[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 80 (Monday, June 1, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Page S5904]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

                                 ______
                                 

                        REMEMBERING FRANCES NAM

 Mrs. BOXER. Madam President, today I want to speak about an 
extraordinary young woman who has left us far too soon. On May 15, my 
former staff member Frances Nam died after a 3-year battle with lung 
cancer. Fran was just 39 years old. She left behind two beautiful 
daughters--Seanna, age 11, and Henna, age 9.
  In the mid to late 1990s, Fran was my legislative assistant on all 
matters related to appropriations, immigration, housing, judicial 
appointments, and matters under the jurisdiction of the Judiciary 
Committee. She was a standout staff member in every way: always 
enthusiastic and diligent about her work, always caring about her 
colleagues, and an exemplary public servant who cared deeply about our 
constituents.
  In January 1999, Frances went to work for U.S. Department of 
Justice's Community Relations Service, CRS, DOJ's race relations 
mediation arm. This job brought out another side of Fran: the 
compassionate but cool-headed mediator, a master of human relations. 
CRS sent Frances all over the country, wherever ethnic communities were 
at odds with one another, to prevent or soothe civil strife and bring 
disparate people together despite their differences. Originally a 
political appointee in the Clinton administration, Fran stayed at CRS 
until 2003 as a senior policy adviser.
  Frances then went to work as senior policy adviser to the late 
Congresswoman Juanita Millender-McDonald. Along with her primary 
legislative and policy duties, Fran was the Congresswoman's liaison to 
the Congressional Black Caucus, CBC. In this role she became the first 
non-African American to organize a CBC annual legislative conference, 
and she is still remembered fondly by CBC members and staff for her 
charm, efficiency, and diplomatic skills.
  Since late 2003, Frances has worked as vice president of Government 
Affairs for Sodexo USA, a major food service company. Here, in addition 
to working with Congress as well as State and local governments, Fran 
was known for her extraordinary efforts to open new educational and 
career opportunities for Asian Americans and other people of color.
  Outside her working life, Fran was a vivacious young woman who 
enjoyed a wide circle of friends and her two loving daughters. A woman 
who truly loved her work and life, she was recently the subject of an 
article in Working Woman magazine on successful working mothers.
  In her all-too-brief life, Frances Nam made a deep and lasting 
difference in the lives of many people--here in the Senate, in 
communities across the country, and in her own close community of 
family, friends, and colleagues. She will be deeply and truly 
missed.

                          ____________________