The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“APPRECIATING COLLEEN HOUSE” mentioning the U.S. Dept. of Commerce was published in the in the Extensions of Remarks section section on page E94 on Feb. 6.
The Department includes the Census Bureau, which is used to determine many factors about American life. Downsizing the Federal Government, a project aimed at lowering taxes and boosting federal efficiency, said the Department is involved in misguided foreign trade policies and is home to many unneeded programs.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
APPRECIATING COLLEEN HOUSE
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HON. JOE WILSON
of south carolina
in the house of representatives
Monday, February 6, 2023
Mr. WILSON of South Carolina. Mr. Speaker, on December 29, 2022, the Detroit News published the following inspiring obituary for Colleen House, an appreciated political trailblazer for the Michigan Republican Party.
Colleen Mary House, whose unexpected foray into Michigan politics nearly 50 years ago blazed a trail for women lawmakers, died Christmas Eve after a two-year battle with dementia, her family announced Wednesday. She was 70.
House died at her Foggy Bottom home in Washington, D.C., with her husband, John Gizzi, the senior White House correspondent for Newsmax, at her side.
``Colleen left my life as she entered it--with a warm smile, dancing eyes, and unconditional love,'' Gizzi wrote in a tribute sent to The Detroit News.
At age 22, she became the youngest woman to serve in Michigan Legislature. But she almost followed a different path.
After graduating from Michigan State University with a degree in political science in 1973, House wanted to follow in her older sister's footsteps as a flight attendant with Pan Am, according to Gizzi. But the airline cut back on international flights amid the energy crisis, prompting House to volunteer on a Republican campaign for Congress in a special election in her hometown of Bay City.
Democratic State Rep. Bob Traxler won the election to fill the seat vacated by the Republican James Harvey, who had been appointed a federal judge.
House then won Traxler's seat with help from future Michigan Gov. John Engler, who at the time was a state representative, The News reported.
It was considered an upset victory in then-Democratic Bay County.
House was also the first Republican to hold the seat in more than 20 years, according to her obituary.
The rising political star was scheduled to be featured on a national Republican telethon hosted by then-Republican National Chairman George H.W. Bush. However, the event was canceled at the last minute after President Nixon resigned from office in the aftermath of the Watergate scandal.
In 1974, House was re-elected, and the following April she wed Engler.
They were the only husband-wife team in the Legislature, according to The News' archives. The couple divorced in 1988.
After House lost re-election in 1976, she moved to Ingham County. From 1977-78 she served as director of public affairs for the Michigan Chamber of Commerce.
Her connection to Bush led to a role helping to run his presidential campaign in the Michigan primary where Bush defeated frontrunner Ronald Reagan. His Michigan victory helped keep him in the political conversation, eventually leading to Reagan tapping him as his vice president.
House would eventually go on to work in the 41st U.S. president's administrations as director of intergovernmental affairs at the U.S. Department of Commerce.
Before moving to Washington, House had also returned to the state legislature, representing Isabella and Mecosta Counties in 1982 and was reelected in 1984, according to the Library of Michigan.
In 1986, she was the first woman to run for governor of Michigan but lost the primary.
At the time, The News reported, Public Sector Consultants, a Lansing thinktank, called her ``one of the most dynamic speakers among the Republican candidates, and she projects a very firm grasp of the state issues (but) has been unable to raise the money to publicize her positions.''
She ran with GOP nominee Bill Lucas as a candidate for lieutenant governor, but their ticket was defeated by incumbent Gov. Jim Blanchard.
After her stint in the Bush administration, House spent nearly a quarter-century working with the International Republican Institute, which she joined in 1993.
House long was active at St. Matthews Cathedral in Washington, D.C., where she was a lector at Masses, trained other parishioners to read portions of the Mass and served as a pontifical lector, relatives said.
Besides her husband, other survivors include a sister, Anne House Quinn; three nieces, Bridget House, Kathleen Quinn and Elizabeth Quinn; three nephews, George H. McElory, Dr. Jude McElory and James Quinn; and brothers-in-law T. Anthony Quinn, Charles J. Rhodes and Michael Kusisto.
A funeral is scheduled to be held Feb. 18 at St. Matthews Cathedral.
Memorials can be made to St. Matthew's Cathedral, the Fraternal Order of St. Peter or the American Hospice Association.
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