[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 200 (Tuesday, December 5, 2023)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1169]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   HONORING THE RETIREMENT OF MARYLAND ELECTIONS ADMINISTRATOR LINDA 
                                 LAMONE

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. STENY H. HOYER

                              of maryland

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, December 5, 2023

  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in recognition of my friend 
Linda Lamone: Maryland's longest-serving Elections Administrator and 
the second-longest-serving chief elections official in America. In 
September, she retired after overseeing our elections for more than a 
quarter century. Linda is a woman of tremendous vision, integrity, and 
reverence for our democratic institutions, and we appreciate her 
outstanding service.
  After serving Marylanders for decades as a Counsel to the Maryland 
State Assembly, the Chief Legal Counsel to Governor Schaefer's 
legislative office, a private attorney, and an Assistant Attorney 
General under Governor Glendening, Linda started as Elections 
Administrator in 1997. She oversaw 13 federal general elections, 
including six presidential elections, over the course of her impressive 
career.
  Linda started the role at a pivotal moment for American elections. 
New digital technologies offered new opportunities to enhance our 
electoral system. Around the same time, the 2000 presidential election 
revealed how vulnerabilities in our elections can undermine the 
American people's faith in our democracy. That experience led me and a 
bipartisan group of Members to pass the Help America Vote Act to keep 
our elections secure, accessible, and transparent.
  Linda was instrumental in helping the Election Assistance Commission 
and I implement HAVA in Maryland and beyond. From modernizing and 
standardizing our state's voting machines to digitizing campaign 
finance and voter registration resources, Linda brought our elections 
into the twenty-first century. She helped other states make progress in 
these areas through her involvement with the National Association of 
State Election Directors.
  Linda also helped our state and our democracy weather unprecedented 
crises. She led the effort to ensure that Marylanders could vote safely 
in the 2020 election during the Covid-19 pandemic. She also sought to 
maintain Americans' faith in their democratic system amid a wave of 
election denialism. We were fortunate to have Linda's leadership in 
2020 and all the years before and since.
  No matter the task at hand or the challenge before her, Linda tackled 
it with determination. She always knew that she could count on the 
support of her family--especially her husband of 53 years, Rudy. As 
Dean of the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of 
Maryland, College Park, and as a prominent academic and entrepreneur, 
Rudy was another crucial leader in our community. We all mourned with 
Linda when he passed away earlier this year, and we continue to keep 
him in our prayers.
  As Linda brings her career to a close, we find ourselves at another 
pivotal moment for American elections. We see leaders openly cast doubt 
on the outcome of free and fair elections. Some people deliberately try 
to erode our electoral system and other democratic institutions. Linda 
Lamone serves as an example of the countless hardworking, principled 
elections officials across the country who help uphold our democracy in 
the face of these threats. Their work isn't easy, but it is absolutely 
essential.
  I ask my colleagues to join me in honoring Linda and the democratic 
principles she devoted her career to protecting.

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