[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 3]
[Senate]
[Page 3623]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        TRIBUTE TO JOHN MEDINGER

  Ms. BALDWIN. Mr. President, today I wish to honor John Medinger on 
his retirement from Federal and public service. John has dedicated his 
career to improving the lives of individuals in the La Crosse community 
and across the State of Wisconsin, most recently as my southwestern 
Wisconsin regional representative. I am so pleased to celebrate John's 
legacy of dedicated public service and positive social change.
  John was born in La Crosse, WI, and has been the community's 
strongest advocate ever since. He graduated from Aquinas High School 
and went on to receive his bachelor's and master's degrees from the 
University of Wisconsin-La Crosse.
  John's public service career began in 1972 with his work at 
Volunteers in Service to America, VISTA to combat poverty and racial 
inequality in Virginia. During his time in Virginia, John developed a 
passion for social justice that guided his future work as a public 
servant.
  In 1976, John was elected to represent the 95th district in the 
Wisconsin State Legislature, where he ultimately served as assistant 
majority leader of the assembly. As a State representative, John became 
known for fighting domestic abuse. He authored one of Wisconsin's first 
domestic violence bills to create safe houses for victims and worked 
with Wisconsin police departments to make combating domestic abuse a 
top priority. He was also known for his early leadership on gay rights 
issues, fighting for marriage equality, and proudly participating in La 
Crosse's first PRIDE Fest.
  I have known few public servants as dedicated as John in serving the 
people he represents. He embodies the true meaning of public service. 
No request was too small for his devoted attention. In fact, John was 
famous for coming to work on Monday after a weekend of local events 
with a fist full of paper scraps covered in scribbled notes from people 
he ran into, describing their concerns. John remembered every one of 
those concerns as he advocated for his constituents on the assembly 
floor. During a time of increasing partisanship, he had a knack for 
bringing opposing sides together in the interest of bettering the lives 
of Wisconsinites.
  After 16 years, John left the State legislature. Although he claimed 
his departure was to get away from long legislative speeches, it was 
clear he wanted to be closer to the people he cared so much about in 
his hometown. Unable to stay out of public service for long, John 
announced his campaign for mayor in the Spring of 1997. As mayor of La 
Crosse, John adhered to his fundamental belief that he was there to 
serve all residents of La Crosse--not just those who supported him. 
Guided by his VISTA experience, John created the city's first anti-
racism task force and encouraged people of color to run for local 
office. He is especially well-loved by the African-American and Hmong 
communities in La Crosse.
  Three U.S. Senators, myself included, had the privilege of having 
John represent us in southwestern Wisconsin. Although times have 
changed and technology has advanced--much to John's chagrin--his 
knowledge, dedication, and connections are irreplaceable.
  John has taught those lucky enough to have worked with him what it 
means to be a true representative of the people: take your work--but 
not yourself--seriously, don't hold a grudge, keep your word, and, 
above all, put constituents first. I will miss John a great deal, but I 
am delighted to wish him and his wife Dee the very best in this new 
chapter.

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