[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 5 (Friday, January 8, 2016)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E22-E23]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      CELEBRATING THE LIFE AND LEGACY OF PATRICIA ``PATTY'' SIEGEL

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. NANCY PELOSI

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, January 8, 2016

  Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, on December 25th, a beautiful Christmas day 
in San Francisco, a beloved community leader and esteemed childcare 
advocate passed away. Patricia `Patty' Siegel was a courageous, 
passionate and relentless champion for children, who dedicated her life 
and career to making childcare accessible and affordable for all 
families. Patty helped lay the groundwork for America's contemporary 
childcare network.
  In 1972, drawing on her experience as a mother, teacher and parent-
organizer, Patty founded one of the nation's first childcare resource 
and referral agencies, the Childcare Switchboard, now known as the 
Children's Council of San Francisco. For 30 years, Patty served as 
Executive Director of the California Child Care Resource & Referral 
Network, the first such network in the nation, which empowered her to 
play an influential role in shaping state and federal childcare policy. 
Among her biggest achievements was the passage of federal legislation 
in 1990 creating the Child Care and Development Block Grant, which 
provides subsidies to low-income families seeking childcare.
  Patty served on the Governor's Advisory Committee on Child Care 
Development and was one of the original state commissioners for the 
First 5 California Commission that oversees and supports the funding of 
education, health, and childcare programs for California children under 
age 5 and their families. With her customary energy and vision, Patty 
also inspired and guided the development of Parent Voices, a grassroots 
parent-led effort to engage and empower parents to participate in the 
policy process.
  An early champion of the idea that early education creates long-term 
cognitive and emotional benefits, Patty Siegel's name is synonymous 
with the best initiatives giving all children the opportunity to 
succeed. As we mourn Patty's passing, we know she lives on--in the

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children she helped, in the working families she empowered, and in the 
activists she inspired.
  Sadly, in 2014, Patty lost her beloved husband, Sandy, who proudly 
supported her efforts over the years. I hope it is a comfort to their 
children Toby, Tara and Kelsey, and their four grandchildren, that so 
many are thinking of them during this difficult time. We are grateful 
to them for sharing such a magnificent and dearly beloved woman with 
us. Her beautiful spirit lives on in the battles she won, the policies 
she changed, and the countless lives she continues to impact.

                          ____________________