[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 56 (Monday, April 29, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Page S4272]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   TRIBUTE TO MRS. VIRGINIA N. FOSTER

  Mr. THURMOND. Mr. President, I rise today to recognize a woman, 
Virginia N. foster, who, through her 50 years of service to our Nation, 
has helped to keep the United States safe and secure, and is someone 
who is worthy of our thanks.
  Many of you may already know Mrs. Foster from your dealings with the 
Air Force's Directorate of legislative Liaison, where she has worked 
for the past 21 years. Through 12 Congresses, the 93d to the 104th, she 
has dutifully and faithfully assisted Members and their staffs in 
resolving issues and questions concerning the Air Force. Due to her 
long tenure, she has become more than a valued employee, she has become 
an important asset to the Air Force, providing her superiors and co-
workers with an encyclopedic knowledge of Air Force policy, and an 
institutional memory that is unmatched by anyone else working in 
Legislative Liaison Directorate.
  What is perhaps most amazing about Mrs. Foster is not necessarily her 
impressive abilities as an employee, but that her 23 years of working 
with Congress does not comprise even half of her civil service career, 
which began in 1944 when she went to work at a German Prisoner of War 
Camp in Texas. In subsequent years, she has held many positions, though 
since 1951, she has lived in the Washington, DC area where she has 
never been too far from either the U.S. Congress or the headquarters of 
the Air Force, both institutions which she has served with devotion and 
unflagging competence.
  Mr. President, Mrs. Foster will mark her fifth decade of Government 
service on May 1 of this year. On that day, the Air Force will present 
her with the ``Exceptional Civilian Service Award'' in recognition of 
her dedicated work and support, a recognition of which she is truly 
deserving and in which she can take great pride. I know that those in 
this Chamber who know Mrs. Foster will want to join me in expressing 
our gratitude for her assistance to us over the years, and in 
congratulating her on celebrating 50 years of service to our Nation. We 
wish her great health and happiness in the years to come, and hope that 
she continues to be an important part of life on Capitol Hill.

                          ____________________