[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 138 (Saturday, October 28, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2015-E2016]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 TRIBUTE TO DON HARE, MICHIGAN DIRECTOR FOR RURAL DEVELOPMENT, ON THE 
                       OCCASION OF HIS RETIREMENT

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. BART STUPAK

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                       Saturday, October 28, 2000

  Mr. STUPAK. Mr. Speaker, today I pay tribune to both a public program 
and a state administrator of that program, a man who has put a warm, 
human face on a grant process that has been of vast importance to my 
northern Michigan congressional district.

[[Page E2016]]

  Donald Hare, Michigan Director for Rural Development, an agency of 
the U.S. Department of Agriculture, was appointed to his post by 
President Clinton in 1993. Working out of Lansing, Don could well have 
focused his attention on Detroit and the other major metropolitan areas 
of the state. He understood from the outset, however, that the first 
word of the name of his agency, ``rural,'' meant that his focus should 
be on the many, many small communities that dot both the upper and 
lower peninsulas of Michigan.
  Don Hare will be retiring at year's end. After almost a decade of 
working so closely with this dedicated public servant, I wanted to take 
a few minutes to tell you and our House colleagues about his work on 
behalf of the people of Michigan.
  Let me give you a picture of my district, Mr. Speaker. Sprawling over 
roughly 24,000 square miles, it has many cities, towns and villages 
that organized and built their community infrastructure more than 100 
years ago. Many of these communities built and still use water systems 
utilizing wooden piping! After 100 years, they must be re-built. These 
communities need financial assistance to renew these basic services, 
which maintain a community's quality of life and enable it to flourish 
and grow.
  Prior to his Rural Development appointment, Don had served 18 years 
as chief of staff to Congressman Bob Traxler. He brought to the Rural 
Development job a clear understanding of the role of government in 
assisting people in basic yet profound ways. There is little glamour in 
providing grants to build a new sewer system, yet there is little 
future for a community that is unable to meet current standards in 
providing this service. Don understood this and has been of the 
greatest service to Michigan residents in meeting such challenges.
  Don has always gone the extra mile to assist my constituents. In a 
figurative sense, he has always made himself available to me, my staff 
and community leaders to answer questions and resolve problems on grant 
issues. In a very literal sense, however, Don has often traveled many 
hours to come up to my northern Michigan district to take part in 
closing ceremonies and to make clear to grant recipients that the 
agency he has represented was more than a faceless bureaucracy.
  In fiscal year 1999, Rural Development provided $95 million to my 
district in grants and loans for housing, community facilities, 
guaranteed loans for businesses, and water and sewer projects. For an 
area devastated economically by the closing of K.I. Sawyer Air Force 
Base and the shutdown of a major copper mine with the loss of 1,200 
good-paying jobs, these grants and loans have been essential to build 
industrial parks, maintain fire services, upgrade housing and help pull 
up by the bootstraps our small business. Don Hare has recognized that 
this federal funding allows the communities of northern Michigan to 
help themselves to rebuild, recover and grow.
  Don has built a great staff. I look forward to a continued positive 
working relationship with them after Don retires, but I and my own 
staff will certainly miss him and his great understanding of our 
concerns and needs in northern Michigan. I wish Don and his wife Rita 
all the best in the coming years.

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