[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 13]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 17322]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    TRIBUTE TO SHIRLEY S. ABRAHAMSON

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. TAMMY BALDWIN

                              of wisconsin

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, September 6, 2006

  Ms. BALDWIN. Mr. Speaker, I rise in tribute to a distinguished 
American, Shirley S. Abrahamson, who is being honored today at the 
Wisconsin State Capitol for her 50 years of membership in the bar, 30 
years as a justice on the Wisconsin Supreme Court, and 10 years as 
Chief Justice.
  But Chief Justice Abrahamson is not being honored solely on the basis 
of time-served. Her colleagues, students, friends, and family, indeed 
all citizens of Wisconsin, are the beneficiaries of her work ethic, 
intellect, compassion, sense of humor, respect for justice and 
dedication to the law.
  An elected fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, this 
daughter of immigrants grew up across the street from her family's 
grocery store in New York City. The only woman in her law school class, 
the first woman on the Wisconsin Supreme Court, the first woman to 
serve there as Chief Justice, Shirley Abrahamson, among other honors, 
was elected by her peers as President of the Conference of Chief 
Justices and Chair of the Board of Directors of the National Center of 
State Courts because of their ``abiding confidence in her leadership 
and her judicial acumen.''
  She paved the way for women in the law and set a standard of 
excellence in the Court, always reminding us, ``We need to be careful 
to appreciate our system of judicial independence and ensure it 
survives.''
  Last year, while standing patiently in the line of mourners outside 
the U.S. Supreme Court to pay respects at the bier of Chief Justice 
Rehnquist, Chief Justice Abrahamson was recognized and urged to exert 
her celebrity and move to the front of the line. ``That's not the 
Wisconsin tradition,'' she replied.
  Shirley Abrahamson not only respects Wisconsin's tradition of equal 
justice and equal opportunity, she enforces both with strength, 
courage, and grace.
  I join the people of Wisconsin in paying tribute to a great jurist 
and citizen, Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson.

                          ____________________