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[Page S3048]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
REMEMBERING ELLEN TAUSCHER
Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, I wish to speak about the wonderful
spirit and dedication of Ellen Tauscher, who was taken from us far too
early on April 29, 2019. She was a one of a kind of person and very
special to me.
Ellen is survived by her daughter Katherine, who is an amazing young
woman. I have seen her through some of the most difficult days and she
has an equanimity and an ability second to none. Ellen's sisters Sally
and Kathy and brother Jack provided very strong family support to her,
especially at the end. She is truly loved.
Ellen touched so many lives, and anybody who has worked with her, had
dinner with her, drank a little California wine with her knows the
special person she is.
Ellen was one of the first women and the youngest woman ever at the
age of 25 to become a member of the New York Stock Exchange in 1977.
I was president of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors at that
time, and I can tell you, being a woman on the Stock Exchange at that
time was a very big deal.
Ellen was to go on to work in finance for 14 years as a successful
investment banker and bond trader.
A few years after she moved west, Ellen gave birth to her pride and
joy, the wonderful Katherine Tauscher. As a new mother herself, Ellen
struggled to find good childcare, and she used that experience to
create the ChildCare Registry, a service to help parents check
backgrounds of childcare centers.
You see, that was how she was. When she saw a problem, she worked out
a solution. When Ellen Tauscher put her mind to something, there was no
stopping her. Achievement was a given.
Ellen ran for a seat in Congress in 1996. The newly created district
was conservative, and few people thought it would go to a Democrat, but
Ellen appealed to moderates on both sides of the aisle, and success, I
always thought, was a given. She went on to win that seat and hold it
for 12 years.
As a Member of Congress, Ellen made a name for herself as a centrist,
someone who could work both sides of the aisle. Her colleagues, many of
whom attended the memorial service earlier this week at the National
Cathedral, knew she would always do what was best for her district and
for the country.
Ellen sat on the House Armed Services Committee and became chair of
the Strategic Forces Subcommittee. Not necessarily what you would
expect from an elementary education major from New Jersey, but Ellen
was a real force.
She developed an expertise and substantial knowledge in arms control,
nonproliferation, and nuclear weapons. It was a good fit since her
district was home to Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
That expertise and the ability to be effective in a critically
important post was a big reason why then-Secretary of State Clinton
selected her and President Obama nominated her to be Undersecretary of
State for Arms Control and International Security.
One of Ellen's biggest accomplishments in that role was shepherding
the negotiations over the New START Treaty and helping with its
ratification through the Senate in 2010.
As a matter of fact, it was at her suggestion that former Senator Jon
Kyl and I went to Geneva under the auspices of the Senate National
Security Working Group to observe the negotiations and meet with the
Russian and U.S. delegations. Ellen was so proud of the treaty, and so
are we.
She proved just how strong she was during this most difficult period.
She did much of her work on the treaty while suffering from esophageal
cancer, but she never let it slow her down. When she retired from the
Federal Government, a new world would open.
She was appointed by Governor Jerry Brown to the University Of
California Board Of Regents, she chaired California's Military Advisory
Council, and she served as vice chair of the Atlantic Council's
Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security.
Just last year, she showed she was still a player in California
politics, working with Katie Merrill to create a Political Action
Committee called Fight Back, and that was just what Ellen did.
Ellen was brilliant. She was warm and loyal to her country, her
family, and her friends, and she had a wonderful sense of humor. I saw
this constantly over a glass of wine and dinner in Washington. She was
always ready with something that made friends smile and even laugh.
She was, for me, a best friend, and that will never change. Thank
you.
____________________