[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 159 (Friday, September 29, 2023)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E911]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  HONORING THE MEMORY OF WOODY KAPLAN

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. JARED HUFFMAN

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, September 29, 2023

  Mr. HUFFMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today, along with my colleague, Rep. 
Jamie Raskin, to honor the memory of Woody Kaplan, a civil rights 
champion, freethinker, and philanthropist who passed away at the age of 
80 on August 3, 2023.
  Woody was a prince of a human and a trusted friend. It is impossible 
to fully capture how much he contributed to our Nation and to 
furthering the secular movement.
  Woody's fierce advocacy for freedom of expression, church-state 
separation, reproductive freedom, racial justice, LGBTQ+ rights, and 
other causes spanned decades.
  A lifelong atheist who fought for every person's freedom of 
conscience, Woody co-founded the Secular Coalition for America, the 
largest coalition of national atheist, humanist, and secular 
organizations in the United States.
  Under Woody's leadership, the Secular Coalition for America went from 
representing four disparate national organizations to uniting 21 
organizations in a formidable political movement. The Secular Coalition 
for America also established the first full-time lobbyist in 
Washington, D.C. representing atheist, humanist, and secular Americans.
  Woody also served admirably in leadership and advisory roles at 
organizations including the Defending Dissent Foundation, American 
Atheists, American Humanist Association, the Foundation for Individual 
Rights in Education (FIRE), and the Secular Student Alliance. As a 
former member of the ACLU's National Board of Directors, he helped 
establish the organization's endowment fund. As a young man, Woody 
traveled to Mississippi to work on voter registration drives.
  Woody is survived by his wife Wendy Kaminer, an author and lawyer who 
shares Woody's passions and beliefs; his daughters Abigail and Emily; 
11 grandchildren; his sister Nancy Fischman and her husband Steve; and 
many other family members, friends and admirers who he touched with his 
formidable life.
  Mr. Speaker, I respectfully ask that you join my colleagues and me in 
extending condolences to Woody's family and friends, and in expressing 
our collective appreciation for his decades of work for the public 
good.

                          ____________________