[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 161 (Wednesday, December 8, 2010)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2090-E2091]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      A TRIBUTE TO LAUREN HAMMOND

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. DORIS O. MATSUI

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, December 8, 2010

  Ms. MATSUI. Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize Sacramento City 
Councilwoman Lauren Hammond, as she steps down from the Sacramento City 
Council after 14 years of honorable service. As her colleagues, friends 
and family gather to commemorate her many years of service to the 
people of Sacramento, I ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing 
Councilwoman Hammond's leadership and lasting impact on the City of 
Sacramento.
  Councilwoman Hammond is a Sacramento native; she grew up in Land Park 
and attended McClatchy High School, the same high school as my late 
husband Robert Matsui. After high school, she continued her higher 
education in Sacramento, graduating from Sacramento City College and 
the California State University, Sacramento where she received her 
Bachelor of Arts in Government.
  After graduation from Sacramento State, Lauren began her 
distinguished career in public service by working 22 years for the 
California State Senate. While with the Senate, she has served as a 
Telecommunications Contract Administrator and as the Senate's 
Coordinator for the Americans with Disabilities Act.
  In 1997, Lauren ran for Sacramento's City Council. She won the 
special election in to become the first African-American woman elected 
to the City Council. As a City Councilwoman, she put her skills as a 
long-time community leader and neighborhood activist to work, focusing 
on working families and ensuring that the City of Sacramento is run 
efficiently. In her work, she concentrated on improving her district by 
ensuring safe walkways to schools and expanding youth services. She 
tackled citywide concerns such as youth empowerment, accessible health 
care for all, predatory lending and implementing smart growth policies. 
She has also helped revitalize Sacramento's Oak Park neighborhood, as 
well as lead the efforts to improve the Broadway, Stockton Boulevard 
and Franklin Boulevard corridors in order to make those areas more 
business friendly. She has worked tirelessly to make Sacramento a 
better place to live and do business.
  Councilwoman Hammond's duties kept her busy, as she served on 
numerous boards of local government agencies. Some of these include the 
governing bodies of the Sacramento Area Sewer District, the Sacramento 
Transportation Authority, the Downtown Sacramento Revitalization 
Corporation, the Sacramento Metropolitan Air Quality Management 
District, the Sacramento Regional Solid Waste Authority Board, the 
Regional Transit District and Paratransit Inc. She also served as the 
Chairwoman of the City's Law and Legislation Committee.
  Madam Speaker, as Councilwoman Hammond's family, friends and 
colleagues gather

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to honor her for her service to the people of Sacramento, I ask all my 
colleagues to join me in saluting her for helping make Sacramento a 
great place to live, work and play.

                          ____________________