[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 31 (Monday, February 23, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Page S2364]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       REMEMBERING PATTY JENNINGS

 Mr. UDALL of New Mexico. Madam President, today I mourn an 
untimely death and to celebrate a full and remarkable life. Patty 
Jennings--committed activist, loving wife and devoted mother--died of 
cancer on February 14.
  The world's libraries are full of quotes about turning adversity into 
achievement, and I might have thought that everything on the topic had 
pretty much been said. But last week I heard one of the more eloquent 
statements on the topic. It came from Senator Tim Jennings, Patty's 
husband.
  Cancer is horrible, Senator Jennings told the 18,000 people at 
Patty's memorial service, ``but it's not all bad. We have met some of 
the nicest people in the world because of it.''
  Tim's response to his wife's death tells you a lot about the couple. 
Patty and Tim rarely had it easy, but, as Patty put it, they didn't 
spend much time wishing things could be different. They took comfort in 
the people they loved--those they worked with and those they tried so 
hard to help. They responded to their own struggles by struggling on 
behalf of others.
  When Patty's daughter could not get health insurance because of her 
Down syndrome, Patty and Tim fought to create an insurance pool that 
would allow high-risk New Mexicans to get health care. Patty spent her 
limited free time fighting for the developmentally disabled--both as an 
advocate for systemic reform and as a caring supporter of individual 
young people.
  And she responded to her own breast cancer by helping to fund 
lifesaving research on the disease. The University of New Mexico's 
breast cancer program will soon be known as the Senator Tim and Patty 
Jennings Program for Breast Cancer. I can think of no more fitting 
tribute.
  While we cannot fully know the sadness that Patty's devoted family is 
feeling today, all New Mexicans are worse off for having lost Patty 
Jennings. Her compassion should continue to inspire us as we fight to 
complete her work. I ask my colleagues to join me in honoring this 
remarkable woman.

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