[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 14]
[House]
[Page 18709]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       REMEMBERING DONNA KAMMRITZ

  (Ms. DeLAURO asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, on September 7, a champion of our 
community, someone who had waged and won countless battles for people, 
lost one of her own. Donna Kammritz was a friend. But even more than 
that, she was someone who stared down adversity with a passion, 
principle and tenacity. Whether it was her brave fight against cancer, 
a disease I too have fought, or her impassioned commitment to the 
rights of working people, Donna never stopped. She always fought. She 
may not have won every battle, but she never gave in.
  Indeed, it was through her volunteer work as director of research for 
The Organization for the Rights of American Workers, TORAW, that I 
first met this remarkable woman. A mother of two daughters, Heather and 
Rachel, Donna's job had just been sent offshore. She lost her health 
insurance, and she had just been diagnosed with cancer.
  At a moment when most people would have thrown in the towel, Donna 
fought back. She faced her cancer with courage. She drew upon her 
personal experience with outsourcing to infuse TORAW with the energy 
and focus we needed to elevate the issue to the national level, and she 
did so for as long as she could.
  Donna helped bring together the entire Connecticut delegation, 
Republicans and Democrats, to press the government to start confronting 
the issue of displaced American workers. She was a proud mother who 
wanted nothing more than to see her daughters attend college, and she 
did. Donna understood something elemental: that when you protect 
workers' rights, you strengthen families, you strengthen communities.
  Mr. Speaker, today, let us say thank you to Donna Kammritz for her 
gifts, for her selfless dedication and for her love of the things that 
we hold so dear. May her inspiration live on in all of our work.

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