Chris Van Hollen: “As the majority leader said, I rise to honor the stellar public service of Joan Kleinman, a senior member of my office…”

“As the majority leader said, I rise to honor the stellar public service of Joan Kleinman, a senior member of my office team, who retired in February after 19 years of working on behalf of the people of Maryland and the United States. Today, I would like to share with the Senate the depth of her commitment to the people of Maryland and her extraordinary legacy of good works, and have her story inscribed in the pages of the Congressional Record so that it might be a source of wisdom and inspiration for all time. I first met Joan Kleinman in 1990, when I started working at the Washington, DC, law firm of Arent Fox. Joan was also a fellow lawyer, who was in charge of managing the staffing of cases in the litigation department. For those of us who were litigation associates, that meant we had better be on Joan's good side. While I was practicing law at Arent Fox, I was also serving 3 months a year in Maryland's part-time legislature. I knew Joan and her husband Sam were raising their family in Montgomery County, and that Joan had a keen interest in what was happening in our community. At the time, I needed someone to be treasurer for my State senate campaign committee, somebody who was really well organized, someone who cared about our community, and somebody who I could trust completely. Joan fit the bill. But would she do it? I will confess that I was a little scared to ask her.…”