July 24, 2019 - Issue: Vol. 165, No. 125 — Daily Edition116th Congress (2019 - 2020) - 1st Session
RECOGNIZING LISETTE MORTON AND HER SERVICE TO THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES; Congressional Record Vol. 165, No. 125
(Extensions of Remarks - July 24, 2019)
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[Extensions of Remarks] [Pages E974-E975] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] RECOGNIZING LISETTE MORTON AND HER SERVICE TO THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ______ HON. JERROLD NADLER of new york in the house of representatives Wednesday, July 24, 2019 Mr. NADLER. Madam Speaker, I rise today to commemorate the Congressional career of Lisette Morton, my long time Legislative Director and the Director of Policy, Planning, and Member Services of the House Judiciary Committee. Lisette began her career on Capitol Hill nearly 20 years ago working on environmental issues for the late Congressman Bruce Vento. She started working as my Legislative Assistant in the year 2000 and became my Legislative Director in 2004. Lisette has an encyclopedic understanding of a huge range of issues and always ensured that I was well prepared for hearings, markups, and floor debates. She is a constant source of reliable and informed advice on which I have relied for almost two decades. Throughout her tenure in my office, Lisette worked tirelessly to meet New York's unique transportation and infrastructure needs. She helped achieve a major legislative accomplishment by securing $100 million under the Projects of National Significance Title of the Transportation bill for the cross harbor rail freight tunnel. Securing this much money in a highway bill for a rail project was unprecedented. She also consistently ensured that passenger rail legislation protected resources for the Northeast Corridor, while preventing massive cuts to Amtrak. She ensured I had a seat on the Conference Committee that negotiated the 2015 FAST Act, which allowed me to bring an additional $1.5 billion in highway and transit formula funding to New York. In 2016, she worked on the FAA extension and ensured that my legislation, the Families Flying Together Act, was included in the final bill. Lisette has faced down many national crises as a member of my team. She worked for me on September 11, 2001, and was tireless in her efforts to get a proper detoxification and cleanup after the attack in New York and to hold the EPA accountable. Without her fierce advocacy and dedication, there would be more 9/11 responders and survivors sick today. Her work laid the groundwork for everything that followed, including the establishment of a permanent World Trade Center Health Program and 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund. During the BP oil spill in 2010, Lisette worked tirelessly to get language I authored to ban the use of dispersants included in the Gulf Spill legislation that passed the House of Representatives. Finally, during Superstorm Sandy, Lisette worked closely with me and my staff to drive resources quickly to those who needed it in the aftermath of the storm. She worked around the clock with federal, state, and local officials to solve problems as they arose and pass supplemental funding legislation to build back our critical New York infrastructure and make it more resilient. Lisette has always been an advocate for the arts, especially music, and protecting the rights of artists. Lisette played a critical role in my work on copyright issues with the Judiciary Committee. Lisette worked tremendously hard to pass the Music Modernization Act out of the Judiciary Committee and ultimately out of the House by a remarkable vote of 415-0. Passage of this bill was a major legislative achievement that took years to complete and would not have happened without her hard work and dedication to the effort. Lisette played a critical role in helping to elect me to the position of Ranking Member of the Judiciary Committee in 2017. She quickly established herself as the Director of Member Services and worked to make sure Members concerns are heard and that committee staff and Members are kept informed of Judiciary Committee business. This year, when I became Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, Lisette took on the new role of Director of Policy, Planning, and Member Services. She worked with our entire Judiciary team to create a bold legislative agenda, to ensure hearings were held on critical issues facing the country, and to pass meaningful legislation out of Committee and onto the floor of the House. With her help, the Judiciary Committee passed H.R. 1, the For the People Act; H.R. 8, the Bipartisan Background Checks Act; H.R. 1112, the Enhanced Background Checks Act; H.R. 6, the American Dream and Promise Act; H.R. 1585, the Violence Against Women Act Reauthorization; H.R. 5, the Equality Act; and H.R. 1327, the Permanent Reauthorization of the September [[Page E975]] 11th Victim Compensation Fund Act. Our Committee would not be as active or successful without her incredible work. None of these accomplishments happen by chance. They are the result of hard work and years of building relationships on the Hill, in the administration, and in New York. She understands how this institution works--and how it should work--and she knows how to do the necessary work to turn a simple bill into an organizing tool for a movement. She has a unique ability to build relationships and work with others to get a job done. That is what makes her so effective in creating lasting change. And I am not the only one to hold that view. Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Doug Collins has said, Lisette ``has given a great deal of service to this House and to me and to my staff personally. She will be missed, on both sides of this aisle, because she understands completely what this House should be about and that is actually service and actually getting legislation done.'' But Lisette is more than just a staffer to me. To me, she is like family. She has given our office more than her hard work, she has given us her great sense of humor and ready laugh, her kind support, and her willingness to share her life with us. She tells stories with great passion about her beloved Nationals and Caps, her trips to Spring Training or to the Minnesota State Fair, her love of all things Star Wars, Star Trek, and Disney, and her love of Bravo TV and good books. She has brought all that joy and life with her to work each day in addition to being an incredibly hard working, capable, and brilliant staffer. I know I will miss Lisette greatly, but I am happy she has found a new position working on issues she is passionate about. And I am pleased she will continue to pursue those passions both in and out of the office every day. I wish her luck and joy in all her future endeavors. And so, it is only fitting to say as a final farewell, ``Lisette, may the Force be with you.'' ____________________