[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 11 (Thursday, February 12, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Page S781]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            PRAISING CRAIG A. HIGGINS FOR HIS SENATE SERVICE

   Mr. SPECTER. Mr. President, Mr. Craig A. Higgins, Clerk of 
the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human 
Services, Education, and Related Agencies, recently announced that he 
will soon be joining the National Human Genome Research Institute at 
the National Institutes of Health as its Senior Advisor for Legislative 
Affairs. I offer him, on behalf of all my Senate colleagues, our 
goodwill and best wishes as he assumes his new duties and 
responsibilities at NIH.
  Mr. Higgins has served with loyalty and with distinction in the 
United States Senate for nearly 18 years. He has worked for Senator 
Mark O. Hatfield as a legislative assistant from 1980 to 1987. He then 
joined the subcommittee staff, becoming Clerk of the subcommittee in 
1995. He is well known to be a dedicated and conscientious staff member 
who, like many staff members, has spent countless hours of energy, 
time, and effort in producing bills, reports, and hearings. During his 
stewardship of our subcommittee, Craig has continued the tradition of 
bipartisanship in the formulation of this very important bill. He 
understands the many needs of the American people and sought 
constructive solutions to better enable our government to address those 
needs. He devoted considerable time helping individual constituents and 
informing the public about the work of the subcommittee.
  Craig has earned the respect of the leadership of these agencies and 
of the Members and staff of the Senate by being fair, responsive, and 
helpful. Both Democrats and Republicans have trusted his advice and 
counsel as our subcommittee confronted the many issues.
  In his new position at NIH, Craig will no doubt continue his 
outstanding work in advancing the promise of genome research. With his 
professionalism and legislative experience, he brings to the task 
exceptional talent and energy, and I have the highest degree of 
confidence that his ability and dedication will continue his remarkable 
record of excellence.
  I would take this opportunity again to thank Craig for his service to 
our subcommittee. As a devoted father to his children, Keith and 
Kristin, and husband to his wife, Wendy, Craig, like the many other 
parents in our workforce, has balanced home life with career. In many 
ways, his work in the Senate is motivated in large part in securing a 
stronger future for all families, including his own. I join my Senate 
colleagues in wishing Craig well and we expect for him to continue the 
highest traditions of excellence at his new post at the National Human 
Genome Research Institute.

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