[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 68 (Friday, May 20, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1032]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  HONORING CONGRESSMAN JERRY KLECZKA FOR HIS LEGACY TO PUBLIC SERVICE 
                               EDUCATION

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. GWEN MOORE

                              of wisconsin

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 19, 2005

  Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor 
Congressman Jerry Kleczka, an esteemed Member of this body who 
represented Wisconsin's 4th Congressional District for over 20 years. 
More specifically, today I want to recognize and celebrate the 
accomplishments for which he is being honored in Milwaukee this coming 
weekend.
  My colleagues listening here on the floor today know Congressman 
Kleczka, my predecessor, as a champion of the causes of working men and 
women. A spirited and tenacious advocate, he fought for so many 
reforms, from legislation to protect senior citizens in public housing, 
to affordable and accessible healthcare and a strong Medicare program, 
to the rights of workers, and the rights of citizens to privacy in a 
digital age, just to name a few.
  When he decided to leave Federal elective office in 2004, Congressman 
Kleczka left behind an additional legacy that will endure for many 
years to come. In 1984, he independently offered to host an individual 
intern in his Congressional office. From that single internship grew an 
entire program which, over the last twenty years, has developed into a 
remarkable center for public service education, Marquette University's 
Les Aspin Center for Government in Washington, D.C. As a result, over 
700 students with an interest in public service have interned in nearly 
100 congressional offices and in multiple federal agencies.
  Jerry was there for the Center's internship program from the very 
start as its stalwart champion, advocate, and host of so many of its 
interns. Of the countless students to which he offered the opportunity 
for congressional experience, many have gone on to fine careers in 
public service and two have even won elective office, Wisconsin State 
Assemblyman Pedro Colon and Milwaukee County Supervisor Marina 
Dimitrijevic. He was awarded the Center's Founders Award in 1999 and 
has served on its Board of Visitors since 1996.
  In addition to all his prior work on its behalf, last year 
Congressman Kleczka made a remarkably generous donation to Marquette's 
Les Aspin Center which has made possible the establishment of an 
entirely new program through which students will study state and local 
government in Milwaukee starting this summer. With this selfless act he 
has permanently endowed the cause of public service learning throughout 
Milwaukee and at Marquette and created a legacy that will last for 
years to come.
  This weekend, Congressman Kleczka's efforts will be properly 
recognized. On Sunday, May 22, Marquette University will award him an 
honorary doctorate of laws to acknowledge him as a champion of the D.C. 
intern center and the benefactor of a new Milwaukee institution that 
will foster the desire for public service among our best and brightest 
closer to home. I ask my colleagues to join in congratulating Jerry on 
receiving this well-deserved honor.

                          ____________________