[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 148 (Thursday, September 29, 2016)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1407]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    IN RECOGNITION OF LESLEY CHILLER

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. WILLIAM R. KEATING

                            of massachusetts

                    in the house of representatives

                     Wednesday, September 28, 2016

  Mr. KEATING. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in remembrance of Lesley 
Chiller, who passed away Saturday, August 27, 2016, at the age of 40 as 
a result of complications from lupus.
  Lesley was born July 30, 1976, in Boston and raised in Sharon, 
Massachusetts. She graduated from Sharon High School where she excelled 
in English and writing. Following a year at the University of New 
Hampshire, Lesley earned a BA in Economics from the University of 
Massachusetts-Boston and a Certificate in Graphic Design from Pima 
College.
  An avid reader and music lover, Lesley enjoyed art, history, food 
anthropology, and politics where her deep passion for social justice 
was apparent. Family and friends knew Lesley to be wise and kind, but 
also armed with an unending sense of humor that was both intelligent 
and dry, even during the most trying times of her 10-year battle with 
lupus.
  Mr. Speaker, I co-founded the Congressional Lupus Caucus because we 
have a responsibility to fight back against this cruel and debilitating 
illness. Lupus is a chronic, autoimmune disease that can force your 
immune system to destroy healthy tissue, which often leads to terrible 
pain that can manifest itself throughout the body. I ask that my 
colleagues join me in the fight against lupus by joining the 
Congressional Lupus Caucus, and further by helping us boost federal 
funding to fight this disease through the National Institutes of Health 
and other means. We owe that not only to the memory of Lesley Chiller 
but also the 1.5 million Americans suffering with this affliction every 
day.

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