[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 9]
[Senate]
[Page 11951]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           HONORING NELL SOTO

 Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, I ask my colleagues to join me in 
honoring California Assembly member Nell Soto on a lifetime of 
achievement and advocacy for the people of California. Throughout her 
tenure in both the California Assembly and the California State senate, 
Nell Soto has worked tirelessly to improve the quality of life for the 
people of California and our Nation. Despite recent health challenges, 
this June she will celebrate her 82nd birthday and can look back on a 
proud career in public service.
  A sixth-generation resident of the City of Pomona, Nell Soto has been 
a lifelong member of the southern California community and has been a 
strong advocate for its communities throughout her life. Before coming 
to the California Legislature, Nell Soto served 12 years on the city 
council in Pomona. Her late husband Philip Soto served two terms in the 
state legislature from 1962 to 1966. Nell was the first woman from the 
San Gabriel Valley to serve on the South Coast Air Quality Management 
Board. She served 10 years as a public affairs representative with the 
Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority. In 1998 she 
was elected to the California Assembly and in March of 2000 won a 
special election to secure a seat in the California State senate, a 
seat that she held until 2006. She now serves once again in the 
California Assembly.
  Throughout her tenure in the California Legislature, Nell has been an 
impassioned advocate for stronger communities and an improved quality 
of life and has worked to make improvements throughout the California 
educational system. She has been a strong advocate of improvements in 
infrastructure and transportation and worked hard to secure the 
development of the Alameda Corridor East, an important rail 
transportation project in inland southern California. She has been an 
equally impassioned advocate for crime prevention, public safety, and 
the environment, and recently served as chair of the Assembly Select 
Committee on Perchlorate Contamination and has worked to secure funding 
for improvements in drinking water safety from perchlorate 
contamination.
  A lifelong resident of southern California, mother of 6, grandmother 
of 11, great-grandmother of 3, and spirited supporter of community 
advocacy and selfless service, Nell Soto is a wonderful public servant. 
As she looks back on decades of leadership and celebrates her 82nd 
birthday, I am pleased to ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing 
her good work.

                          ____________________