[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 144 (Thursday, October 23, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2062-E2063]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 HONORING VIRGINIA B. HARTER FOR FOUR DECADES OF DISTINGUISHED SERVICE

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. STEPHEN HORN

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, October 22, 1997

  Mr. HORN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to invite Members to join me in 
honoring the career of Virginia B. Harter, Assistant Commissioner, Debt 
Management Services, Financial Management Service, Department of the 
Treasury. Mrs. Harter retires from the Senior Executive Service 
effective October 31, 1997, after nearly 40 years of employment in the 
Federal service. Mrs. Harter's career consistently exceeded the high 
standards for superior performance and is a credit to the Financial 
Management Service and the Department of the Treasury.
  Mrs. Harter began her career as a civil servant in 1957 with the 
National Security Agency. After joining the Department of the 
Treasury's Financial Management Service in 1959, Mrs. Harter rose 
through the ranks while serving in numerous important management 
positions. Between 1979 and 1981, Mrs. Harter served as the program 
manager for the design and development of the Treasury's Direct 
Deposit/Electronic Funds Transfer Program. As a result of this program, 
53 percent of the 840 million Treasury disbursements were made 
electronically in 1996, saving taxpayers $169 million. Mrs. Harter also 
served as the Director of the Governmentwide Cash Management Program 
and Director of the Credit Management/Debt Collection programs at the 
Financial Management Service.
  In 1989, Virginia B. Harter was appointed to the position of the 
Chief Disbursing Officer for

[[Page E2063]]

the Federal Government. In that capacity, Mrs. Harter joined the Senior 
Executive Service where she was responsible for directing the issuance 
of more than 800 million payments valued at over $1.7 trillion 
annually. Mrs. Harter remained in this position until 1994 when she was 
appointed to the position of Deputy Associate Commissioner for 
Reengineering where she led the research and the development of the 
conceptual design for the world-class government-wide payments process 
for the future.
  Mrs. Harter earned the 1995 Presidential Award of Meritorious 
Executive for the Senior Executive Service for her outstanding 
contributions in building sound financial management programs 
government-wide and particularly, for her leadership in creating 
programs to share financial and technical assistance to the new 
independent states of the former Soviet Union.
  In 1996, Virginia Harter was appointed Assistant Commissioner for 
Debt Management Services at the Financial Management Service. This 
placed her in the forefront of the Federal Government's effort to 
recover over $51 billion in non-tax delinquencies owed to the 
Government. She provided vital leadership in the management and 
expansion of government-wide debt collection efforts as required by the 
Debt Collection Improvement Act of 1996. This included services for all 
Federal agencies and State governments, such as administrative offset, 
the Treasury Offset Program, and cross-servicing and collection of 
delinquent debt.
  Virginia Harter's exceptional knowledge and expertise in implementing 
the Governmentwide Debt Management Program will be sorely missed by 
Members of Congress who remain determined to relieve future generations 
from suffocating Federal budget deficits. I invite my colleagues to 
join me in saluting a job well done, and in wishing Mrs. Harter an 
enjoyable and satisfying retirement.

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