[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 29 (Friday, February 17, 2017)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E221]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]





                 HONORING BANCROFT ``NICK'' LITTLEFIELD

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. JOSEPH P. KENNEDY III

                            of massachusetts

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, February 17, 2017

  Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today with a heavy heart to honor 
the memory of Bancroft ``Nick'' Littlefield, a dear friend and 
dedicated public servant who passed away last week.
   Few in our country could match Nick's career. From stages on 
Broadway to classrooms at Harvard Law School to courtrooms in New York 
City and eventually to the halls of this Capitol as an aide to my uncle 
Senator Ted Kennedy--Nick did it all.
   Always guided by the simple principle that our laws should help and 
protect our citizens, his fingerprints can be found on every page of 
landmark legislation such as the Children's Health Insurance Program, 
Americans with Disabilities Act, Family Medical Leave Act and the 1996 
minimum wage increase.
   As Senator Kennedy's Staff Director for the Senate Health, Education 
and Labor Committee from 1989 until 1998, he worked tirelessly behind 
the scenes to enact bipartisan reforms to our health insurance market 
and mental health system that would ultimately lay the foundation for 
the Affordable Care Act.
   Each day he arrived at his Senate office, he brought a contagious 
enthusiasm for his work and extraordinary empathy for the people he 
served.
   For all of his peers, regardless of political party, and for me as 
well, he will always be an inspiration because of his faith in what our 
government can accomplish when we work together.
   Even while battling the multiple system atrophy that would leave him 
unable to walk, talk, write and sing, he considered himself ``not 
entirely unlucky'' to have the disease because it allowed him to 
``truly sympathize'' with others who had disabilities.
   Mr. Speaker, because of Nick's devotion to our country, those 
effected by once incurable illness have been healed, families 
struggling to care for a loved one are able to keep their job, millions 
of children have received the health care they need, and millions more 
who work for a living have been able to ensure that they do not live in 
poverty.
   His intelligence, compassion, and dedication were matched only by 
his devotion to his family. In this difficult time, my thoughts and 
prayers are with Nick's wife, Jenny Lyman, as well as his stepchildren 
Frank, Tom and Kate. Our nation has lost a good man, but we are all 
better for the life he lived.

                          ____________________