[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 39 (Tuesday, March 5, 2024)]
[House]
[Pages H784-H785]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1215
                         HONORING MARIE RIDDER

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Virginia (Mr. Beyer) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BEYER. Madam Speaker, I rise this afternoon to honor the lifetime 
contributions of Marie Ridder to Virginia and to our Nation.
  Marie, a distinguished journalist and one of the most passionate 
conservationists I have ever known, celebrated her 99th birthday just a 
few weeks ago. I believe her children have finally gotten her to agree 
to stop driving herself to every one of her many engagements.
  Marie Ridder began her career as a journalist by covering the 
reconstruction of post-World War II Europe for the Philadelphia 
Bulletin. Over the years, she wrote for The Washington Post, The Boston 
Globe, and for Knight Ridder publications.
  Not just a writer, Marie edited Vogue, Glamour, Mademoiselle, and 
also Conde Nast magazines.
  I became close with Marie when she hosted my first political event 
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[[Page H785]]

than 36 years ago. When everyone else was skeptical, including my own 
family, she believed in me.
  Marie is passionate about saving our landscapes and our environment. 
She has been the champion of the Piedmont Environmental Council for 
decades. She has served on the boards of the League of Conservation 
Voters and the Trust for Public Land.
  She is also a master gardener. While working in her garden high above 
the Potomac River, she was bitten by a copperhead a few years ago and 
rushed to Sibley Memorial Hospital for the antivenom. When she was 
struck again by a copperhead a few years later, the emergency room 
doctor noted that he had only treated two snake bites in his life; both 
were Marie. It will come as no surprise that he was, yet again, the 
attending physician on her third snake bite. I do my best to avoid her 
garden.
  Marie's public service history is both remarkable and intriguing. She 
was the deputy to the national director of Head Start where she also 
served as the direct liaison to First Lady Lady Bird Johnson for 4 
years.
  Later, she led the Sasha Bruce House, a compassionate home for lost 
children in our Capital City, the abused, abandoned, neglected, and 
runaways.
  Marie has won many awards in her fight for democracy, and in 2019, I 
was privileged to award her the Clara Mortenson Beyer Women and 
Children First Award for outstanding accomplishments and contributions 
to empowering women.
  On a recent visit to her McLean home, we were regaled with the most 
recent bow and arrow and deer story in her garden--that same cursed 
garden. It was in season, of course.
  Megan and I are most fortunate to count Marie Ridder as our beloved 
friend. Our America is the long beneficiary of her creativity, her 
energy, and her tireless commitment to others.
  When you earn her trust, Marie will even tell you about her date with 
John F. Kennedy.

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