[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 21]
[Senate]
[Pages 30589-30590]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                   GRATITUDE TO JEANETTE BOONE SMITH

  Mr. KERRY. Mr. President, I want to share with all of my colleagues, 
particularly with the citizens of Massachusetts, the deepest sense of 
appreciation I have for the longest serving member of my staff, someone 
I have been privileged to have work with me since I entered elective 
office in 1982. Jeanette Boone Smith is leaving my staff after serving 
all of that time, since 1982, both in the Lieutenant Governor's Office 
of Massachusetts and in the Senate. Throughout those years, Jeanette 
has symbolized the values and the priorities I have tried to represent 
in the Senate. I am, indeed, extraordinarily fortunate to have had her 
friendship and her counsel throughout my public life.
  Jeanette embodies the fight for equality and for social justice that 
defines the entire second half of this century. Her life is filled with 
stories of personal struggle, public struggle, and of triumph, of 
sacrifice, and of victory. She was born in Englewood, NJ, and she 
remained in that State throughout young adulthood. For Jeanette, public 
service and political action came very early. She became president of 
Englewood's Fourth Ward Democratic Club, where she worked for local and 
national Democratic candidates. Her commitment to ensuring equality of 
opportunity and access to resources led her to fight tirelessly for the 
integration of the Englewood schools and for public housing. The 
success of the campaign in which she was involved opened up education 
and affordable housing to the whole community, and it serves as just 
one example of the countless times Jeanette sacrificed her time and her 
energy to help provide a better life to people who had traditionally 
been denied the full measure of the American dream.
  Jeanette interviewed with me in January 1983 when I was putting my 
staff together for the Lieutenant Governor's Office. From that time on, 
through those early years, she served as my executive assistant, 
performing the endless and thankless tasks that all here understand are 
so vital to our ability to be able to manage our schedules and our 
State operations. As the years passed, she took on greater 
responsibilities as the director of constituent services where her 
warm, generous,

[[Page 30590]]

open personality, and remarkable compassion for people in need allowed 
my office to advocate successfully to open and to successfully complete 
the work on more than 100,000 individual cases throughout 
Massachusetts.
  As my colleagues well know, constituent services are critical in 
serving the people of our States and they are sometimes the most 
thankless and the most difficult tasks we confront. Jeanette assembled 
and managed a team that continues to help people in search of housing, 
education opportunities, and nutritional assistance. She has also 
overseen many complex housing partnerships with the U.S. Department of 
Housing and Urban Development and State agencies, helping to bring 
quality, affordable housing to thousands of people throughout the 
State.
  Jeanette is leaving to enjoy more time with her husband Perry, her 
son Tracey, and his sons, and the South End community she loves so 
dearly. Within the South End, she formed the Four Corners Neighborhood 
Association, which led to the construction of the Langham Court 
Apartments. This complex is a wonderful example of Jeanette's abilities 
and her commitment to improving her community. It has been recognized 
with awards for its architecture and innovative program of mixed-income 
housing. She is also deeply involved in the Roxbury Presbyterian Church 
where she serves as an elder, a trustee, a member of the choir, and a 
member of the renovation committee.
  These words today--and I know my colleagues will share this sense for 
any long-term staff person who departs--cannot fully recognize 
Jeanette's contributions to the people of Massachusetts or the full 
extent of my personal appreciation for her time with me. Although she 
departs my staff tomorrow, the principles she has represented in her 
work will never leave; rather, they will do as Jeanette has done, which 
is to serve as a moral compass pointed toward a better world where a 
bright future is open and available to everyone in this country.
  I am deeply grateful for her time with me, and I extend to her and 
Perry my very best wishes as they begin a wonderful new chapter in 
their lives.
  I yield the floor.
  Mr. DASCHLE. I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. KOHL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The Senator from Wisconsin.

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