[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 148 (2002), Part 14]
[Senate]
[Page 18887]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




               HONORING STATE REPRESENTATIVE CLAIRE LEUCK

 Mr. BAYH. Mr. President, I rise today to honor a fellow 
Hoosier, Indiana State Representative, retired farmer, teacher, mother 
and loving wife, Claire Leuck, who will be retiring from the Indiana 
legislature this year.
  Representative Leuck, who was first elected to the Indiana House of 
Representatives in 1986, has worked tirelessly to improve the lives of 
Hoosiers from all walks of life. As a representative of District 25, 
Claire was a voice for rural communities and worked in a bipartisan 
manner. Prior to her service in the legislature, Claire served as the 
Benton County Clerk from 1974-1982.
  As chair of the House Agriculture Committee, she advocated for the 
interests and needs of the agricultural community, giving farmers a 
voice and enabling family farms to retain a vital role in the Indiana 
economy. Claire has worked to increase funding for rural schools and 
improve the quality of rural life. She has devoted her energies to 
improve health care by authoring legislation that created the CHOICE 
home health care program for the elderly. Claire has continually worked 
to secure state funding for Lakes Shafer and Freeman, allowing these 
lakes to remain safe and friendly destinations for tourists. She has 
also worked on behalf of veteran's interests to ensure that local 
veterans had the necessary means and equipment to pay tribute to their 
fallen friends.
  Claire's outstanding work in the Indiana House of Representatives was 
acknowledged by House leadership when she was appointed to the powerful 
House Ways and Means Committee. During my time as Governor, I had the 
privilege to work with Representative Leuck to balance Indiana's 
budget, cut taxes for Hoosier families, increase funding for Indiana's 
public schools and protect Indiana's natural resources.
  Everyone that has ever encountered Representative Leuck knows she 
exemplifies her famous campaign slogan ``everybody likes Claire.''
  Along with her husband Richard, Claire's strong dedication to the 
State of Indiana is evident in the work she accomplished during her 
tenure in the legislature. She is to be commended for her 16 years of 
service to her community, her district and her State.

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