A celebration of consumer advocacy
What a good time it was! About 300 Public Citizen supporters packed the Sewall-Belmont House on Capitol Hill on Tuesday to honor our former president and consumer advocate extraordinaire, Joan Claybrook.
Old friends of Public Citizen and Washington, D.C.’s progressive community came out to celebrate Joan’s 27 years of tireless leadership and her enduring legacy. Prior to the event, our headquarters building near Dupont Circle was named in her honor, Public Citizen’s Joan Claybrook Building.
Washington Post’s Reliable Source columnists report on some of Joan’s more illustrious fans:
As head of watchdog group Public Citizen for 27 years, she fought for safer cars, medicines, a whole slew of consumer products. In her wake, she gathered exasperated admirers who came to bid farewell: [Sen. John] McCain and Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), who called her “unrelenting”; Ralph Nader, who said she “bitterly wants to win”; and brother Warren Buckler, who called her “manipulative” — but in a good way.
Others in attendance included House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass., and Sen. Feingold, D-Wis, plus actor and environmentalist Robert Redford (pictured with Claybrook above).
The Associated Press reports: Redford honored Claybrook as a teacher, mentor and friend. “She taught me the ropes of how to lobby and how to develop patience, which is not my virtue,” he said.
Here’s to many more years of relentless advocacy for Joan and Public Citizen!