[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 126 (Thursday, July 16, 2020)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E639-E640]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     HONORING THE LEADERSHIP AND LEGACY OF CHAIRWOMAN NITA M. LOWEY

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. ROSA L. DeLAURO

                             of connecticut

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 16, 2020

  Ms. DeLAURO. Madam Speaker, I want to recognize the remarkable 
leadership of Chairwoman Nita M. Lowey. Nita has made the nation, and 
the world, a far better place because of her commitment to the 
Appropriations Committee, and her outstanding achievements will forever 
be honored and celebrated here in the Congress.
  I cherish the 25 years we have spent together fighting for expanded 
access to women's health, the inclusion of women in NIH clinical 
trials, increased investment in early childhood education, adequate 
worker protections, and so much more. Beyond her professionalism, 
dedication, and leadership, Nita is genuine and compassionate. As she 
has for many of our other colleagues, she has been there for me in 
times of need. I will miss seeing her in the halls of Congress and on 
the Appropriations Committee, but our friendship endures.
  In honor of her outstanding legacy, I include in the Record the 
Chairwoman's farewell remarks to the House Appropriations Committee on 
July 15, 2020, the final day of markups for the 116th Congress:

       Good morning, everyone. As we begin our final day of 
     consideration of the FY21 spending bills, I'd like to thank 
     you all for your kind words and well wishes and ask you to 
     indulge me in just a few more reflections.
       I came to Congress in 1989, one of just 31 women in the 
     House and Senate, and to this Committee in 1993 alongside 
     only six other women on the 64-member panel.
       This body is better for the 100 women serving in the 116th 
     Congress and for the many women in this room today. It's my 
     honor to address the full Committee for my final time as the 
     first woman Chair.
       You know, it's ironic that back in 1993, I had to choose 
     between serving on Appropriations or Ways and Means. And 
     today we mark up my final Appropriations bills in the Ways 
     and Means Committee room.
       I chose Appropriations because I believed it was the best 
     place to give more people a better chance at a better life. 
     After nearly 30 years on Committee, I still believe that.
       In fact, nowhere else in Congress could I have advanced 
     such a diverse range of priorities. In the days of 
     congressionally directed spending--something I hope you all 
     restore--I brought home hundreds of millions to help my 
     constituents directly, from transportation hubs and commuter 
     services, bridge and road safety, early learning and health 
     centers, to economic development and job training, school 
     safety, senior centers, flooding relief, and more.
       Of course, without those projects, I have created new 
     programs, including one that protects vulnerable nonprofits 
     at a time of rising anti-Semitism and hate, like those in my 
     district surrounding the community that experienced a tragic 
     attack at a Hanukah party last year.
       Nationally, we advanced the .08 blood alcohol content 
     standard for drunk driving that has saved countless lives. 
     Following September 11th, we funded the new Department of 
     Homeland Security, and I have fought hard for New York's fair 
     share of its investments in our preparedness and response 
     capabilities.
       I am so proud of tremendous accomplishments for women's 
     health--from protecting and expanding access to family 
     planning here and abroad, to gains in research equity and 
     breast cancer research and securing contraceptive coverage 
     for federal employees that led to dramatically expanded 
     coverage for women today. And, let me just say, we will never 
     go back to the days when NIH excluded women from clinical 
     trials-when even the lab rats were all male.
       Among many education achievements, we established the first 
     federal afterschool programs that have grown to a billion 
     dollar investment today and served millions of children and 
     families. And, it was certainly fun to bring Bert and Ernie 
     to a hearing to help save PBS's federal funding.
       Despite my passion for these priorities, I bucked 
     conventional wisdom to become Ranking Member on the State and 
     Foreign Operations subcommittee rather than the Labor-HHS-
     Education subcommittee. I cannot overstate my commitment to 
     our responsible investments through our foreign aid bill that 
     make the world better, safer, and healthier while improving 
     the security of generations here at home.
       At the heart of that work is providing a basic education to 
     the world's children so that they may thrive and prosper, be 
     healthier and resilient to dangerous influences, and create a 
     more stable world. So what a moving and rewarding honor it 
     was to have my dear friends Ranking Member Granger and 
     Ranking Member Rogers recognize my work on international 
     basic education by naming that program for me last week in 
     the State and foreign operations markup.
       While my time as the Chairwoman of this Committee has been 
     short, our achievements together will have a lasting impact.
       Despite our differences and disagreements, or perhaps 
     because of them, we ultimately recognize that the power of 
     the purse--one of the most important entrusted to us by the 
     Constitution--requires us to build consensus and put the 
     interests of the American people first.
       I took the Appropriations gavel in January 2019, in the 
     middle of the longest partial government shutdown in U.S. 
     history.
       Not only did we reach bipartisan agreement to reopen 
     government, we cleared all 12 fiscal year 2020 appropriations 
     bills through committee and 10 off the House floor before the 
     Senate introduced a single bill, and we enacted all 12 before 
     the end of the calendar year.
       As appropriators, we lead by example, with common sense and 
     deliberation.
       Our ability to transcend party differences and make hard 
     choices within the constraints of limited funding makes us 
     worthy of the privilege to hash out the biggest battles of 
     the day.
       Through virtual and remote work and in masks and gloves 
     today, this Committee is confronting twin crises--one most of 
     us never expected, the other only the willfully indifferent 
     could not have anticipated.
       In recent months, we have led the way to invest trillions 
     to stem the spread of a global pandemic and mitigate the 
     worst of its devastating economic impacts.
       The fiscal year 2021 appropriations bills continue those 
     efforts even as we address systemic racism, a crisis that has 
     reached a boiling point in recent weeks.
       We have acted on the urgent need for meaningful police 
     reform and economic development in disadvantaged communities 
     that is fundamental to a more just and equitable society that 
     lives up to our highest values and aspirations.
       We are living through a time of heightened cynicism and 
     polarization, of suffering and pain, and great uncertainty, 
     with too little compassion and leadership from some at the 
     highest levels of power.
       The old adage you might have heard me say a time or two--
     that in Washington there are Republicans, Democrats, and 
     appropriators--is perhaps more important now than ever.
       My parting request to you is this: do not succumb to the 
     pervasive partisanship that permeates what can feel like all 
     aspects of our professional--and even sometimes our 
     personal--lives.
       Beyond keeping government's doors open and lights on, 
     conduct robust oversight and demand accountability and 
     transparency on the use of taxpayer dollars, defend our 
     constitutional prerogatives against Executive Overreach 
     regardless of who occupies the White House or the Speaker's 
     office. Always strive to use the power of the purse to unlock 
     the full potential of this nation.
       Over the next weeks and months, I will continue that hard 
     work with all of you, who are at the heart of what makes this 
     the best Committee in Congress. If you're looking for

[[Page E640]]

     a goodbye gift, I would love to get all our bills done by the 
     end of the year.
       To the other members leaving Congress at the end of this 
     term--my fellow New Yorker and dear friend Jose Serrano, Pete 
     Visclosky, Tom Graves, Martha Roby, and Will Hurd--thank you 
     for your service, and I wish you all the very best.
       To my subcommittee chairs--Marcy, Pete, Jose, Rosa, David, 
     Lucille, Sanford, Betty, Tim, Debbie, and Mike--you have made 
     your mark not just on your bills and on this Committee. Thank 
     you for your steady, effective leadership and friendship.
       Kay, I could not ask for a better Ranking Member. We took 
     turns as Chair and Ranking Member on State and Foreign 
     Operations and have shown time and again that women get 
     things done. I will deeply miss our partnership and you 
     personally.
       I would be remiss not to mention former Committee Chairs 
     Natcher, Livingston, Young, Lewis, Obey, Rogers, and 
     Frelinghuysen who showed me what it takes to do this job 
     well.
       None of us could fulfill our mandate without the support of 
     excellent staff. All of the successes I've recounted today 
     and more are also the achievements of many others.
       To the staff in both the Committee and my Congressional 
     office: For a year and a half as Chairwoman, six years as 
     Ranking Member--and for some, a whole lot longer--I have 
     benefitted immeasurably from your wisdom, counsel, tireless 
     commitment, and, on more than a few occasions, from your 
     technological prowess.
       One of the benefits of being chair is having the largest 
     and most experienced staff on the Hill. From all of our 
     subcommittee staff led by clerks Martha Foley, Bob Bonner, 
     Becky Leggieri, Jaime Shimek, Matt Smith, Darek Newby, Rita 
     Culp, Stephen Steigleder, Robin Juliano, Matt Washington, 
     Lisa Molyneux, Steve Marchese, and Joe Carlile to Adam Berg, 
     Jason Gray, Adam Wilson, Tom Tucker, Anna Hansen, Mike Burns, 
     Gloria Nlewedim, and Malachi White in the front office, I am 
     grateful for everything you do to make this the best 
     committee in Congress.
       My Congressional office staff in Washington, including Fae 
     Rabin, Wendy Coursen, Liz Gauthier, Jane Richter, Matt 
     Pastore, Steve Brenner, and Justin Barnes, have been 
     invaluable during my final appropriations markups, as always.
       I especially note my gratitude for the extraordinary work 
     of several staffers with whom I work most closely: Staff 
     Director and Clerk Shalanda Young, Deputy Staff Director 
     Chris Bigelow--an alum of my personal office, Communications 
     Director Evan Hollander, Legislative Director Dana Acton, 
     Deputy Chief of Staff Kelly Healton, and my Chief of Staff 
     for the last 15 years, Elizabeth Stanley.
       I appreciate the great contributions of former staff, 
     including chiefs of staff--Scott Fleming, Howard Wolfson, 
     Matthew Traub and Clare Coleman--and legislative teams led by 
     Jim Townsend, Mark Isaac, Jenny Luray, Heather Howard, Beth 
     Tritter, and Jean Doyle. At the committee, I valued the 
     expertise of former Staff Director David Pomerantz, Deputy 
     Staff Director Lesley Turner, and Communications Director 
     Matt Dennis who also served in my personal office.
       I have enjoyed seeing so many current and former staffers 
     grow in your careers, get married, have children, and even 
     some of you retire before me. You will always be a part of 
     the Lowey family.
       It has been the honor of my life to serve as Chairwoman of 
     this committee. While I'll be sad to hand over the gavel, I 
     know that all of us--members and staff--will live by the 
     underlying principle that has guided our work together: do 
     the best we can to make life better for the most people we 
     can.
       Thank you.

                          ____________________