[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 94 (Wednesday, June 3, 2026)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E518-E519]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   PAYING TRIBUTE TO THE HONORABLE MARTIN M. ``MARTY'' LOONEY ON HIS 
                               RETIREMENT

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. ROSA L. DeLAURO

                             of connecticut

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, June 3, 2026

  Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to The 
Honorable Martin M. ``Marty'' Looney on the occasion of his retirement. 
As the Connecticut state legislative session closed earlier this month, 
so too did the legislative career of a remarkable public servant and 
someone I am honored to call my friend, Senate President Pro Tempore 
Martin M. Looney. Over the course of his forty-six years in 
Connecticut's General Assembly, six terms in the House and seventeen 
terms in the Senate, he has left his mark on our state government, our 
communities, and the people of Connecticut.
  For nearly fifty years, Marty has been a close friend, a confidant, 
and co-conspirator--and it all started in 1975, when we began our 
journey together in government and local politics. I happened to knock 
on his mother's door in Fair Haven, along with Frank Logue who was 
running for Mayor of New Haven. She told us that it was her son, 
Martin, that we should talk to. She brought Marty out and we asked him 
if he was interested in helping to get Frank elected. Marty said yes, 
he would help--and Connecticut has never been the same. Five years 
later, I had the privilege of helping to elect Marty to the General 
Assembly. I have celebrated this decision every day since.
  My parents both served in elected office, and I learned from them 
that government should work for people. I took that vision with me when 
I ran for Congress, and Marty Looney embodied it every day of his 
forty-six years in the state legislature. Throughout his tenure as the 
longest-serving Senate President Pro Tempore and Senate Majority Leader

[[Page E519]]

in our state's history, Marty has been the conscience of the 
Connecticut legislature. He fought for workers, for families struggling 
to make ends meet, for those who have no lobbyist and no seat at the 
table. He championed a higher minimum wage, expanded access to 
healthcare, and stood firm against every effort that would have made 
life harder for the people of Connecticut.
  What makes Marty extraordinary was not what he passed, but how he 
governed--with quiet patience, principle, and an unshakeable belief 
that government, done right, can lift people up. Some would say he 
would rather take the slice than hold out for the whole loaf. That 
wisdom is how he changed people's lives. He worked to make things 
better, one day and one bill at a time, while never losing sight of the 
bigger goals. Marty is one of the finest public servants I have ever 
had the honor to call a colleague, and one of the dearest friends of my 
life, Connecticut--is better measurably and materially better--because 
of him.
  A graduate of the University of Connecticut School of Law and partner 
in the law firm of Keyes and Looney, Marty has also enjoyed a 
successful career as an attorney. A mentor, advocate and educator, he 
is also a practitioner in residence with the Criminal Justice Program 
in the Department of Public Safety at the University of New Haven as 
well as an adjunct faculty member in the Political Science Department 
at Quinnipiac University and the Quinnipiac University Law School.
  Marty has left an indelible mark on state politics, the halls of 
Connecticut's Capitol, and in the lives of so many where he has made a 
difference. His leadership and political savvy will be missed, but he 
has inspired a new generation of leaders who will follow his example. 
Today, as he marks his retirement from public service, I am honored to 
join family, friends, and colleagues in paying tribute to Martin M. 
Looney and his extraordinary career. I wish Marty, his wife, Ellen; 
their son, Michael; as well as their three grandchildren, Matthew, Anna 
Katherine, and Isabel Grace, all the best for many more years of health 
and happiness.

                          ____________________