[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 12 (Tuesday, January 30, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E53]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                TRIBUTE TO NANCY J. SPIKER'S RETIREMENT

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. TIM HOLDEN

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, January 30, 2001

  Mr. HOLDEN. Mr. Speaker, I wish to pay tribute to Nancy J. Spiker, 
who recently retired from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Ms. 
Spiker is the State Director for USDA's Rural Development Mission Area 
in Pennsylvania. That appointment by President Clinton caps a nearly 
40-year career of service dedicated to improving the quality of life in 
rural America.
  While most of Ms. Spiker's career in USDA was spent in her native 
Maryland, I have had the good fortune to work with her since she came 
to the Pennsylvania state office in February 1993. She arrived as the 
Chief of Community and Business Programs, and among her accomplishments 
is the complete turnaround of the state's performance in the programs 
under her leadership. These programs were critical to rural 
Pennsylvanians, especially in my district. Yet, before he arrived, 
Pennsylvania had been regularly turning back much of its funding 
allocations for programs that provided clean water and safe waste 
disposal and rural communities, created and saved rural jobs, and 
financed essential community facilities, such as hospitals, schools, 
and emergency services. As a direct result of Ms. Spiker's leadership, 
Pennsylvanians now receive the full benefit of funding available, plus 
additional funds derived from national reserves. Many rural 
communities, including my district, have benefitted from her resolve 
and her hard work.
  Nancy Spiker has exemplified ``public service'' in the finest sense 
of the term. She has vigorously protected taxpayers' interests. At the 
same time, she ensured that those who most needed financial assistance 
learned of USDA's programs and got whatever help they needed to 
navigate the application process. Whether it was starting the first 
minority-owned steel business in Pennsylvania, opening a shelter for 
battered women in a rural community, or helping the residents of a 
small town ravaged by acid mine drainage get clean drinking water for 
the first time in decades, Ms. Spiker has consistently gone the extra 
mile. She didn't just spend taxpayers' money, she invested it wisely in 
projects that have touched thousands of lives over her career.
  As Assistant State Director, Ms. Spiker helped the Pennsylvania Rural 
Development staff successfully implement a major reorganization, and 
was instrumental in retraining staff to maintain service to the public. 
As State Director, she led what has become one of the most robust state 
operations in Rural Development, and completed a personal journey that 
began in 1961 as a file clerk.
  Mr. Speaker, I know my colleagues will join me in congratulating 
Nancy for her exemplary career in civil service, and a lifetime of 
lasting achievements in rural America.

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