[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 21 (Wednesday, February 25, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E224]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         HONORING DORIS CHERRY

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. MARK UDALL

                              of colorado

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, February 25, 2004

  Mr. UDALL of Colorado. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to have the 
opportunity to acknowledge Ms. Doris Cherry, who has recently been 
named ``Employee of the Year'' by Congressional Guest Services, for her 
28 years of exemplary service at the Longworth Cafeteria.
  Ms. Cherry is well known by members of my staff and other 
congressional offices for her extraordinary reputation of friendliness 
and warmth. While she is being recognized as the ``Employee of the 
Year'', I daresay that if a poll were taken of the many thousands of 
people who use the Longworth Cafeteria, she would easily win any 
competition where customer service, patience and genuine kindness were 
at stake.
  At a time when civility in human relations is arguably at low ebb, 
people like Doris Cherry remind us that a simple smile can make an 
enormous difference in all of our lives. She treats her job as an art, 
and not just a profession.
  Doris has the kind of personality that warms the heart. She is a 
person we can all learn from. Perhaps her last years in Longworth will 
be spent on the other side of the cash register? She would make a great 
candidate for office and would no doubt have many admirers on both 
sides of the aisle.
  Mr. Speaker, I would like to submit the following article from Roll 
Call newspaper in the Record, as a fitting tribute to this very gifted 
woman.

                Cafeteria Worker Is Employee of the Year

                            (By Zach Miller)

       For 28 years, Doris Cherry has been a regular sight in the 
     Longworth Cafeteria. Working the checkout lines for the past 
     15 years, she is the friendly face at the end of a long line 
     of hungry staffers. This year, Guest Services has named her 
     Employee of the Year.
       ``I am very excited and very happy,'' Cherry said of the 
     award, but in her now-trademark selfless attitude she added, 
     ``I am happy when my customers are happy. They come to the 
     Food Court for a break. My job is to make them leave with a 
     smile.''
       Born in Clinton, N.C., Cherry came to Washington, D.C., as 
     a child. In 1976, she started work in the Longworth Cafeteria 
     as a line server before becoming a grill cook and deli 
     server. After a decade of making food, Doris moved to the 
     checkout line registers, where she became the warm and kind 
     fixture collecting money from House patrons and in return 
     giving them a smile and a hello.
       Cherry's manager, Eran Nuran, said she is a sweet person 
     who genuinely cares about everyone she meets. ``She is one of 
     the most dependable team members here at Long-worth. 
     Customers will line up to 20 people at a time to get a chance 
     to speak to Doris. Other registers will be open, but they 
     think she is worth the wait,'' Nuran said.
       Cherry once received a letter from a regular customer 
     informing her he was leaving his job. In the letter the 
     customer confessed that even though his office had free 
     coffee every morning prepared for the staff, he would come to 
     the cafeteria and pay for a cup just so he could say hello to 
     her.
       Cherry and her husband, Reginald, have four children and 
     seven grandchildren.

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