[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 150 (Thursday, December 7, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Page S11735]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       RETIREMENT OF JOYCE NEWTON

  Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, at the end of December, one of my charter 
staff members will be retiring. Joyce Newton has been on my staff since 
I took office as the Senator from Utah in January 1977.
  As a freshman Senator, I was the beneficiary of Joyce's decade of 
previous experience as a caseworker for former Representatives Frank 
Horton and John Conlan and as a staffer at the Office of Management and 
Budget.
  But, during these last 24 years, Joyce has helped countless Utahns 
with Social Security snafus, international adoptions, military 
transfers, and a whole host of other special needs and problems. Joyce 
has always been there to offer a sympathetic ear or to jump start a 
slow or reluctant bureaucracy.
  Joyce has been known to come to the office in the wee hours of the 
morning in order to telephone an embassy halfway around the globe.
  She has been known to telephone the same Federal caseworker three 
times in one day just to make sure a constituent's application was not 
buried under another pile of work resulting in a needless delay or 
missed deadline.
  She has been known to go to bat for constituents even when the 
grounds for their congressional appeals were shaky.
  And, Joyce has been tenacious. She has pursued cases as far as she 
could. If we were unsuccessful in resolving a constituent problem, it 
was never for lack of trying--it was only for lack of more avenues.
  I remember the ``Books for Bulgaria'' project. How could we get 
literally hundreds of pounds of books to Bulgaria at little or no cost 
to be used by a nonprofit organization for educational outreach in that 
distressed country? This was not an easy problem. Joyce somehow managed 
to solve it.
  I remember the young woman from England who needed specialized 
surgery to cure a rare condition that prevented her from walking. 
Doctors at the University of Utah had pioneered a new technique not 
available anywhere else, but various INS rules needed to be sorted out 
in order for her to come and remain in our country long enough for 
recovery and rehabilitation. There is a woman able to walk today 
because Joyce got it done.
  I have always had complete confidence in Joyce. When she phoned an 
agency, she was phoning for me. No Senator or Representative can 
possibly do this work by himself or herself. It takes dedicated, 
caring, and competent people to work through the various redtape 
entanglements that often ensnare our citizens.
  These constituent service staffers too often work in the background. 
They don't attend signing ceremonies. They don't meet with celebrities 
or national leaders. They don't have bills and photographs, plaques or 
certificates on their office walls. Joyce Newton was one of these 
devoted individuals on Capitol Hill who labored quietly on behalf of 
the citizens of America. And, she got it done.

  There are thousands of citizens in my State--seniors, children, 
service men and women, families, students--who may not remember Joyce 
Newton's name. But, they will always remember what she did for them.
  We are sorely going to miss Joyce Newton on the Hatch staff. And, 
today I want to thank her publicly for all of her dedicated hard work 
over these last many years and wish her all the best in a much 
deserved, well-earned retirement.

                          ____________________