Recognizing Christine Leonard and Her Service to the House Judiciary Committee

Floor Speech

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Mr. NADLER. Madam Speaker, I rise along with my colleague, Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, Chair of the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security, to thank Christine Leonard for her service to the Committee on the Judiciary.

Christine came to the Committee as part of a career focused on judiciary and criminal justice issues. Before joining the Committee as Counsel, Christine had a long history of working closely with the Committee in various roles, including as Counsel to Rep. Delahunt, Senior Counsel to Sen. Ted Kennedy, Director of the Office of Legislative Affairs at the Office of National Drug Control Policy, as the Director of the Vera Institute of Justice's DC Office, Executive Director of the Coalition for Public Safety, and as Director of the Office of Legislative Affairs at the U.S. Sentencing Commission. Christine received her B.A. and J.D. from Boston College.

Christine joined our Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security as Counsel in 2020 and has played an integral role in our prison and drug enforcement reform work. Among other things, she also played a critical role in helping to advance my bill, the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act--which would reverse failed federal policies criminalizing marijuana and would take steps to address the heavy toll this policy has taken across the country, particularly among communities of color--through the Committee.

The Committee and the country at large have benefited greatly from Christine's dedication to reforming our criminal justice system and ensuring our laws are equitably applied. We will greatly miss her strong work ethic and passion for justice, as she takes the next step in her career.

We thank Christine for her service to the Committee and wish her the best of luck with this new chapter.

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