[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 43 (Thursday, March 18, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Page S2972]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             TRIBUTE TO MRS. SHELBY JEAN (``JEANIE'') KIRK

 Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I wish to take this opportunity to 
recognize and say farewell to an outstanding civil servant, Mrs. Jeanie 
Kirk, upon her retirement from the Department of the Navy after more 
than 38 years of dedicated service. Throughout her career, Mrs. Kirk 
has served with distinction, and it is my privilege to recognize her 
many accomplishments and to commend her for the superb service she has 
provided the United States Navy and our nation.
  Mrs. Kirk's retirement on 3 May 1999 will bring to a close almost 
four decades of dedicated service to the United States Navy. From 1960 
to 1966, Mrs. Kirk was assigned to the Navy's Personal Affairs 
Division. From 1966-1968, she was assigned to the Navy's Casualty 
Branch. For the next 31 years of her service, Mrs. Kirk was a member of 
the Navy Awards Branch, starting as the Assistant Branch Head in 1968 
and becoming the Branch Head in 1978. Throughout her tenure, she has 
become a well-known and beloved figure among the fleet, from seamen to 
admirals, among veteran organizations, such as the Congressional Medal 
of Honor Society, and individuals, such as survivors of the Pearl 
Harbor attack. She has assisted countless individuals in tracking, 
reinstating or garnering appropriate awards and recognition for their 
service to their country, during wartime and during peace. The letters 
of gratitude and appreciation she has received over the years for her 
tireless and dogged research on behalf of thousands of sailors and 
their families and friends would fill many cabinet drawers. Congressmen 
and women have benefitted from her briefings on the specific details of 
awards for their constituents and heeded her advice. Her opinion on 
Navy awards is honored as golden--decisive and accurate--in the halls 
of Congress as well as the Pentagon.
  She is a recognized authority on the topic of Navy awards from the 
first Congressional Medal of Honor to the most recent new awards, such 
as the NATO medal, which honors the service of more than 45,000 
personnel as peacekeepers in Bosnia. As the Executive Agent for the 
Department of Defense, she was responsible for inaugurating the Pearl 
Harbor Commemorative Medal to recognize the 50th Anniversary of the 
attack on Pearl Harbor.
  Mrs. Kirk has been awarded the Superior Civilian Service and 
Distinguished Civilian Service Awards. She is a native of Rectortown, 
Virginia, and currently resides in Middleburg, Virginia.
  Mrs. Kirk will retire from the Department of the Navy on May 3, 1999, 
after thirty-eight years of dedicated service. On behalf of my 
colleagues, I wish Mrs. Kirk fair winds and following seas. 
Congratulations on an outstanding career.

                          ____________________