[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 25 (Tuesday, February 8, 2022)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E124]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




IN RECOGNITION OF BETSY LAWRENCE AND HER SERVICE TO THE HOUSE JUDICIARY 
                               COMMITTEE

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JERROLD NADLER

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, February 8, 2022

  Mr. NADLER. Madam Speaker, I rise, along with Zoe Lofgren, Chair of 
the Subcommittee on Immigration and Citizenship, to thank Betsy 
Lawrence for her service to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
  Betsy came to the Committee as part of a distinguished career working 
to advance the rights of immigrants and their families. She had 
previously worked for more than a decade at the American Immigration 
Lawyers Association, where she held several different positions, 
including Associate Director of Education, Associate Director of 
Liaison, and Director of Government Relations. Before joining AILA, 
Betsy was an associate attorney at Van Der Hout LLP. She earned her 
B.S. from Northeastern University and her J.D. from the University of 
San Francisco School of Law.
  Betsy joined the Committee on the Judiciary as Counsel to our 
Subcommittee on Immigration and Citizenship in February 2019--an 
especially busy time as we prepared to advance a robust immigration 
reform agenda and conduct meaningful oversight of the Trump 
Administration's anti-immigrant policies. Betsy quickly proved herself 
to be an invaluable member of our immigration team, and we were pleased 
to promote her to Chief Counsel of our Immigration Subcommittee at the 
beginning of this Congress.
  During her tenure here, Betsy played a pivotal role in ensuring House 
passage of numerous bills to provide for a more humane and just 
immigration system, including the American Dream and Promise Act, the 
Farm Workforce Modernization Act, the National Origin-Based 
Antidiscrimination for Nonimmigrants (NO BAN) Act, and the Access to 
Counsel Act. She was also heavily involved in our investigation into 
the Trump Administration's ``zero tolerance'' or family separation 
policy, our efforts to include meaningful immigration reform in the 
reconciliation process, and our work to ensure immigration provisions 
were included in the America COMPETES Act of 2022. Despite our 
polarized political climate, Betsy and her team successfully worked to 
pass several bills into law, including the Citizenship for Children of 
Military Members and Civil Servants Act and the HOPE (Honoring Our 
Promises through Expedition) for Afghan SIVs Act of 2021. The Committee 
is deeply proud of her record of accomplishment.
  The country has been fortunate to have Betsy working hard within the 
halls of Congress to reform our broken immigration system, undo the 
harms caused by the last administration, and ensure the expedient 
issuance of special immigrant visas to those who served side by side 
with American troops in Afghanistan. Although we will miss her greatly, 
we know she will continue to make her country proud as she transitions 
to her new role in the Biden-Harris Administration.
  We thank Betsy for her service to the Committee and wish her the best 
of luck with this new chapter.

                          ____________________