[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 1]
[House]
[Pages 829-830]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                 CONGRESS CAN LEARN FROM CHERYL STRAYED

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Fortenberry). The Chair recognizes the 
gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Blumenauer) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BLUMENAUER. Mr. Speaker, last night for the State of the Union 
address by President Obama, my guest was a Portlander, Cheryl Strayed, 
the author of the best-selling book, ``Wild,'' who is currently being 
portrayed on the big screen by Reese Witherspoon. This epic story is 
about how a young woman, reeling from the loss of her mother and the 
cascading challenges of her life, undertook a journey 1100 miles along 
the Pacific Coast Trail. It was 96 days of an amazing struggle, 
overcoming all sorts of difficulties, adversities, as she helped work 
out her own challenges and issues.
  I invited her because I thought the story that she portrayed, the 
experience that she had, was an interesting metaphor for the sorts of 
things that we should be doing here. Perhaps we might be able to come 
together as a Congress, supporting legislation that would help protect 
some of those special places that are portrayed in her powerful book 
and in the excellent movie.
  In the course of her visit, another thought has made its way to me as 
I watched her interact with dozens of young people in a variety of 
meetings on Capitol Hill, fellow Members of Congress, and many other 
people who were touched by the story of her journey and it made a 
profound effect on them. She continues to receive hundreds of emails a 
day from people who were inspired by that effort and her magnificent 
book.
  It occurs to me that it is an appropriate metaphor for what our 
challenge is as Members of the 114th Congress,

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because this, after all, is a 2-year journey on behalf of the American 
people. The question for us is: If we can struggle with that heavy 
pack, navigate areas where sometimes the trail is a little obscure, can 
we put our trust in strangers who help us along this difficult journey? 
Can we be resolute in putting one foot in front of another on behalf of 
the American public?
  Mr. Speaker, it was a very profound experience to watch those 
interactions, after having seen the movie, and having been entranced by 
the book. I am absolutely convinced that this is our moment, our 
journey into something that doesn't necessarily have to be ``Wild,'' 
even though there is a roller coaster of legislative activity. I am 
convinced there ought to be enough common interest, common commitment, 
common goals that we ought to be able to tease out elements that enable 
us to be successful in our journey.
  I hope, Mr. Speaker, that people will reflect on that experience of 
this young woman who was able to overcome adversity and open up an 
amazing chapter in her life and beyond. I hope we will be able to do 
the same for the people we represent.

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