[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 27 (Tuesday, March 12, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E318]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      FAIR WINDS AND FOLLOWING SEAS TO COMMANDER LAURELL A. BRAULT

                                 ______
                                 

                     HON. RANDY ``DUKE'' CUNNINGHAM

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, March 12, 2002

  Mr. CUNNINGHAM. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize an outstanding 
naval officer, Commander Laurell A. Brault, who served with distinction 
and dedication for over two years for the Secretary of the Navy and 
under the Assistant Secretary of the Navy (FM&C) as a Navy 
Appropriations Liaison Officer. It is a privilege for me to recognize 
her many outstanding achievements and commend her for the superb 
service she has provided to the Department of the Navy, the Congress, 
and our nation.
  On a professional level, Commander Brault has supported members of 
the House Appropriations Committee, Subcommittee on Defense as well as 
our professional and associate staffs, providing critical information 
on Department of the Navy plans, programs and budget decisions since 
January 2000. Her valuable contributions have enabled the Defense 
Subcommittee and the Department of the Navy to strengthen its close 
working relationship and to ensure the most modern, well-trained and 
well-equipped naval forces attainable for the defense of our great 
nation. As a Member of the Subcommittee representing the San Diego 
naval community, I have worked extensively with Laurell, and have come 
to greatly admire her.
  Although she is a quiet and very humble person, no one should mistake 
those qualities as weaknesses in the rough and tumble world of 
Washington. Laurell is a very strong, talented and reliable 
professional, who has worked her system to be more responsive to our 
needs on Capitol Hill. More than serving as a conduit of information 
between the legislative and executive branches, Laurell has reached out 
to her colleagues and taken the time to get to know us on a personal 
level.
  Nowhere is that personal touch and caring more evident than in her 
life outside the Pentagon. Despite the long and demanding hours she 
keeps as a Navy liaison, she continues to devote considerable time to 
her faith and community. She dedicates considerable time each week for 
a host of volunteer programs at her church and to an ever expanding 
group of ``adopted'' family that she has come to know through those 
efforts. I am certain that everyone who has had the opportunity to get 
to know Laurell and work with her is the better for it, and I am 
pleased to be among that fortunate group.
  Mr. Speaker, Laurell Brault and her husband Jim have made many 
sacrifices during her Navy career, and her distinguished and unselfish 
service has exemplified the best our nation has to offer. As they 
depart the Appropriations Matters Office to embark on yet another great 
Navy adventure in the service of a grateful nation, I call upon 
colleagues to wish them both every success, and the traditional Navy 
``fair winds and following seas.''

                          ____________________