[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 58 (Friday, May 12, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E811]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                REMARKS IN HONOR OF JENNY CHIA-JEN CHANG

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                          HON. DAVID E. PRICE

                           of north carolina

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 11, 2006

  Mr. PRICE of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute 
to a former staffer who has touched my life and the lives of many 
others.
  Jenny Chang was in the first class of Park Scholars at North Carolina 
State University, a Caldwell Fellow, student body president, senior 
class president, and dean's list student. She graduated in 2000 with a 
degree in biochemistry and minor in economics. She was also awarded a 
Truman Scholarship for graduate study. Jenny worked in my 2000 re-
election campaign and then brought her talent, dedication, and 
cooperative spirit to my Washington office. Later, she moved to the 
office of the gentlewoman from New York, Carolyn Maloney.
  On April 29, Jenny Chang died after a 4-year battle with breast 
cancer. She was 28 years old.
  One of the things that made Jenny such a remarkable young woman was 
her grace. She confronted death in the same way she lived life: with 
candor, with faith, and without mincing words. Knowing that her time 
with us was probably short, she wasted not a single opportunity whether 
traveling to the places she longed to see, savoring a good meal, or 
sharing her love with the people she cherished.
  Along the way, Jenny befriended countless breast cancer survivors who 
were as exhausted by battling bureaucracy as they were from fighting 
cancer. She was a compassionate warrior. She would visit sister 
patients in the hospital, even when her energy was diminished by that 
day's rigorous chemotherapy treatment. She would take a book or just 
sit quietly nearby, offering support and complete understanding.
  Jenny was outraged that we live in a nation where almost 213,000 
women this year will be diagnosed with breast cancer and 41,000 will 
die from the disease. Still, she believed in the power of public policy 
to create change. She requested that memorial contributions in her 
honor be made to a scholarship fund to provide a stipend to students in 
public policy internships.
  We honor Jenny by remembering that when we consider funding and 
policy questions regarding research on breast cancer and other dread 
diseases, we must get beyond the abstractions of budgets and 
ideologies. We're talking about the lives of loved ones, friends and 
co-workers. Despite extraordinary advances in medicine and technology, 
there is still much we do not know. Jenny tried every therapy available 
to her, but there was no cure.
  Jenny was a leader and expected leaders to be good stewards of their 
power. It stuns us that she is gone, but her legacy of courage, 
honesty, kindness, and purpose rekindle our efforts and inspire our 
leadership. We will do better in her name.

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