[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 151 (Wednesday, November 20, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Pages S11703-S11704]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            RECOGNIZING STAFF INVOLVED IN HOMELAND SECURITY

  Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, putting the homeland security bill together 
has been a difficult almost herculean task. Many Senators have played 
important roles in this legislation, but it could not have been done 
without the contributions of our staff. Without the aid of these 
individuals, the work of this institution would be impossible to 
accomplish. I would like to recognize the hard work and dedication of 
those staff members whose contributions to this legislation have been 
critical and without whom we would not have been able to pass this 
bill.
  On the Democrat side of the aisle, I want to recognize the 
contributions of Senator Lieberman's staff--especially his staff 
director, Joyce Rechtschaffen, as well as Laurie Rubenstein, Mike 
Alexander, Kiersten Coon, Holly Idelson, Kevin Landy, Larry Novey, and 
Susan Propper. I would also like to acknowledge the contributions of 
Sarah Walter of Senator Breaux's staff, David Culver of Senator Ben 
Nelson's staff, and Alex Albert of Senator Miller's staff.
  On the Republican side, I would especially like to thank Richard 
Hertling, Senator Thompson's Staff Director who, along with Rohit Kumar 
of my staff, was integral in the drafting of the bill that we are 
sending to the President. I would also like to compliment the rest of 
Senator Thompson's staff--Libby Wood Jarvis, Ellen Brown, Bill Outhier, 
Mason Alinger, Alison Bean, John Daggett, Johanna Hardy, Stephanie 
Henning, Morgan Muchnick, Jayson Roehl, Jana Sinclair, Elizabeth 
VanDersarl and Allen Lomax--all of whom played an important role in 
crafting this legislation. Senator Gramm's Legislative Director, Mike 
Solon, and David Morgenstern of Senator Chafee's staff also played very 
important roles in the process.
  Finally, I would like to acknowledge the efforts of those individuals 
from the other body and from the White House, all of whom dedicated 
significant time and effort to this bill. From the House of 
Representatives, the efforts of the House Select Committee staff--in 
particular Hugh Halpern, Paul Morrell and especially Margaret 
Peterlin--were absolutely essential to drafting the compromise 
language.
  From the White House, I would like to thank Ziad Ojakli, Christine 
Ciconne, Heather Wingate of the Legislative Affairs Office, Wendy 
Grubbs, Michael Allen, Richard Falkenrath, Sally Canfield and 
especially Lucy Clark from Governor Ridge's Office of Homeland 
Security, Christine Burgeson from the Office of Management and Budget, 
Brad Berenson from the White House Counsel's office, and Joel Kaplan 
from Chief of Staff Andy Card's office for their assistance in putting 
together this legislation. Without their efforts and cooperation, this 
bill could not have come to pass.
  These staff members have worked diligently and largely in anonymity. 
Given all that they have done in service to their country, I think it 
is appropriate to recognize their work publicly, so that the rest of 
the country knows,

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as we all know, how well we are served by our staff.

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