[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 69 (Tuesday, April 25, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1336-S1337]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        TRIBUTE TO JOE McDERMOTT

  Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I rise today to honor and congratulate 
Mr. Joe McDermott on his retirement following 22 years of public 
service. Joe retires from Washington's King County Council, where he 
has represented King County's eighth district and been an extraordinary 
asset to our State and the greater Seattle-King County region for his 
many years in both the Washington State Senate and House of 
Representatives.
  Upon joining the State legislature in 2001, Joe marked the first time 
more than one openly gay legislator would serve in it. During his time, 
he contributed to unprecedented progress for the LGBTQ+ community 
through the addition of sexual orientation and gender identity to our 
State's antidiscrimination statutes and protections for transgender 
persons to our hate crime statutes, as well as recognition to domestic 
partnerships for same-sex couples. Joe's contributions have forever 
broadened the civil rights bill and paved the way to marriage equality.
  Joe has also been a pivotal leader in safeguarding public safety. As 
a councilmember, Joe responded to the public health crisis of gun 
violence by recognizing the necessity of responsible firearm policy 
with the 2018 King County Gun Safety Action Plan. As

[[Page S1337]]

chair of the King County Board of Health, Joe established the first 
producer-paid Secure Medicine Return Program in Washington State and 
second in the Nation, addressing the opiate crisis and ensuring the 
safe disposal of unused medicines throughout King County. In just 5 
years before the program became statewide and thanks to Joe's drive and 
commitment, 198 drop boxes were provided across the county, and over 
115 tons of drugs destroyed.
  As a sponsor of the original and 2021 renewal of Executive Dow 
Constantine's Best Starts for Kids Levy, Joe has played a momentous 
role in serving more than half a million King County children, youth, 
young adults, and families in partnership with 500 community-based 
organizations. He understands, as I do, that our young people are the 
future and our early investments in their lives will have growing 
returns for years to come.
  The host of community-based proposals and progress throughout his 
career reflect Joe's extraordinary skills in developing compromise and 
recognizing individualized needs, even in the most difficult of 
circumstances. As a champion of the Health through Housing initiative 
to house 1,600 of the most challenged people facing homelessness and 
leader for support on long range hotel motel tax revenue allocation for 
affordable housing and public infrastructure, Joe has never wavered 
from the deep responsibility and value he holds for King County's low-
income people.
  Joe's work has been all-encompassing. From the expansion of the light 
rail service and the guarantee of its equitable fare enforcement, to 
the addition of new water taxis to meet higher passenger capacities, to 
the review and approval of King County's public participation in an 
arena proposal for NBA basketball and NHL hockey, the lengths to which 
Joe will provide for our communities seem endless.
  It has been a great privilege to learn and collaborate with Joe over 
the last two decades, and it is my honor to thank him for his dedicated 
service to the people of King County, the State of Washington, and 
across the entire country. I wish him the very best during his well-
earned retirement.

                          ____________________