[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 169 (Thursday, November 20, 2003)]
[House]
[Pages H11861-H11862]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




REGARDING RETIREMENT OF HOUSE RADIO-TV GALLERY DEPUTY DIRECTOR BEVERLY 
                                 BRAUN

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, when we come back for the second session of 
the 108th Congress, there will be a new face in the House Radio-TV 
Gallery. That is because, after 20 years of service, the Deputy 
Director Beverly Braun is retiring December 12th.
  When Braun came to the Gallery in 1983, she and her colleagues sat up 
there in the southeast corner of the House chamber taking notes on 
floor proceedings by hand because they didn't have a computer, and the 
television reporters who covered out activities had to physically 
transport tapes to their bureaus. Beverly has shepherded the staff from 
learning to use a single 10K floppy disk drive machine to having 
individual 60 Gig hard drive laptops, and has helped incorporate 
technical developments that now afford the broadcasters use of fiber 
optic transmission lines.

[[Page H11862]]

  In the past 20 years Beverly Braun has worked under five speakers, 
under both Democratic and Republican control of the House and has been 
involved in coverage arrangements of many diverse events. Some were 
annual like State of the Union Addresses, St. Patrick's Day luncheons 
and Christmas Tree lightings. Some were periodic like mock swearing-ins 
of new members. Some were joyful like the joint meeting to celebrate 
Harry Truman's 100th birthday. Some were tragic like that lying in 
honor for Officers Chestnut and Gibson, and September 11th. Some were 
historical hearings such as Iran-Contra and Waco. Some were historical 
visits such as those by Queen Elizabeth, Nelson Mandella, Vaclav Havel, 
and most special to Braun, the Dalai Lama.
  As part of her regular Gallery work Braun worked with many 
Congressional staffers and committee members, but in recent years has 
primarily served as liaison to the Ways and Means, Financial Services 
and Rules Committees. In addition to her regular Gallery work, Braun 
helped with broadcast arrangements for 10 Democratic and Republican 
national political nominating conventions and provided on site 
assistance in San Francisco, Dallas, Atlanta, New Orleans, New York 
City, Houston, San Diego, Chicago, Philadelphia and Los Angeles.
  Braun was born to Phyllis (Lawson) and Ray Nicholas in Warren, Ohio 
in 1942, attended Ohio University and graduated from St. Vincent School 
of Medical Technology in Cleveland in 1961. She and her first husband 
Roland Braun lived in Pittsburgh PA where her son Stephen was born in 
1964, and in Ramsey NJ where her daughter Leslie de Vries was born in 
1966. They moved to Minnesota in 1967 where Braun became active in 
politics and women's rights organizations and where she ran 
unsuccessfully for a state senate seat in 1972. She later served as 
Communications Director for the Minnesota Bicentennial Commission, 
Director of the Small Business Division of the Minnesota Department of 
Economic Development and managed a Small Business Development Center 
for Control Data Corporation.
  Braun and her second husband, Skip Loescher, moved to Washington, 
D.C. twice, staying here since their second move in 1981. After 
spending 20 years with WCCO-TV and a short stint with Senator and Vice 
President Walter Mondale, Loescher has been the Washington 
correspondent for CNN Newsource for the past 12 years. Prior to her 
employment with the Gallery, Braun worked in Washington with the 
National Women's Education Fund and later founded a business which 
provided services to companies that did not have a Washington Office.
  Braun and Loescher's families are spread all across the country. 
Braun's mother Phyllis Beadle lives in Queensbury NY. Braun's son 
Stephen and his wife Anne live in Columbia MD. He has a son Nicolas and 
daughter Katie. Braun's daughter Leslie and her husband Jackson 
Griffith live in Sacramento CA with daughters Emma and Ellie and son 
Will. Loescher's son Jeff lives in Portland OR with wife Carol, 
daughter Nicole and son Tyler. Loescher's son Mick and wife Erin live 
in Peabody MA with sons Sean and Christian. Loescher's daughter Suzy 
and husband Jeff Quinlan live in Covington GA with son Alex and 
daughter Kate. Both Braun and Loescher are also blessed with aunts, 
uncles, cousins, former classmates and friends in almost every other 
state represented by the members in this chamber.
  After leaving Congress, Braun plans on possibly teaching, writing and 
doing more gardening at her home in Annapolis where she and her husband 
moved after 19 years on Capitol Hill. She also wants to address end of 
life issues. She and her husband hope to eventually pursue training and 
taking therapy dogs in hospitals, nursing homes and hospices . . . and 
spending more time with all those adorable grandchildren.
  Braun has always been a helpful and cheerful professional and she 
will be missed. So at the end of her career with us, let us say to 
Beverly as we have heard her say at the end of many a photo op . . . 
``Thank you . . . lights!''

                          ____________________