[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 16 (Tuesday, February 10, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E151]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    TRIBUTE TO MARTHA LAFFER ZIEGLER

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. TOM LANTOS

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, February 10, 2004

  Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I invite my colleagues to join me today in 
paying tribute to Martha Laffer Ziegler who passed away during the 
congressional recess. Martha served as the District Representative in 
my congressional office from 1981 until 1985, but her public service 
long predated our association, and she continued to work for the 
community after she moved on to the private sector.
  Martha Ziegler played an active role in the political life of San 
Mateo County for nearly four decades beginning in the 1960s. She 
developed her political skills working to elect Governor Edmund G. 
``Pat'' Brown in 1958 and 1962. She fought for civil rights, women's 
rights, and the environment, and was an advocate against the Vietnam 
war. With a reputation as a skilled political organizer, she directed 
numerous campaigns in San Mateo County, including the McGovern 
presidential campaign in 1972.
  In 1980, Martha joined me in my first campaign for Congress. In that 
year of the Reagan landslide, Mr. Speaker, I was the only Democratic 
challenger to defeat an un-indicted Republican incumbent. I am grateful 
for Martha's help in that effort. After my election, I asked Martha to 
be my District Representative in my office in San Mateo, California. We 
worked together for four years, until she took a position in the 
private sector. She continued to play an active political roll, serving 
as a member of the Northern California Steering Committee for the Gore 
presidential campaign in 1988. She also assisted in fund raising for 
the Clinton-Gore campaigns in 1992 and 1996.
  Mr. Speaker, Martha Laffer was born in Jewell, Kansas, in 1926. She 
received a degree in economics from the University of Kansas in 1947 
and on June 17, 1948, married Robert Boynton Ziegler. They settled in 
the Bay Area, where her husband established a medical practice, and in 
1957 they moved to Redwood City. Martha and Robert Ziegler were the 
parents of four children--Robert, Nancy, David and Daniel.
  In addition to her extensive community and political service, Martha 
was a devoted wife and mother, lover of animals, and wonderful cook and 
gardener, with a passion for music and literature. She was a singer, 
first with the West Bay Opera Company and later with the California 
Bach Society, which she co-founded in 1974 with music director Edwin 
Flath.
  Mr. Speaker, in 1990, Martha and Bob Ziegler moved from Redwood City 
to Heraldsburg, California, where they were winegrowers and active in 
the community for over a decade. Martha passed away in Heraldsburg last 
December. I invite my colleagues to join me in paying tribute to her.

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