[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 176 (Thursday, November 17, 2011)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7694-S7695]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        TRIBUTE TO DANA SINGISER

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I would like to take this opportunity to 
honor a dear friend and native Vermonter, Dana Singiser. Dana has 
accepted the position of Vice President for Public Policy and 
Government Affairs for Planned Parenthood, and while I am sorry to see 
her leave President Obama's administration, I am proud to recognize 
Dana's hard work and wish her continued success in her career.
  Dana was raised in the small rural town of Mendon, VT, where her 
mother--the Mendon town clerk--instilled in her the values of democracy 
and the importance of staying engaged in her community. Dana carried 
this spirit with her in her career on Capitol Hill and on several 
presidential campaigns. Dana came to my office as an intern in the 
summer of 1991 while attending Brown University. I was immediately 
impressed with her intelligence, work ethic, and gregarious 
personality. I knew she would go on to accomplish great things, and 
indeed she has. After graduating from Brown, she attended law school at 
Georgetown University and spent 7 years at a law firm before her return 
to public service, where she has remained.
  Dana served as the Director of Women's Outreach for Hillary Clinton's 
presidential bid--an opportunity that allowed her to grow her career in 
politics. She later also quickly proved herself a valuable asset to 
President Obama's campaign, and following his election she was 
appointed Special Assistant to the President for Legislative Affairs, 
where she has served for the last 3 years.
  While she has enjoyed her time at the White House, Dana has also 
gained immeasurable experience that will certainly add to her already 
successful career. In Dana's new role with Planned Parenthood, she can 
continue her long fight to protect women's rights, and I am glad to see 
her continue to follow her passion. Vermonters are proud to recognize 
Dana Singiser's hard work, and we wish her continued success in her 
career.
  I ask unanimous consent that an article about her achievements, from 
The

[[Page S7695]]

National Journal, be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                  Out of the Frying Pan, Into the Fire

               [From the National Journal, Nov. 7, 2011]

                           (By Naureen Khan)

       Dana Singiser remembers the glamour of her first job out of 
     college: running a tiny field office in Vermont for Bill 
     Clinton's 1992 presidential campaign for $300 a month. 
     Luckily, Singiser was a local and her mother was on hand to 
     bring her laboring daughter dinner every night.
       Public service was always a natural inclination for 
     Singiser, she said. She was, after all, raised by parents who 
     were actively involved in the small rural community of 
     Mendon, Vt., population 1,056. Mom was the town clerk and a 
     small-business owner while Dad kept busy with church 
     activities.
       An internship with Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., while she was 
     still an undergraduate at Brown University gave Singiser her 
     first taste of D.C. and there was no turning back. After 
     working on Clinton's 1992 race, she landed a job in the White 
     House with presidential personnel and packed her bags for 
     Washington--``The last meritocracy,'' according to Singiser, 
     ``where you can work hard and get recognized.''
       Twenty years later, after jobs on several presidential 
     campaigns, on Capitol Hill, and most recently with the Obama 
     administration as special assistant to the president for 
     legislative affairs, Singiser is headed to Planned Parenthood 
     as vice president of public policy and government affairs.
       ``It's been great, and you can never leave a White House 
     job without feeling incredibly bittersweet about it,'' 
     Singiser said. ``I feel like a mere mortal, and I can't keep 
     up these hours and this intensity forever.''
       Not that Singiser is expecting an easy road ahead at 
     Planned Parenthood. She becomes the organization's chief 
     advocate and liaison to both state and national policymakers 
     as the group continues to come under attack as one of the 
     largest legal providers of abortion. The issue has become a 
     lightning rod over the past several months as Republican 
     lawmakers, GOP presidential candidates, and conservative 
     activists have called for federal defunding of Planned 
     Parenthood. Singiser said she hopes to help reframe the 
     conversation in her new role.
       ``Those attacks are just misplaced,'' she said, pointing to 
     the range of primary-care services that Planned Parenthood 
     provides for men, women, and children. ``The result of those 
     sorts of efforts would be to erode women's health.''
       Singiser has been well-prepared for the role, working in 
     both policy and politics for the past decade. After her stint 
     with the Clinton administration, Singiser got her law degree 
     from Georgetown University in December 1998 and practiced at 
     the Washington firm Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld for five 
     years, doing regulatory and lobbying work.
       When the political bug bit her again, she went to work on 
     Howard Dean's short-lived presidential campaign before a 
     Senate job vacancy caught her eye. For three years, she was 
     staff director for the Senate Democratic Steering and 
     Outreach Committee under then-Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-
     N.Y.
       From there, Singiser went to work for Clinton's 2008 
     presidential campaign, focusing on women's outreach. When 
     Clinton bowed out of the race and endorsed Barack Obama, her 
     former rival, Singiser got on a plane almost immediately for 
     Chicago to lend a hand to Obama's general-election effort.
       She has been with the Obama administration since Day One, 
     becoming an expert on everything from financial reform to 
     health care as the president tackled an ambitious legislative 
     agenda in his first two years in office.
       ``I'm really proud and honored to have served President 
     Obama for three years, but I'm really excited to go on to 
     this next chapter,'' she added.

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