John Garamendi: “Tonight is a very special night for many of us. Tonight, we honor the memory of an extraordinary Representative, Ellen…”

“Tonight is a very special night for many of us. Tonight, we honor the memory of an extraordinary Representative, Ellen Tauscher, who served the Contra Costa area of California for almost two decades. She died nearly 3 weeks ago. Tonight is our first opportunity to come to the floor and to pay tribute to her. I had the pleasure of knowing her before she became a Member of Congress and then during her years in Congress and I also had the unique opportunity to take her seat when she retired to become the Assistant Secretary of State. So tonight, we pay tribute to this extraordinary woman. We do this in recognition of the work that she did on Wall Street, the work that she did here in the House of Representatives, and her unyielding desire to reduce nuclear risks throughout the world. To conduct the rest of tonight's tribute, I am turning to a woman who served with Ellen for all of the years that she was in Congress, a woman who is the leader of the Democratic Members of California, Zoe Lofgren. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time. ____________________”