[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 97 (Friday, June 15, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1314]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        IN MEMORY OF NORM MALENG

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. DAVID G. REICHERT

                             of washington

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, June 15, 2007

  Mr. REICHERT. Madam Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to my dear 
friend, colleague, and mentor, Norm Maleng, who passed away on 
Thursday, May 24, at the age of 68.
  I stand here today in part because of Norm's influence, mentorship, 
and encouragement in both my run for King County Sheriff and the United 
States Congress.
  As the King County Prosecutor and one of the longest-serving elected 
officials in State history, Norm served the county, State, and our 
Nation with integrity and justice. In the public eye, he will be 
remembered for his prosecutions of high-profile crimes and his 
contributions to much of the major crime legislation passed during the 
1980s.
  One of the largest law offices in the state of Washington, the King 
County Prosecutor's Office staff totals over 500 employees. Norm always 
wanted the best for each individual who worked with him and for him.
  As I've reflected on the many memories that I shared with him, one 
particular moment stuck out to me that I'll always remember. One day I 
said, ``Boy, I really have a challenge today, Norm,'' to which he 
responded ``There are no challenges, Dave, only opportunities.''
  His philosophy was to approach each day with optimism and a smile.
  Through the impact he made upon the King County community, the 
families who found justice through his dedication, and the lives that 
he touched--his legacy will live on.
  In his honor, I ask that the following article be submitted into the 
Congressional Record:

                [From the Seattle Times, June 14, 2007]

                     Maleng and UW: A Special Bond

                           (By Roland Hjorth)

       Norm Maleng graduated from the University of Washington Law 
     School in 1966. He was one of my first students and I felt a 
     special bond because we both grew up on farms in rural 
     communities. I think his commitment to public service grew 
     directly out of his small-town roots.
       The law school is proud of its graduates who have led lives 
     of public service. They have included two of our nation's 
     most powerful senators, a speaker of the House of 
     Representatives and members of the judiciary who have risen 
     to national prominence.
       Norm Maleng was prominent in that company of leaders. He 
     was a man of ambition and a man of values. But when he had to 
     make hard decisions, values always trumped ambition. He was a 
     deeply religious man whose religion was crucial in shaping 
     his life, but he was too respectful of the views of others to 
     be evangelical about it.
       Norm had the gift of being grateful for the things that 
     molded his character, enhanced his skills and helped him to 
     enter the legal profession. He was always grateful for the 
     early life that his parents gave him. He was also grateful 
     for his education at the UW Law School, once telling me that 
     the law school was where he got his ``union card'' and he 
     would never forget it; and, he never did.
       When I first became dean of the law school, I asked Norm to 
     serve on our advisory board on strategic planning. He 
     promptly became one of its most active and effective members. 
     During our deliberations, he once said that almost all 
     students enter law school wanting to do good and too often 
     graduate wanting only to do well. He admonished us that this 
     should never happen at the UW Law School.
       Norm's influence has had an impact on our requirement that 
     every student must fulfill a public-service obligation before 
     graduating. He was happy to know that the most thriving group 
     in the law school is the Public Interest Law Association, 
     which raises surprising amounts of money every year to 
     support summer public-service law internships for law 
     students. Norm was thrilled when the Bill & Melinda Gates 
     Foundation endowed one of the nation's most significant 
     public-service scholarship programs at the UW School of Law.
       From his early leadership on the law school advisory board, 
     he went on to serve as a trustee of the Washington Law School 
     Foundation for well over a decade. Norm became president of 
     the foundation and had completed his term of office shortly 
     before his death. During that term, he led an effort to 
     solicit contributions to the law school from law firms in 
     this city and especially from members of those firms who are 
     graduates of the UW Law School. I like to think he reminded 
     many that this was where they got their union card.
       The Washington Law School Foundation has established a Norm 
     Maleng Fund. I share the foundation's earnest hope that 
     sufficient funds will be raised to establish a fitting 
     memorial for one whose life has inspired so many of our 
     students and so many lawyers in our community.

                          ____________________