[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 163 (Wednesday, October 4, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4940-S4941]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       REMEMBERING KAREN McGINNIS

  Mrs. MURRAY. Madam President, I rise today to pay tribute to a true 
public servant and an icon of the Tri-Cities community. Last month, my 
good friend Karen McGinnis passed away. For 20 years, Karen served as 
the founding director of a critically important worker training 
facility, the Volpentest Hazardous Materials Management and Emergency 
Response, HAMMER, Federal Training Center, at the Hanford site in my 
home State of Washington.
  Born in Nevada and raised in Oregon, Karen made her way to my alma 
mater, Washington State University, where she received her master's 
degree in agricultural economics in 1980. She went on to work at the 
Hanford site for almost her entire career, serving various Hanford 
contractors for 40 years,

[[Page S4941]]

including two decades as the director of the HAMMER training center. 
This is where I had the great fortune to cross paths with Karen.
  Karen and I worked together from the get-go, along with Sam 
Volpentest, to plan, fund, and build HAMMER. I was so proud to stand 
with Karen and Sam at the groundbreaking for HAMMER in 1995, and I 
still have the shovel from that event in my office today. It serves as 
a reminder of what just a few people with a real passion to make a 
difference can accomplish--and if anyone had passion for this effort, 
it was Karen. Her work was essential to getting HAMMER off the ground 
and growing it into the world-class worker training center that it is 
today.
  Beyond founding HAMMER, one of Karen's crowning achievements was the 
many, many partnerships she was able to forge. She brought Federal, 
State, and local agencies together with organized labor, Tribal 
governments, contractors and management, safety professionals, and 
community leaders to form a coalition that made HAMMER flourish. Her 
leadership earned HAMMER the Federal Government's top safety award 
through the Star Program of the Voluntary Protection Program. Karen was 
also honored with a Special Achievement Award for her role in getting 
there, and she was later appointed to sit on the Federal Law 
Enforcement Training Centers, FLETC, Advisory Board. Her leadership and 
coalition-building ensured that workers at the Hanford site and 
emergency responders around the world continue to receive the training 
they need to remain safe on the job today. Their work is dangerous--but 
vital. Without HAMMER, the Hanford cleanup mission would not have the 
trained workers necessary to continue making progress safely.
  Ultimately, the entire safety culture at Hanford can be traced back 
to Karen's leadership, her dedication and infectious optimism, and her 
ability to bring people together. Former AFL-CIO president Richard 
Trumka recognized her work as one of the most important partnerships 
between labor and management in the country. I find it hard to 
disagree. Her incredible leadership and dedication to protecting 
workers' health and safety was essential in making HAMMER into a 
globally recognized worker training facility.
  Not only did Karen build HAMMER, she also established the 
professional culture for worker safety, Tribal relationships, and 
collaboration between labor, contractors, and Federal programs. And she 
didn't stop there; she went on to develop the next generation of 
workers so that the worker-trainers of the future could lead the way. 
Now, there is an army of HAMMER champions ensuring that Congress, DOE, 
contractors, and national labor leaders recognize just how important 
this facility is.
  I also have to say, as someone who knows a little about this: Karen 
didn't take the easy road. She entered a profession dominated by men at 
the time--and she didn't just get by, she thrived as a pioneer in the 
field. Karen earned the respect of her colleagues, and importantly, she 
opened doors and broke glass ceilings so that other women could follow 
in her path.
  Karen McGinnis was truly one-of-a-kind, a natural leader whose 
dedication, boundless energy, and wisdom touched many lives. She helped 
build something extraordinary at the Volpentest HAMMER Federal Training 
Center. Karen had as strong of a moral compass as you can find, and 
when she knew she was in the right, she did not take ``no'' for an 
answer. As for me personally, I knew that any time Karen came to my 
office--or anytime I visited her in the better Washington--she came 
ready to work, ready to help people, and ready to solve problems. 
Hanford workers and so many other people around the world are better 
off today because of Karen's vision, her tireless work, and her 
dedication to their safety and well-being.
  Karen McGinnis has made a tremendous impact on the Tri-Cities 
community, Washington State, and our entire Nation. Today, I join with 
others in the State of Washington and across the world in recognizing 
Karen for her many years of service. She is dearly missed.

                          ____________________