[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: WILLIAM J. CLINTON (2000, Book I)]
[January 10, 2000]
[Page 24]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]


[[Page 24]]


Statement on the Death of Marsha Pyle Martin
January 10, 2000

    Hillary and I were saddened to learn of the untimely death of Marsha 
Pyle Martin, the Chairman and CEO of the Farm Credit Administration.
    Marsha Martin was a lifelong advocate for farmers, ranchers, and 
rural America. She worked for more than 30 years in agriculture and 
agricultural finance. As vice president of the Farm Credit Bank of 
Texas, she was the first woman senior executive in the Farm Credit 
System. She was also the first woman to serve as a director of the Farm 
Credit System Insurance Corporation. And I was proud to appoint her as 
the first woman head of the Farm Credit Administration in 1994.
    We will remember Marsha as a pathbreaker, as someone who truly cared 
about America's rural communities and who sought not to hide from change 
but to make change work for ordinary Americans. We pay tribute to her 
achievements at the Farm Credit Administration. We send our thoughts and 
prayers to her family, for whom she cared so much.