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Floor Speech

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Ms. LOFGREN. Mr. Speaker, there is mourning across the aisle and across the State of California. I chair the California Democratic delegation, and we are deeply saddened by the loss of Doug LaMalfa. It was a pleasure to serve with Doug since his election in 2013.

He was a man who cared so deeply for the communities that he represented in California's First District. As has been said, he is a fourth-generation rice farmer. He was one of the strongest voices in this body for rural America because he knew firsthand the struggles that our agricultural sectors were facing.

He and I worked very closely together on the bipartisan Farm Workforce Modernization Act which would provide stabilization for farmworkers, farmers, and the ag sector, and he added so much because he really knew how farming worked and what would work and what wouldn't work, and he was a collaborator.

We also introduced together the bipartisan Utility Resilience and Reliability Act that really was commonsense safety standards to minimize power outages.

Now, Doug and I didn't agree on everything. I am a proud Democrat. He was a proud Republican, but he was always approachable, and he was a colleague with whom you could disagree without being disagreeable. It is a quality that Members should strive to emulate here.

He was a good man, friendly, with a sense of humor, a gentle giant. Our deepest condolences are with his wife, Jill; their children; and his staff. It always hurts to lose a friend and a colleague, but I know that Doug's legacy will be remembered by all of us and the Californians he so proudly served and served with.

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