Singing the Praises of Jennifer Wickre

Floor Speech

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Ms. LOFGREN. Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman Lucas for organizing this Special Order. Honoring Jenn Wickre is really a privilege.

I know Jenn from the Science, Space, and Technology Committee, and I know her as an organized and capable person. Today, even more than speaking for myself, I am here to speak for the Democratic staff of the Science, Space, and Technology Committee who know her even better than I do. Many of them have worked with Jenn closely for many years. They really appreciate her and her excellence as a congressional staffer serving this institution and our Nation and how valued she is as a colleague on both sides of the aisle and how respected she is in the greater science and technology stakeholder community.

Prior to coming to the Hill, Jenn had not worked on science policy, but she has a keen intellect, and she understands and cares deeply about the issues that come before our committee. She has become such an expert on these issues that most people just assume that Jenn came from a lifelong science background.

Staff on both sides have benefited from her institutional knowledge, her thoughtfulness, and her perspective. The mutual trust and respect she shared with Democratic staff has allowed them to find common ground on almost every topic that came before them.

It also even enabled them to tag team in difficult negotiations with the Senate and external stakeholders, especially during the CHIPS Act. Jenn's sharp sense of humor also helped ease the tension in these long and acrimonious negotiations with the other body.

Jenn played an essential role in the CHIPS and Science Act, a bill we celebrate as being a once-in-a-generation accomplishment, and she did that while going through treatment for her cancer. That is just remarkable.

Staff on the Democratic side count Jenn as more than just a colleague. She is their friend, and they are praying for her and pulling for her at this moment.

I believe that their friendship speaks further to the special person that she is. Jenn is the best of what our Nation should expect from people dedicating their careers to the work of this institution.

I am honored to lend my voice to the celebration of her career today and to be the voice of the Democratic staff who love her so much and who are praying for her recovery.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman Lucas for allowing me to participate.

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