[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 73 (Monday, May 1, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Page S1439]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

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                       TRIBUTE TO MATT ROTHSCHILD

 Ms. BALDWIN. Madam President, today I rise to honor Matt 
Rothschild, executive director of the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, on 
his retirement. Over the span of Matt's 43-year career, he has been a 
tireless advocate for democracy, social and economic justice, and civil 
rights and liberties.
  After graduating magna cum laude from Harvard in 1980, Matt went to 
work as an editor for the Multinational Monitor, working for Ralph 
Nader in Washington, DC. In 1983, he moved to Wisconsin to take a job 
as staff writer with The Progressive Magazine. In 1994, he advanced to 
senior editor and chairman of the board of directors for the magazine. 
While with The Progressive, Matt was also the director of The 
Progressive Media Project and published the book, ``You Have No Rights: 
Stories of America in an Age of Repression.'' While at The Progressive, 
Matt wrote hundreds of stories on issues ranging from threats to civil 
liberties, to social justice, to peace, to environmental concerns. He 
interviewed notable figures in the arts, politics, and economics 
including Wendell Berry, Naomi Klein, Bill McKibben, Robert Redford, 
Alice Walker, Allen Ginsberg, and Joseph Stiglitz.
  In 2015, Matt joined the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign where he 
focused the efforts of the organization on banning gerrymandering, 
protecting and expanding the freedom to vote, getting rid of dark money 
in politics, and opposing anti-democracy efforts. Matt has the 
distinguishing quality of being everywhere, all at once, and has taken 
his vital messages about protecting democracy to hundreds of radio and 
television broadcasts, newspaper articles, opinion columns, social 
media and, in person, doing talks to good government groups in nearly 
every community in Wisconsin, letting citizens know what is at stake 
and how to get involved to redirect Wisconsin's future. While at the 
Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, he also wrote ``Twelve Ways to Save 
Democracy in Wisconsin,'' which tells the story of what a once-
progressive State lost after Act 10 was enacted in 2010 and the 
Republicans, through the creation of unfair maps, held a lock on 
government.
  Matt has been a leading voice in Wisconsin for over 40 years. He has 
advocated tirelessly, doing so with kindness and good humor, always 
willing to engage with those who disagreed with him as much as those 
who did. Today, as Matt moves into retirement, he will step aside to 
leave space for others to fill because that is what Matt is about: 
paving the way for the next generation to continue the good fight. I 
feel honored to call Matt my friend and will be forever grateful for 
all he has done for the citizens in our State and for the voice he has 
given to democracy in these perilous times.

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