[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 4 (Thursday, January 27, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E22]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        REGARDING ALBERTO GALVAN

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. SOLOMON P. ORTIZ

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, January 27, 2000

  Mr. ORTIZ. Mr. Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to the lifetime of 
service of Alberto Galvan, the district manager for the Brownsville-
Harlingen area for the Social Security Administration (SSA). Alberto 
has served the Federal Government for 35 years, retiring just last 
month.
  A son of South Texas, born in Harlingen, Alberto was in the United 
States Air Force (USAF) prior to his service to the Federal Government. 
In the Air Force, he attended USAF Russian Language School and served 
in electronic intelligence during his duty in Japan. That would have 
been impressive duty in those days, our forward listening post to spy 
on the communists in the Soviet Union.
  This man who loves his country began working for the Social Security 
Administration in 1970, where he has worked ever since, winning the SSA 
Commissioner's Citation, the SSA Regional Commissioner's Citation 
(twice), and the Outstanding Officer Award (four times).
  Aside from his many awards, Mr. Galvan has a great deal of contact 
with my Brownsville district office. As all of you know, the success of 
our district offices rises and falls on the relationship they have with 
individuals within the SSA. Thanks to Alberto Galvan, and the wonderful 
people in my district office, that relationship is strong indeed. The 
SSA manages the nation's social insurance program, consisting of 
retirement, survivors, and disability insurance programs; so, the ties 
that bind our interests are quite strong.
  I want to thank Alberto today for being a really nice man and always 
being responsive to our inquiries. He takes calls from my office 
himself and has been largely responsible for training my staff members 
who deal with Social Security issues. He oversees all of Cameron and 
Willacy counties in the lower Rio Grande Valley but is primarily 
responsible for the Brownsville area up to Rancho Viejo, Texas.
  Since he left the Air Force, Alberto has found another way to put the 
Russian he learned there to good use. Today, he is the only Russian 
translator in the Dallas Region of the SSA and is often sent documents 
to translate, usually birth certificates.
  I ask my colleagues to join me today in commending this outstanding 
patriot who has made a career serving our great country, first in 
uniform, and for the last 30 years, administering the Federal social 
insurance program in South Texas.

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