[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 101 (Wednesday, July 10, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7676-S7677]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

  VIETNAM VETERANS OF AMERICA 1996 CONGRESSIONAL STAFFER OF THE YEAR 
AWARD
 Mr. ROCKEFELLER. Mr. President, I note with great pride that 
one of my staff members has been honored with a very special award: 
Charlotte Moreland, who serves me on the minority staff of the Senate 
Committee on Veterans' Affairs, has been named 1996 Congressional 
Staffer of the Year by the Vietnam Veterans of America.
  I can think of no one who has earned this award more than Charlotte. 
She has been a loyal member of my personal staff ever since I joined 
the Senate in 1984, and I have been most grateful for the many 
strengths she brought to that job. But Charlotte really found her forte 
when I became chairman of the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs in 
1993, and she became my Special Projects Director on the committee. She 
has continued to work for me in my capacity now as the committee's 
ranking Democratic member.
  Charlotte has helped countless veterans from West Virginia and all 
around the country obtain the services and benefits they are due from 
the Department of Veterans Affairs. Some of the work she has done is 
truly amazing; she has been able to get results where many others have 
failed, or failed to even try, lacking the drive and compassion that 
are Charlotte's trademark.
  Charlotte was born and raised in West Virginia, and she has never 
lost the stubborn persistence, tenacity, and deep caring that are so 
characteristic of my home State. Charlotte is a vigorous--I might say, 
ferocious--advocate for the underdog, the vulnerable, those who would 
otherwise get lost in the system. She is not afraid to fight Government 
bureaucracy, redtape, and complacency, and she will follow through on a 
case until all avenues of help are exhausted.
  Whether it involves quality or availability of medical care in a VA 
hospital, or timely and appropriate decisions on disability claims, 
veterans need a place to turn when they believe the system has failed 
them. Charlotte acts as my eyes and ears out in the community, 
listening to the concerns of individual veterans and reporting them 
back to me, so that I can address systemic problems through legislation 
and oversight. I count on her tremendously, and I truly would not be 
able to perform my job well on the committee if she were not performing 
hers.
  Charlotte is a prime example of a very special class of employees--
dedicated congressional staffers who labor, often anonymously, behind 
the scenes, making our Government work and providing services to our 
citizens. Too often they do not receive the recognition they so richly 
deserve. In saluting Charlotte, I salute also these other unsung 
heroes. As Members of Congress, we are often in the limelight. But our 
accomplishments would be far less without the dedicated staff that 
serve us, and we should never forget that.
  Veterans--in West Virginia and throughout our country--are incredibly 
lucky to have Charlotte as their

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advocate. I am grateful to have her on my staff, and enormously proud 
of all she has accomplished.

                          ____________________