[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 149 (Tuesday, December 9, 2014)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1757-E1758]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              TRIBUTE TO KATHERINE ``KELLY'' KRAUSER KNOTT

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. GARY G. MILLER

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, December 9, 2014

  Mr. GARY G. MILLER of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise to pay tribute 
to a wonderful young woman, Katherine ``Kelly'' Krauser Knott, who 
passed away last week after a long and courageous battle with breast 
cancer. We will miss Kelly dearly. She brought grace and warmth to 
everything she did. She was a great colleague, a great wife and mother, 
and a great friend to all she knew.
  Kelly was one of the best parts of the fabric of life for those of us 
who have the privilege of serving the people here on Capitol Hill. 
Every day, lawmakers and staff interact with dozens or even hundreds of 
people who are representing their issues or interests in Congress; but 
few of these people make the kind of lasting impression that Kelly made 
on many of us. She was a tireless advocate for her members at the 
Associated General Contractors of America and later at the National 
Retail Federation. Many of us had the pleasure of working with Kelly on 
tough policy issues over the years, and we appreciated her patience, 
her perseverance and her friendship through all.
  Kelly came to Washington, DC from Connecticut with a bachelor's 
degree from St. Mary's College, Notre Dame in Indiana, and she earned a 
master's degree in political management from George Washington 
University. She got her start on Capitol Hill with the late 
Representative Mel Hancock from southwestern Missouri, and I'm sure it 
didn't take long for her colleagues in Mr. Hancock's office to 
recognize that Kelly was a team player and a quiet leader who was 
always eager to pitch in and help.
  The staff and members of the Associated General Contractors of 
America were fortunate enough to work with Kelly through her marriage 
to Stewart and birth of her three children. She was a thoughtful, 
informed and aggressive member of the AGC team. She had a unique way of 
asserting her position without being too disagreeable. She made friends 
in the association, became a favorite of members who came to town and 
had a good way of guiding constituent comments back to the topic of 
concern without getting in their way. Most of all she was a friend and 
a person who used her warmth and charm to make others feel good.
  Later on, even though her own family was still quite young, Kelly's 
effective leadership was again at the fore as she became a mentor mom 
to other young working mothers who learned to count on her as a source 
of wisdom on balancing work and family responsibilities. While her work 
was important to Kelly, family always came first. In the last hours of 
her fight, her thoughts were not about the business of continuing 
resolutions, issue briefs or committee assignments, but of simply 
ensuring that the right Christmas tree was brought home to her house so 
that her treasured children would have all that they needed for 
Christmas.
  Kelly was a wonderful friend and colleague to so many, a trusted 
advocate on many issues, a loving wife, and a beautiful and enduring 
role model for her children. We have worried about and prayed for Kelly 
and her family during the course of her illness. We will continue to 
worry about and pray for her family as we all deal with the hole in our 
lives that comes from her passing. We know that her shoes will be 
impossible to fill; we are privileged to say that we were given the 
opportunity to call her a friend and colleague.
  I am sure that many of my colleagues join me today in saying that our 
hearts go out to Kelly's husband Stewart, her three beautiful children, 
Carson (9), Halle (6) and Kendall (6), her loving family, and her 
friends, too numerous to count.

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