Hillary Clinton issues statement in memory of Ellen Tauscher

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton issued a statement Tuesday on the death of former Rep. Ellen Tauscher (D-Calif.), who also served as undersecretary of State for arms control and international security affairs under Clinton.

“During her 12 years in Congress, she helped bring opportunity to California and end ethnic cleansing in Kosovo. She made America and the world safer through her work on arms control at the State Department,” said the statement, which was also attributed to former President Bill Clinton. 

“Ellen woke up every day determined to make a difference, and make a difference she did,” they said. “She was fearless, brilliant and bighearted. When she walked into a room, it lit up.”

{mosads}In her role in the Obama-era State Department, Tauscher negotiated arms treaties for the U.S.

Clinton told Politico that Tauscher was “the most important person in getting us to the negotiation of the New START Treaty,” which limits the number of nuclear warheads Russia and the U.S. can deploy.

Tauscher’s family issued a statement Tuesday saying that she died of pneumonia at the age of 67.

“Ellen was a force to be reckoned with from the time she was a young girl growing up in Harrison, New Jersey,” the family said. “She succeeded at everything she did and made her mark wherever she went. She was the strongest, bravest person we have ever known.”