[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 6 (Wednesday, January 26, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E89]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      RETIREMENT OF JAMES STEDMAN, CONGRESSIONAL RESEARCH SERVICE

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. DALE E. KILDEE

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, January 26, 2005

  Mr. KILDEE. Mr. Speaker, I want to acknowledge the long years of 
service which James Stedman has provided to the Congress. ``Jim'' as he 
is better known to his friends and colleagues retired this month after 
31 years at the Congressional Research Service (CRS). His dedication, 
determination and spirit will be sorely missed. I know that I have 
relied on Jim on numerous occasions in the past and he has certainly 
made me a more effective legislator.
  James Stedman began his career at the Congressional Research Service 
as an education policy analyst in 1973, after earning a bachelor's 
degree from Middlebury College and a master's degree from Harvard 
University, both in history. Upon joining CRS, he reached the status of 
Specialist in Social Legislation in a very short period of time. From 
the beginning of his career, and continuing for over 30 years, Jim has 
expertly supported Congressional work on education related legislation. 
Jim's most important contribution however has been his effective and 
unselfish mentoring of the next generation of CRS education analysts.
  Jim has for decades been a nationally recognized expert on numerous 
major aspects of Federal education policy. One such area is elementary-
secondary school reform. Jim has shown a boundless understanding of the 
complexities of standards-based reform, school choice (a topic on which 
he prepared pioneering policy analyses), and Federal programs to 
support the recruitment, development, and retention of elementary-
secondary school teachers. Jim also excelled in his knowledge of 
Federal efforts to improve mathematics and sciences education; and all 
aspects of Federal policy to provide financial assistance to 
postsecondary students from low- to moderate-income families, including 
grant, loan, and tax-based programs.
  Throughout his career, Jim has not only been exceptionally 
productive, but also innovative. He has provided ground-breaking 
analyses that have been especially useful to the Congress in its 
consideration of how best to provide financial aid for college bound 
students, through loans, grant, or tax-based methods. Jim has also 
undertaken pioneering work of broad significance on the process used to 
determine the amount of aid a college student receives, commonly 
referred to as ``needs analysis.'' Jim was also the leading CRS analyst 
supporting congressional legislation and other activities in response 
to the Reagan administration's ``A Nation at Risk'' and the Clinton 
administration's ``Goals 2000 initiatives.''
  In more recent years, Jim's work has been primarily devoted to 
providing strong leadership to teams of CRS staff assisting with higher 
education legislation during the 105th and 108th Congresses. He has 
coordinated a vast number of projects in support of committee 
deliberations on higher education legislation, serving as the primary 
liaison between the CRS higher education analysts and authorizing 
committee members and staff. Jim has also unselfishly devoted a great 
deal of time and effort to helping the relatively new CRS analysts to 
build expertise in legislation, relevant issues, and sources for data 
analysis.
  Jim's contributions will be sorely missed. The leadership and 
knowledge he provided for over 30 years has greatly benefited the 
Congress and the American people. Jim's retirement now provides him the 
time to pursue a second career as a teacher. If he brings the same 
determination and spirit to teaching that he had for 30 years at CRS, 
he will be a success. This House should congratulate Jim on his 
retirement and wish him the best in his future endeavors.

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