[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 149 (Tuesday, November 27, 2012)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1805]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       TRIBUTE TO CARMEN WARSCHAW

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. HENRY A. WAXMAN

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, November 27, 2012

  Mr. WAXMAN. Mr. Speaker, I join my colleague Howard Berman in paying 
tribute to our lifelong and dear friend, Carmen Warschaw. Carmen passed 
away on Election Day, November 6, a fitting day for an activist who 
viewed politics as a participatory sport, in which she was a master 
player as well as a passionate fan.
  Carmen loved political gossip and good jokes. Her home was a 
veritable salon, where elected officials, old and new friends, and 
family members gathered for very good food and even better conversation 
and camaraderie.
  She was literally woven into the tapestry of Democratic politics and 
the California State Party. Always a leader, Carmen attained 
recognition on the national stage but played a large role in shaping 
party politics on the state level.
  Carmen and her college sweetheart and husband, Louis, who passed away 
in 2000, were truly a team to be reckoned with. They were actively 
involved in politics from their youth when the State of California was 
growing in Democratic representation. As leader of the state Democratic 
Party, Carmen played a central role as California's governor and 
legislature worked to create a model public education system with world 
famous universities, and highways and waterways that fed the thriving 
economy of the Golden State. She was a mentor, supporter, and strategy 
expert to a whole generation of politicians and public servants. She 
never shied away from taking sides and plunged wholeheartedly into the 
fray when she felt that those she had helped were not living up to her 
expectations.
  Carmen's reach went much further than politics. She leaves a 
remarkable legacy of interest in and generosity to the Jewish 
community. She was an indispensable leader in the Jewish Federation, 
the Los Angeles Music Center and the Otis Art Institute.
  Carmen and Lou also established the Carmen H. and Louis Warschaw 
Chair in Practical Politics at the University of Southern California, 
their alma mater. She established the Louis Warschaw Prostate Cancer 
Center at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and they both also helped to 
establish the USC Casden Institute for the Study of the Jewish Role in 
American Life.
  Carmen is survived by a large and loving family, her daughter Hope 
and son-in-law, John Law, her daughter Susan and son-in-law, Carl 
Robertson, and grandchildren Jack Law-Warschaw, Cara Robertson and Chip 
Robertson and great-grandchildren Louis Harvey Robertson and Rose 
Frances Harvey Robertson.
  We ask our colleagues to join us as we celebrate and remember the 
legendary life of Carmen Warschaw.

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