[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 48 (Monday, March 23, 2015)]
[House]
[Page H1810]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    HONORING GRETCHEN MILLER KAFOURY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Oregon (Mr. Blumenauer) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BLUMENAUER. Mr. Speaker, Gretchen Miller Kafoury passed away 2 
weeks ago in Portland. She left us at age 72, far too soon, only 
recently retired from her amazing career. It was my honor to have 
served with Gretchen in the Oregon Legislature in the seventies, on the 
Multnomah County Commission in the eighties, and the Portland City 
Council in the nineties.
  She fulfilled responsibilities in each office with a passion, a 
dedication to the underprivileged, a hardheaded realism; plainspoken, 
down-to-earth, warm and generous in spirit personally and 
professionally.
  She started her career as a Peace Corps volunteer in Iran. She loved 
that country and its people. Throughout her life, that experience 
informed her views of the Middle East, her knowledge of the warmth and 
support by the Iranian people for Americans.
  Gretchen offered a voice in our community for a more thoughtful 
approach to that country, including at least attempting diplomatic 
efforts. It is too bad she couldn't have talked to some people in 
Congress who were either too afraid or distracted to try diplomacy.
  Despite her well-earned reputation as a liberal firebrand, she was 
always supportive of thoughtful and diplomatic efforts of cooperation, 
negotiation, and listening.
  She was extraordinarily effective in advancing the interests of her 
constituents. Her legacy includes a facility for the homeless with her 
name on it and countless projects and programs that she helped conceive 
and advance. She helped shape policies in human services, land use, and 
the arts.
  Her legacy also includes her daughters, Katharine and Deborah. Part 
of that political legacy is a daughter, Deborah, who served in the 
leadership of the Oregon Legislature, following in her mother's 
footsteps, and is currently chair of the Multnomah County Commission on 
which Gretchen so honorably served.
  She was an educator, having taught for more than 10 years, most 
recently at the Portland State University Hatfield School of 
Government.
  She was a pioneer in women's rights, having famously helped lead the 
efforts to integrate the previously all-male Portland City Club. In our 
community, it was very significant in and of itself as a powerful 
signal of the acceptance of women, not just rhetorically. It was part 
of a cause for which she devoted her entire life. Women, gay rights, 
minorities, Gretchen was a tireless champion for people who needed a 
tireless champion.
  For all the joys of working with Gretchen, I will remember her best 
as a friend. Highlights include spending time with her at her lovely 
beach retreat on the Oregon coast or a fabulous trip to New York with 
our then-spouses that included running the New York Marathon, theater, 
good food, and fabulous company.
  Over four decades, Gretchen Kafoury helped make our community more 
liveable and more humane, and we are grateful.

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