[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 114 (Tuesday, September 21, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1657]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    HONORING MARTHA VIRGINIA PENNINO

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. TOM DAVIS

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                      Tuesday, September 21, 2004

  Mr. TOM DAVIS of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor and 
remember Martha Virginia Pennino, a former vice chairman of the Fairfax 
County Board of Supervisors. Mrs. Pennino died September 17, 2004 at 
Inova Fairfax Hospital at the age of eighty-six.
  Mrs. Pennino was born in 1918, in Roanoke, Virginia and was raised in 
Gloucherster, Massachusetts. She received a bachelor's degree from 
Emerson College in Boston.
  Mrs. Pennino served three terms on the Vienna Town Council prior to 
being elected to the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors in November 
1967, representing what was then the Centreville District. From 1968 to 
1991 Mrs. Pennino was at the center of nearly every major decision made 
in Fairfax County. She was involved in such projects as the Dulles Toll 
Road, Reston Hospital Center, South Lakes High School, the Reston 
Community Center and the Reston Regional Library. Mrs. Pennino played 
an instrumental role in the planned community of Reston, which was 
taking shape when she took office. She became one of the longest-
serving members of the Board of Supervisors spending 24 years on the 
board. Mrs. Pennino served as Vice Chairman for 17 years.
  During her many years on the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Mrs. 
Pennino was deeply committed to helping the poor and homeless. She 
pushed for the building of the Embry Rucker shelter for the homeless, 
supported building low-cost housing and buying and renovating the run-
down Stonegate apartment complex. Prior to the construction of the 
shelter, she even provided cots in her supervisor's office and opened 
it at night to people with nowhere else to go.
  Mrs. Pennino received many accolades for her work in Fairfax County. 
In 1985, she was awarded the Tom Bradley Regional Leadership award from 
the National Association of Regional Councils. The group cited her 
efforts in developing the first energy policy for a metropolitan area; 
the region's car-pool program and a fair-share housing program. In 
1986, Washingtonian magazine named her ``Washingtonian of the Year.''
  Mrs. Pennino was also involved with many community boards and 
foundations. She was a member of the advisory board of the Northern 
Virginia Youth Services Coalition, director of the Northern Virginia 
Community Foundation, a commissioner on the Northern Virginia Regional 
Commission and a member of the Board of Visitors of George Mason 
University. Additionally, Mrs. Pennino served as president of the 
Virginia Association of Counties of the Virginia Municipal League and 
was a member of the board of directors of the Metropolitan Washington 
Council of Governments for 17 years, holding posts of president and 
chairman.
  Mr. Speaker, in closing, I would like to express my gratitude to 
Martha Virginia Pennino for her service to Fairfax County. I call upon 
my colleagues to join me in applauding Mrs. Pennino's past 
accomplishments and remembering her dedication to her community.

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