[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 45 (Thursday, March 9, 2023)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E208]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                HONORING THE LOSS OF KAREN HOBERT FLYNN

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. JOE COURTNEY

                             of connecticut

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 9, 2023

  Mr. COURTNEY. Mr. Speaker, it is with great sorrow that I rise today 
to honor the life and career of Karen Hobert Flynn of Middletown, 
Connecticut. Karen, a trailblazer in strengthening democracy in 
Connecticut and nationwide, tragically passed away at the age of 60 on 
March 3, 2023, after complications from her courageous fight against 
cancer. Karen's trailblazing work to enact and implement meaningful 
campaign finance reform in Connecticut has and will continue to have a 
healthy, positive and direct impact on Connecticut's electoral 
democracy which is a legacy that will live on for ages. Our state is 
forever in her debt.
  Born in 1962 in Chestnut Hill, Pennsylvania to Susan Forrest and 
Peter Hobert, Karen moved at an early age with her family to Medford, 
New Jersey where she graduated high school. From there, Karen attended 
St. Mary's College in Maryland to receive her Bachelor of Arts in 
Political Science and History. Immediately after graduating, in 1985, 
she started what would transition into a lifelong career at Common 
Cause as the director of the Campaign Finance Monitoring Project. Over 
the course of the next decade, Karen also helped organize and direct 
several other public interest campaigns, which included work for Public 
Citizen and the Center for Science in Public Interest.
  Over time, Karen's passion for good governance itself lead her to 
embrace the need for robust campaign finance reform. It was that 
mission that brought her to Connecticut. In 1996, she took on the job 
of Executive Director of the state chapter of Common Cause. She 
continued to lead the Connecticut Chapter into the early 2000s and 
became the organization's state chair in 2001. I first got to know 
Karen when I joined Connecticut Secretary of State Miles Rapaport's 
office as Special Counsel on Campaign Finance, and worked with Karen in 
her quest for reform. As the State Chair of Common Cause, Karen was the 
go-to expert responding on the front lines to a political and ethical 
firestorm, which led to the 2004 resignation and criminal conviction of 
a former Connecticut governor. With the public revulsion in the wake of 
that event fresh in the voter's minds, Karen organized the successful 
push with Connecticut Governor Jodi Rell and Secretary of State Susan 
Bysiewicz to enact a sweeping Connecticut campaign finance law built 
around the structure of public financing of elections. The final law 
created the landmark, nationally renowned Connecticut Citizens Election 
Program, that today is still the law of the land in Connecticut.
  Karen's democratic activism did not end with this milestone. She went 
on to lead common cause nationally, providing help and assistance to 
other reform efforts in other states, as well as lobbying Congress for 
federal campaign finance reform. Though she kept focus on growing the 
mission of Common Cause, doubling its membership and reach to 30 
states, she also maintained a watchful eye on the electoral safeguards 
her organization effectuated. She repeatedly stepped in to thwart 
partisan efforts to undermine the Election Program. By 2016, Karen was 
rightfully named President of Common Cause at a time when national 
attacks on our democratic norms and institutions began to spin out of 
control. Needless to say, Karen was a tireless defender of our system 
of government, a fierce advocate for legislative efforts which have 
passed this body in previous sessions--the For the People Act--and a 
tenacious fighter of corruption at all levels of our political system.
  Mr. Speaker, the life of Karen Hobert Flynn has greatly improved 
accountability standards within the State of Connecticut, as well as 
what Americans expect across the country. In her passing, Karen joins 
the ranks of many likeminded and fierce advocates who dedicated 
themselves to creating a stronger Union and community. I offer my 
sincere condolences to her friends and family, specifically her 
husband, Robert Flynn and four sons, John, Peter, Daniel and Michael, 
siblings, as well as everyone at Common Cause. We cannot soon hope to 
replace the void of her loss, and her principled vision for an 
inclusive democracy. To that end, Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues in 
the House to join me in remembrance of Karen Hobert Flynn and preserve 
her life and works.

                          ____________________