter of the new BART 
extension to the San Francisco International Airport.
  As a BART board member, Mrs. Kennedy served as vice chairperson of 
the Metropolitan Transportation Commission Liaison Committee. She was a 
member of the Capitol Corridor Joint Powers Board, the San Francisco 
Transportation Authority Liaison Committee, the San Mateo County 
Negotiation/SFO Extension Committee, and the Santa Clara County Policy 
Committee.
  In addition to her years of service to BART, Mrs. Kennedy is a former 
Supervisor of the City and County of San Francisco. She was appointed 
to the Board of Supervisors in March 1981 by former Mayor and now U.S. 
Senator Dianne Feinstein. She completed the unexpired term of the late 
Supervisor Ella Hill Hutch, was elected in her own right in 1984, 1988 
and 1992, and served until May 1996. She has served as the President of 
the San Francisco Transportation Authority and on the boards of the 
Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG), the Bay Conservation and 
Development Commission (BCDC), the California

[[Page E111]]

and National Associations of Counties, and the California and National 
Leagues of Cities.
  Willie Kennedy received her early education in Dallas, Texas and was 
awarded a Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism from San Francisco 
State University. She is the widow of the late Superior Court Judge 
Joseph G. Kennedy, mother of one daughter and two foster daughters, 
grandmother of nine, great grandmother of 20 and great-great 
grandmother of one.
  During her many years as a civic leader, Willie B. Kennedy has earned 
the respect of all who have worked with her. I commend her for her many 
years of dedicated public service and wish her the best of luck in the 
future.

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