Ensuring Tax Exempt Organizations the Right to Appeal Act--Motion to Proceed

Floor Speech

Ms. STABENOW. Madam President, I rise today on the floor of the U.S. Senate in memory of a young woman whose life was extraordinary and meaningful and whose passing has left so many of us so profoundly sad.

On Tuesday night, Rachel Jacobs left work and boarded a train to go home to her husband Todd and her 2-year-old son Jacob. Rachel's life, so filled with passion and purpose, was lost that night, along with at least seven others, when her train--and we all know now about the train--derailed just outside of Philadelphia.

Rachel touched so many lives all across the country. Today, all of those hearts are broken. The loss is so profound. Her family has lost a wonderful wife and mother and daughter and sister, and all of us have lost someone who had accomplished so much already in her young life and would have done so much more to make the world a better place if only she had been given the time.

I want my colleagues in the Senate to know Rachel. I want them to know the life she lived. She grew up in the Detroit area, where she was a smart, engaged young woman who was active in her community and always looked for ways to make a difference. She was an exceptionally talented and bright young woman. She went to college at Swarthmore and then to Columbia for her MBA.

Two months ago, she became the CEO of ApprenNet, an online workforce training startup. She had a vision to use technology to help people get the right skills to be successful in the fastest growing sectors of our economy, such as health care.

She was also the cofounder and chair of Detroit Nation, which brought together native Detroiters around the country to stay engaged and connected to their hometown in an effort to create jobs and economic growth.

Rachel did so much for others--something I know she learned from her parents, Gilda and John Jacobs. Gilda is a dear friend of mine and someone who has devoted her own life to public service. I cannot imagine the sadness of her family today. It is small comfort that Rachel's dedication to her family and community is a testament to the wonderful person she was. She was an inspiration to so many and that inspiration will endure.

Rachel's life was not the only one lost on Tuesday night. A Navy midshipman from New York, a college dean, an award-winning Associated Press technology staffer, and five other Americans with families and friends and with so much going for them, and we are finding more who have lost their lives--so many lives cut short in their prime, so many people who were doing so much good in the world.

There are many questions as the investigation into this crash gets underway. Federal authorities are doing their work right now, and the families of those killed or injured deserve answers.

So I was truly stunned yesterday when the House of Representatives voted in committee to slash funding for our infrastructure, including Amtrak. I could not believe that happened. There is something deeply wrong when an unthinkable tragedy such as this occurs--that should serve as a wakeup call to all of us to work together--and not even 24 hours later, Republican Members of Congress act as if nothing had happened.

Our roads and bridges and railroads carry people. They carry young mothers such as Rachel who want to get home to hold their babies. They carry young men such as Justin Zemser, the 20-year-old midshipman at the Naval Academy--a patriot whose contributions to his country could have been incredible. I know, from speaking to Senator Schumer who nominated him, he was an incredible young man.

We have a responsibility to the people of this country, to the people who sent us here to represent them, to make sure our infrastructure is secure. Yet we see on the horizon the very real possibility that our highway trust fund will soon be empty. We see the events of yesterday, with a vote in the House Appropriations Committee to slash funding for trains and roads and bridges. It is personally very alarming to me.

As we engage in these discussions over the next few weeks about how to fund transportation in this country, I hope my colleagues will not forget the people who use our transportation system--people like Rachel Jacobs.

Thank you, Madam President.

I yield the floor.

Source