[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 3]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 4149]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




           IN RECOGNITION OF THE RETIREMENT OF NANCY LONSDALE

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. JAMES C. GREENWOOD

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, February 13, 2003

  Mr. GREENWOOD. Mr. Speaker, it is essential that those of us who have 
the high honor and privilege of serving in this body regularly remind 
ourselves how dependent we are upon our families, our friends, our 
supporters, our volunteers and most especially upon our dedicated 
staffs, to carry out the work of the nation that has been entrusted to 
our care.
  It is difficult, at times, for those who do not work in this body to 
appreciate the incredible demands that are regularly placed upon our 
intellect, our time, our health and on numerous occasions, our sheer 
physical endurance, as we labor to conduct the people's business. Yet 
the opportunities to do good and to seek the answers to the challenges 
of our times are so great that, however heavy the burden, we heed the 
call to duty.
  None of this work, however, is done by Members of Congress alone. In 
fact, without the strong, constant, and faithful service that is 
rendered to us and to our country by our professional staff the work 
would be impossible to perform. Every day, we rely upon their 
knowledge, their wisdom and their moral strength of character to carry 
a hundred different missions . . . from developing legislation to 
solving constituent problems to offering counsel and advice on the 
complex issues that come before the Congress.
  Like many of my colleagues, we are most often reminded of the 
invaluable service our staff members render to us and to our nation 
when one of our team retires or moves on. This is the case with me 
today.
  For ten years, both in Washington and in my District office at 
Doylestown, Pennsylvania, Ms. Nancy Lonsdale has been a devoted and 
capable member of my professional staff. And for years before that, she 
served as a volunteer in a number of my campaigns for state office. 
During most of that time, she served as my Executive Assistant and 
Scheduler at home in the district. In that position she was the steward 
and guardian of life's most precious commodity . . . time. Through all 
those years she has served as an honest broker, ably accommodating the 
desire of the thousands of constituents who wished to see me with all 
the other myriad demands placed on a Member of Congress.
  Perhaps what I am most appreciative of is her dedication throughout 
those years, when my children were so young, to carve out a time for me 
to perform the most important duty in my life . . . to be a father to 
my children. And not just a loving and caring father, but even more 
importantly, one who had the time to be truly involved in the life of 
my growing family.
  But I am in her debt as well for many other services she rendered. 
Charged with the task of managing my schedule, she yet found time to 
take on some of the most difficult casework, including the needs of 
service men and women on active duty and families in crises.
  To everything she does and has done, Nancy Lonsdale brings a level of 
commitment, a sense of purpose, and a degree of compassion unsurpassed 
by anyone I have ever known.
  All of us who have had the honor to work with her these past years 
are better people because of our association with her. For in addition 
to her work ethic, she brings a high and uncompromising moral standard 
matched with an inquiring mind imbued with an abiding sense of the 
value and the dignity of every human being.
  In her last will and testament, the founder of Nancy's alma mater, 
Sophia Smith, wrote these words about the woman's college she founded, 
``It is my wish that the institution be so conducted, that during all 
coming time it shall do the most good to the greatest number. I would 
have it a perennial blessing to the country and the world. ``
  I can attest that in the case of Nancy Lonsdale, Smith College alumni 
that wish has been more than fulfilled. Nancy Lonsdale is a blessing, 
to her family, to her colleagues, to her country and to the world she 
labors so tirelessly to improve.

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