Zoe Lofgren

Ms. LOFGREN

Ms. LOFGREN. Madam Speaker, I yield an additional 15 seconds to the gentlewoman.

Ms. LOFGREN. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Phillips).

Ms. LOFGREN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Judy Chu), a leader on this issue.

Ms. LOFGREN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Stanton), a member of the Judiciary Committee.

Ms. LOFGREN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Garcia), a valued member of our Judiciary Committee.

Ms. LOFGREN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Mucarsel-Powell), a member of our committee.

Ms. LOFGREN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Johnson), a member of the Judiciary Committee.

Ms. LOFGREN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Correa), who is a member of our Judiciary Committee.

Ms. LOFGREN. Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Clarke), the sponsor of the bill.

Ms. LOFGREN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer). The majority leader has been such a supporter of Dreamers for these many years.

Ms. LOFGREN. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Pelosi), my colleague, the Speaker of the House.

Ms. LOFGREN. Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee), a long-serving member of the Committee on the Judiciary.

Ms. LOFGREN. Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 15 seconds to the gentleman from Texas.

Ms. LOFGREN. Mr. Speaker, I am prepared to close, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. LOFGREN

Ms. LOFGREN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to take from the Speaker's table the bill (S. 1436) to make technical corrections to the computation of average pay under Public Law 110-279, and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.

Ms. LOFGREN

Ms. LOFGREN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary be authorized to file a supplemental report on the bill, H.R. 965.

Ms. LOFGREN

Ms. LOFGREN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on House Administration be discharged from further consideration of House Resolution 30, and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.

Ms. LOFGREN

Ms. LOFGREN. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. LOFGREN. Mr. Speaker, I think so many of us in the House could think of the different things we did with Ellen. As I was listening, I was remembering her capacity to reach agreement. She was a legislator, and whether it was reaching across the aisle or disagreements even within the Democratic Party, she was always trying to come up with a solution that would make the country better. I remember a disagreement we had. We were good friends, but we had a disagreement on a legislative issue. There was a disagreement in the Democratic Party, and we had a big meeting. Rather than let people fight, we stood in front of the group and we actually drafted the compromise that would move us forward in the course of about 20 minutes. It was an extraordinary experience for both of us and especially for the new Members who had never seen legislators actually legislating themselves. I know that there are people throughout the House who have such memories, and I hope that they will be able to put them into the Record, keeping Katherine and the entire Tauscher family in their prayers. General Leave

Ms. LOFGREN. Mr. Speaker, all of us knew Ellen in a different way, but those who served with her on the Armed Services Committee knew her work there, so I would like to recognize the gentlewoman from California, Susan Davis, who served not only in the delegation with Ellen but also on the Armed Services Committee. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from California (Mrs. Davis).

Ms. LOFGREN. Mr. Speaker, much has been said about the New Dems, and I would like to recognize the current New Dem chair. I yield to the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Kilmer).

Ms. LOFGREN. Mr. Speaker, I rise really on behalf of the entire California delegation to honor our friend and former colleague, Ellen Tauscher, who passed away much too soon last month at the age of 67. Ellen was a trailblazer in virtually everything she did in her remarkable life, and her passing is a great loss not only to California, not only to our country, but to the world. I met Ellen when she ran for office, but I got to know her here. I recall so well Democratic Congresswomen--and there weren't as many of us at the time--all telling their own personal story and all of us being kind of surprised that we came from modest beginnings. Ellen was born in Newark, New Jersey. Her father was a shop steward at the UFCW, and he was at the Shop Rite store in Union City. Her mom, like my mom, was a secretary. But, she went on, because this country gave her an opportunity, she got a great education, and, of course, then, as will be said later tonight, became one of the youngest and one of the first women to become a member of the New York Stock Exchange. She excelled in the issue of childcare. She wrote a book and did some technology about that before she ran for office. But I ran into her in 1996 when I had been in Congress just a short time, and she decided and actually was recruited to run against a very conservative gentleman who had been in the House, but was really more conservative than his district, especially when it came to being pro- choice and the need to do something sensible about gun violence. I remember Ellen had a parade when she ran for office, and people were cheering her on. I thought: This woman is going to win this seat. Sure enough, she did. She was so popular and so different than the predecessor. People were talking about Tauscherism in the State of California, using her last name as an -ism. Really what it was was a very sensible, business- oriented approach, heavily interested in technology but wedded with good values that reflected her constituency: pro-choice, pro-education, pro-equal rights, pro-LGBTQ rights, and that was what she brought to this body. We remember her for the mark that she left on this institution. She continued to lead on the Armed Services Committee where she chaired the Strategic Forces Subcommittee and was a leading figure on arms control policy. She also worked on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee in a remarkable way. Not only was she a national leader on environmentally sustainable transportation policy, as a founding member of the Intelligent Transportation Systems Caucus, she also delivered for her district. It really mattered to her that she got a widening of the Sunol Grade on 680 which made a difference, not only for her district but for mine, as people were trying to commute between the two regions. She got a fourth bore for the Caldecott Tunnel so that commuters could get around. She played a leadership role securing funding for the BART extension to the San Francisco Airport and her work to get the Army Corps to fund the dredging of the Port of Oakland. I am particularly excited by the work we did together for the Lawrence Livermore National Lab as well as the Sandia Lab. She was so interested in the National Ignition Facility. She saved the funding, she was there at the groundbreaking, she was there when we opened the facility, and she really believed that the science that was going on there would change the world, and I still believe that it will. But here in the House I think all of us will remember her as the presiding officer. Ellen was completely unflappable. I can remember when we had the worst, most contentious issues, we knew it would be okay because Ellen would take the dais and she would preside. She would help people calm down, focus on the disagreements, and adhere to the rules of the House. Nothing could shake her ability to preside in a wise, thoughtful, and very calm way over the House of Representatives. We had such fun with her. Women Members went out to dinner with her and shared stories. She never put up with nonsense. She was very matter of fact. She had a wicked sense of humor, but she was someone with tremendous integrity. Of course, as we know, that integrity, expertise, and vision was recognized when President Obama nominated her to be Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security. She was confirmed and left the House. She did important things in that office. She helped negotiate the New START Treaty with the Russian Federation--the first agreement signed with Russia in nearly 20 years--and it was ratified by the U.S. Senate. After leaving the Department of State, she continued to make contributions. She served on the Board of Regents for the University of California. She continued to make sure that the science at Lawrence Livermore National Lab was protected and also at Los Alamos. She continued in her efforts to make sure that the cutting edge was always protected as a member of the Board of Advisors of SpaceX, eHealth, and other important technology businesses. These achievements really don't do justice to Ellen's legacy. I know from our many good times talking with her, her funny irreverence and her smart insight, the one thing that she loved more than anything else on this Earth was her wonderful daughter, Katherine, who I hope is watching tonight. We loved Ellen Tauscher, and she loved Katherine. Not every Member who planned to be here this evening was able to. We will make sure that all of the statements are entered into the Record. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer), who is the majority leader of the House of Representatives.

Ms. LOFGREN. Mr. Speaker, all of us, as I said, knew Ellen in different ways. I was surprised that the gentlewoman from Florida probably knew Ellen Tauscher longer than anyone else in this body, and I am so pleased to recognize Donna Shalala. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Shalala).

Ms. LOFGREN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and insert extraneous material on the subject of this Special Order.

Ms. LOFGREN. Mr. Speaker, talking about how we each knew Ellen in different ways, she was very active in the New Democrat Coalition. We have someone who served with her as one of her cohorts, as a New Democrat who, I believe, chaired it with her at one time. I am happy to recognize Ron Kind. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Kind).