[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 73 (Thursday, May 1, 2025)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2732-S2733]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                        Remembering Elaine Wynn

  Ms. CORTEZ MASTO. Mr. President, I rise today to recognize Elaine P. 
Wynn, who passed away on April 14, 2025.
  Elaine was the driving force behind Wynn Resorts and a champion for 
Nevada. She will be greatly missed and will always be remembered for 
her influential business and philanthropic work that actually shaped 
the Southern Nevada community we know today.
  Elaine was born in New York and grew up in Miami Beach, but it was 
Las Vegas where she found her longtime home, and it is Las Vegas that 
will carry on her legacy.
  In 1967, Elaine moved to Las Vegas to be at the center of the gaming 
and entertainment industry and immediately jumped into the casino 
business. She cofounded both Mirage Resorts and Wynn Resorts and was 
instrumental in developing and designing the Mirage, Bellagio, Wynn, 
Encore, and other world-renowned resorts. She also wove the art, 
culture, and celebration of the human spirit into all the resorts she 
helped develop.
  Elaine understood that Las Vegas was not just a destination; it was 
an experience and still is. Her influence on these resorts helped 
transform the city into the world's premier entertainment and 
hospitality destination. Let me just say that it was not lost on 
somebody who was born and raised there and watched as she transformed 
the Las Vegas Strip.
  You know, while building her resort business, Elaine was committed to 
the Las Vegas community, particularly through her advocacy for 
education, arts, and employee well-being. She was always giving back to 
her city.
  Elaine's work to improve children's lives through education included 
leadership roles at the local, State, and national levels. Elaine 
chaired the University of Nevada, Las Vegas Foundation from 1985 to 
1991. She cochaired Nevada's Blue Ribbon Education Reform Task Force in 
2011, and she served on the Nevada State Board of Education from 2012 
to 2020, including as president in 2015 and 2017. She also served on 
the national board of Communities in Schools--an organization dedicated 
to encouraging children to stay in school--and was the founding 
chairman of Communities in Schools of Nevada.
  Now, let me just say, as somebody who grew up in that community and 
just so respected Elaine Wynn, I was working in local government at the 
time and got a call from Elaine Wynn.
  Now, when you get a call from Elaine Wynn, it is: Oh, my gosh, it is 
Ms. Wynn on the phone. I have to take this call.
  I got this call to show up--well, not even show up, just be invited--
would I be willing to be invited to come to talk to her about 
Communities in Schools, about education in Nevada. This is how 
passionate she felt about education.
  Oh, my gosh. I am excited. I am honored. I am willing to go there and 
talk to her.
  So I walk in a room with other people. Elaine Wynn is there. But here 
is the thing: Not only was she--she has always been gracious and warm 
and welcoming, but she talked about Communities in Schools and 
introduced us to the staff who were running Communities in Schools in 
Southern Nevada.
  I am bringing this up because the woman who ran Communities in 
Schools for Elaine Wynn is now one of our Congress Members, Susie Lee. 
She represents now a Las Vegas district in Congress. This is how far-
reaching Elaine's networking connections are to Nevada and the people 
she impacted in such a positive way.
  Elaine Wynn Elementary School is located in Las Vegas. It was named 
in dedication to her in 1991 because of her commitment to education in 
the State.
  She also was a patron of the arts and just truly believed in arts' 
culture, humanity, and what it can be bring to community. President 
Obama named her a trustee of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts 
in 2010, and she served as cochair of the Los Angeles County Museum of 
Art from 2015 until her passing. She was one of the visionaries for 
arts in the community and helped establish and build the Las Vegas 
Museum of Art.
  The ripples of her philanthropy extend further through the Elaine P. 
Wynn & Family Foundation, where Elaine was personally and actively 
involved. She will be remembered for her philanthropic spirit as well 
as her business ventures.

[[Page S2733]]

  I am honored to have known her and to have seen her passion and her 
work firsthand in my hometown. She cared so deeply for our community. 
Whether it was education or the arts, she never missed an opportunity 
to lend a helping hand.
  I also know, after talking with so many who worked with her, that 
Elaine also believed in doing the work now but recognizing succession, 
that once she is done for the day or once she is done with the work she 
started, others will follow.
  She had a way of ending the day with her staff, and if you are from 
Las Vegas, you will appreciate this. She would go like this: ``Now it 
is your shift.''
  The reason why she did that is because--if you have ever played the 
tables in Las Vegas, at a 21 table, every dealer, at the end of their 
shift, that is what they do, passing that shift on to the next one. 
Because she loved Las Vegas and believed in it, that was her way of 
telling her staff, people she worked with: I am done for now, but now 
it is your shift. Now it is your time to carry forward all the work we 
have done.
  I can tell you, Nevada has lost a giant, and we are all going to miss 
her.
  I ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing Elaine Wynn and her 
remarkable journey. Out of respect for her, I leave all of you with 
``Now it is your shift.''
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Budd). The Senator from Texas.