[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 18]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 26520]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                     TRIBUTE TO BETTY ANN DITTEMORE

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. SCOTT McINNIS

                              of colorado

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, December 7, 2000

  Mr. McINNIS. Mr. Speaker, it is with great sadness that I take this 
moment to recognize the accomplished life and admirable career of Betty 
Ann Dittemore. Betty, a former Colorado State representative, recently 
passed on at age 81. While her friends and family mourn her passing, I 
would like to take this opportunity to honor a truly amazing lawmaker--
a woman who encompassed profound strength in all realms of life.
  After campaigning using her initials (B.A.D.) as a slogan, Betty was 
elected to the Colorado House of Representatives in 1968, becoming the 
first woman from Arapahoe County to be elected to the state 
legislature. While serving in office from 1968 to 1978, Betty engaged 
in one of Colorado's fiercest battles: passing Colorado's first 
comprehensive planning law, a feat that would not have been possible 
without her wit and tenacity. Throughout her time in office, she 
successfully climbed in leadership positions serving as minority whip 
and later as majority leader.
  She was instrumental in creating the Colorado Housing and Finance 
Authority, an authority that has become eminently successful in 
assisting the state's poor and elderly in finding reasonably priced 
homes. In 1980, she became an Arapahoe County Commissioner, where she 
was able to bring the same experience and expertise to the Board of 
County Commissioners that she brought to the legislature.
  Mr. Speaker, there are few people in Colorado's proud history who 
have served as zealously and wholeheartedly as Betty. Her career was a 
model that every official in elected office, including myself, should 
seek to emulate. I know I speak for the state of Colorado when I say 
she will be greatly missed. However, the mark that she left will not be 
soon forgotten.

                          ____________________