[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 15 (Friday, January 24, 2020)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E73]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         HONORING LYONS FILMER

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. JARED HUFFMAN

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, January 24, 2020

  Mr. HUFFMAN. Madam Speaker, I rise today to commemorate Ms. Lyons 
Filmer on the occasion of her retirement as radio station KWMR's long-
standing program director. Ms. Filmer has been associated with KWMR, a 
nonprofit radio station located in Point Reyes, California, for nearly 
two decades and is a cherished and vital voice of the community.
  A native of San Francisco, Ms. Filmer is a graduate of Middlebury 
College in Vermont, where she studied sociology and worked on the 
college radio station. Upon graduation, she returned to the San 
Francisco Bay Area and worked as a volunteer programmer at KPFA in 
Berkeley.
  Ms. Filmer joined KWMR in 1999. She was quickly promoted to Program 
Manager as the station undertook technical upgrades, gained its FM 
broadcast license from the Federal Communications Commission, and 
expanded its reach and signal into other parts of West Marin. During 
her tenure at KWMR, she has featured countless local luminaries, 
activists, and artists on the station, and has ably hosted the local 
news segment Epicenter and KWMR's on-air literacy program, Turning 
Pages. She was part of a leadership team that now finds KWMR on three 
different FM signals in Marin County, and a station whose signal can 
now be heard deep into Sonoma County. The station's role as emergency-
services beacon for the region has extended in recent years as the 
region has been beset by floods, fires, droughts, and earthquakes.
  In her capacity as Program Director, Ms. Filmer has trained numerous 
on-air hosts as part of the station's mandate to be a community 
resource for all. As a DJ, her confident and mellifluous voice sets the 
standard for a top-tier radio personality. Ms. Filmer can be heard, by 
turns, informing her audience about a local news event, reading from 
non-fiction books about nature, and celebrating a new album of 
contemporary music. Known around the KWMR offices for her good humor, 
attention to detail, and tenacious loyalty to her beloved KWMR, Ms. 
Filmer's successful career may be most notable for her zeal for forging 
lasting connections in her community.
  Madam Speaker, please join me in honoring Lyons Filmer for her many 
years of incomparable leadership at KWMR. While Ms. Filmer is stepping 
down as Program Director, she has pledged to continue to be an on-air 
presence at the station. Her leadership will be missed, but I join with 
her many listeners who look forward to hearing from Ms. Filmer in her 
new role and wishing her well on her future endeavors.

                          ____________________