[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 99 (Wednesday, July 6, 2011)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1234-E1235]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                HONORING CONGRESSWOMAN WOOLSEY'S SERVICE

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. FORTNEY PETE STARK

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, July 6, 2011

  Mr. STARK. Mr. Speaker, as Dean of the California Congressional 
delegation, I rise to highlight the career of Congresswoman Lynn 
Woolsey, who has announced that she will retire after the 112th 
Congress. Congresswoman Woolsey broke barriers when she began her 
career as the first former welfare recipient to serve in Congress. As a 
young single mother with three children, she needed public assistance 
to make ends meet--even though she was employed. This sensitivity to 
working families has shone through her Congressional career.
  Rep. Woolsey serves as a senior member of the Committee on Education 
and the Workforce, as the ranking member on the Subcommittee on 
Workforce Protections, and as a member of the Subcommittee on Early 
Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education.
  On this committee, she helped to pass the Family and Medical Leave 
Act, which protects Americans who need temporary employment leave due 
to a serious illness or to care for a sick family member. Recently, 
Congresswoman Woolsey proposed ``the Balancing

[[Page E1235]]

Act,'' which will help families by promoting public universal pre-
school, investments in child care, universal school breakfast, benefits 
for part-time workers, and telecommuting incentives.
  She has served as co-chair of the Progressive Caucus where she led 
our efforts to present the progressive voice in Congress and use our 
strength as a large voting block to influence legislation. She 
continues to be an active progressive leader.
  Congresswoman Woolsey vocally opposed the Iraq war from day one. The 
San Jose Mercury News hailed her as ``the unofficial matriarch of the 
[anti-war] movement in Congress.'' She has led the way for peace by 
introducing the first resolution to demand that we bring our troops 
home.
  Congresswoman Woolsey fought to pass landmark health care reform last 
Congress by supporting the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. 
She led our efforts to include a public health insurance option in the 
law in order to inject real competition against the private health 
insurance industry. Though we lost that battle as part of the health 
reform law, she has taken the lead in authoring legislation to amend 
the law to institute a public option. That legislation would save the 
Federal Government $68 billion and deserves to be part of the solution 
as Congress focuses on efforts to reduce the deficit.
  Congresswoman Woolsey has always worked to protect the environment 
and reduce our dependence on foreign oil during her tenure as a senior 
member of the Committee on Science, Space and Technology and as a 
member of the Subcommittee on Energy and the Environment. She is 
working to safeguard her district's shores from oil spills by 
introducing a bill that would designate the Sonoma coastline as a 
National Marine Sanctuary.
  Congresswoman Woolsey simply personifies public service. She has been 
one of the most sought out and responsive representatives. Each week 
her Washington office receives and responds to over 3,000 constituent 
letters, phone calls, and emails.
  It has been an honor to serve with Lynn over the past 20 years. 
Thanks to Congresswoman Woolsey's service, America is a better place 
for working families. I know we haven't heard the last from Lynn 
Woolsey. I look forward to continuing to work together in the 112th 
Congress and in her next venture, which I am sure will continue to 
advance the progressive causes she believes in so strongly.

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