[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 1]
[House]
[Page 142]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



            MARSHA PYLE MARTIN: A LEADER FOR POSITIVE CHANGE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms. Kaptur) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, during the short interlude we call life, we 
sometimes have the rare and memorable occasion to meet someone who 
exudes such a sense of positive accomplishment that we are forever 
changed just from that encounter.
  I had that special experience when I met and heard Marsha Pyle 
Martin, who served as chair of the Farm Credit Administration Board. 
She appeared before our Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, 
Food and Drug Administration and Related Agencies of the House 
Committee on Appropriations to thoughtfully and persuasively argue that 
we need to be concerned about the financial condition of America's 
farmers and the future of agriculture in rural America.
  I am sad to tell our colleagues that Ms. Martin passed from this life 
to her blessed rewards on January 9. This afternoon she is being 
celebrated in a memorial service at the Farm Credit Administration 
Offices in McLean, Virginia.
  She is a woman who deserves this celebration, for she has helped so 
many by her caring for America's farmers and her advocacy on their 
behalf and for building a sound farm credit system in this country.
  Marsha Pyle Martin was the first woman who ever served as chair of 
the Farm Credit Administration. While that was a first for FCA, it was 
far from that for her. After all, she was the first woman senior 
executive in the Farm Credit System when she served as vice president 
of the Farm Credit Bank of Texas. She also was the first woman to serve 
as a director of the Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation.
  I remember most vividly when she appeared before our subcommittee. 
Her dedication, her passion, her knowledge both overwhelmed and imposed 
her sense of purpose on our committee. She wanted efficient and 
competitive credit markets for borrowers, and it showed. She recognized 
the changing face of agriculture in America and wanted to both embrace 
and support the changes that are necessary for America's farmers to 
continue as the finest in the world.
  Those who know agriculture know that the availability of credit at 
reasonable terms is critical, vital to success; and those who knew 
Marsha Pyle Martin knew that such a system was both her goal and her 
mandate to those who worked for and with her.
  To her husband Britt, to her daughters Michelle and K.B. and her two 
grandchildren, I can only extend our deepest sympathies for the 
unexpected loss of their loved one. But may they be comforted and 
inspired by the fact that each and every day she tried to make a 
positive difference for people. Each and every day positive change was 
her goal and her accomplishment.
  If only more people shared her vision, her energy, her commitment, 
just imagine how much better a place this world would be.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask our colleagues to join me in thanking Marsha Pyle 
Martin for her lifetime of contribution. May her eternal reward be no 
less than triple what she gave in this world. For, because of her, many 
people live each day as a better one than they might have were it not 
for her.
  May I ask the House, in her memory, for a moment of silence.

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