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[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E535-E536]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
HONORING ORANGE COUNTY POLITICAL LEGEND FRANK BARBARO
______
HON. J. LUIS CORREA
of california
in the house of representatives
Friday, May 3, 2019
Mr. CORREA. Madam Speaker, I would like to honor Frank Barbaro, of
Orange County, a prominent attorney, humanitarian and a political
legend. Mr. Barbaro passed away on April 15th.
Born in Detroit, Michigan of Italian-English-Irish parents and raised
by his mother and grandmother, the family, arrived in Orange County in
1954, exactly 65 years ago, settling in the City of Garden Grove.
After attending Garden Grove High School, Mr. Barbaro attended the
University of Southern California and graduated Magna Cum Laude with
his Bachelor of Arts in Political Science in June of 1965. In June of
1965, Mr. Barbaro was accepted to law school at the University of
Southern California and graduated in 1968. During law school, Mr.
Barbaro was awarded the Warner Trust Grant, he was a Bauer Fellow and
received the Legion Lex Scholarship.
During college Mr. Barbaro worked as a lifeguard at the Disneyland
Hotel and the Balboa Bay Club and later worked as ``Fearless Frank'' on
the Disneyland Jungle Cruise as a skipper/narrator. Mr. Barbaro was
Walt Disney's favorite jungle cruise narrator and allowed him to escort
John Kennedy, Richard Nixon, Henry Kissinger and many other celebrities
through the Jungle Cruise.
In 1977, Mr. Barbaro was one of the founding partners of Horton,
Barbaro & Reilly and practiced as a partner until its dissolution in
2005. Mr. Barbaro has practiced in all areas of civil litigation. Mr.
Barbaro has been involved in many high-profile cases including
representing the 23,000 investors in Lincoln Savings against Charles
Keating and victims of the MGM Grand Hotel Fire in Las Vegas.
Taking over from Richard J. O'Neill, Mr. Barbaro initially chaired
the Democratic Party in 1977-78 at the ripe old age of 34. During these
two years Mr. Barbaro ran a registration campaign for voters that
resulted in a Democratic majority in Orange County for the only time in
modern history. Mr. Barbaro was also responsible for the creation of
the Democratic Foundation of Orange County.
Mr. Barbaro has served in many positions with the Democratic Party of
Orange County or the Democratic Foundation of Orange County. He
returned to the role of Chairman of the DPOC from 2003 until 2013,
becoming the longest serving chair in the DPOC's history. During that
time, Mr. Barbaro invested his own money to bring in a professional
staff and set the foundation that would lead to the Orange County
``Blue Wave'' of 2018.
Mr. Barbaro was named chair to the Orange County campaigns of many
prominent elected officials, including President Barack Obama,
[[Page E536]]
President Jimmy Carter, Governor Jerry Brown, Senator Edward Kennedy,
Senator John Kerry, and Secretary Hillary Clinton.
Mr. Barbaro's proudest accomplishment are his two sons, Brett and
Casey. His oldest, Brett, graduated from Harvard in biochemistry is
working at Scripps in La Jolla mapping atoms and cells in a worldwide
network to find a cure for devastating diseases. His youngest son,
Casey, graduated from Stanford, attended Albert Einstein School of
Medicine, graduating Alpha Omega Alpha, and is now a lead trauma
surgeon at Ventura County Hospital.
Frank Barbaro is truly a legend in the history of Orange County and I
am proud to honor my good friend, Frank Barbaro, a giant among men.
____________________