[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 71 (Tuesday, May 22, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E882]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         TRIBUTE TO INA SINGER

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. SOLOMON P. ORTIZ

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, May 22, 2001

  Mr. ORTIZ. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to Ina Singer, an 
American patriot and dedicated public servant, who retires on May 30, 
2001, from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
  I first met Ina in 1969 when she came to the Coastal Bend of Texas 
after a hurricane. She was detailed to the Corpus Christi-Robstown, 
Texas, area to set up temporary housing for people who lost homes in 
the hurricane. It was the beginning of a long and beautiful friendship 
and professional relationship.
  Ina is widely recognized as one of the best managers in the federal 
government. She is leaving the Directorship of Multifamily Housing in 
Baltimore, after a long and distinguished career in public service. Ina 
is a smart, tough motivator of people, and she has applied her 
considerable talents to improving public housing in the mid-Atlantic 
area since 1969.
  Prior to her present position, Ina has held the following positions 
with HUD: Associate Deputy Assistant Secretary for Multi-family 
Housing, Director of the Housing Management Division in the Baltimore 
Office, and a variety of positions in the mid-Atlantic area that 
provided her with a foundation of understanding asset management and 
property disposition, the staples of the work HUD does.
  She is an extraordinary leader who motivates people and gets the job 
done. High performance ratings have followed Ina throughout her career 
at HUD, and her team consistently exceeds their goals. She is one of 
the ``go-to'' people at HUD when trouble pops up. She has been detailed 
all over the country to deal with troubled offices.
  Ina has taken her no-nonsense attitude about the disposition of 
taxpayers' money and applied that to programs at HUD. Anybody can say 
yes, but Ina is the rare government creature who is unafraid to say 
``no'' to people who would be bad partners or who would sell bad 
property.
  In her current position, she expanded her responsibility from the 
Chesapeake Bay area to include other Maryland counties and the District 
of Columbia, forming valuable community partnerships and creating a 
virtual office in the greater Maryland-District of Columbia area.
  In addition to all the work she does for HUD, she also gives of her 
time to national roles she views as important to furthering the mission 
at the Department. In 1990, Ina was awarded HUD's Distinguished Service 
Award for consistently going above and beyond the call of duty. She 
leaves HUD with the respect of her colleagues both locally and 
nationally.
  Ina has a beautiful family: her husband Jon, and their children 
Meredith and Michael. I ask my colleagues to join me today in paying 
tribute to Ina Singer as she completes a distinguished lifetime of 
service to the United States as a tremendous steward of the public 
trust.

                          ____________________