[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 12 (Tuesday, February 8, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E179]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 HONORING SANDRA BATES, COMMISSIONER OF THE FEDERAL TECHNOLOGY SERVICE

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. TOM DAVIS

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, February 8, 2005

  Mr. TOM DAVIS of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Sandra 
Bates for over 36 years of dedicated service to the Federal Government.
  Sandra Bates has finished off an illustrious career in the Federal 
Government. She started out in 1969 as intern with the General Services 
Administration. She worked her way up as an agency liaison for 
telecommunications and automatic data processing acquisitions on the 
original governmentwide long distance services program, FTS, before 
moving on to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration in 1979. 
While at NASA, she served in various telecommunications positions until 
1993 when she was named chief of communications with responsibility for 
all NASA operational, command, and control networks worldwide.
  She returned to GSA in 1996 and assumed the positions of assistant 
commissioner for service and delivery and deputy commissioner in the 
Federal Technology Service before taking over the role of commissioner 
of the Federal Technology Service in April 2000. As commissioner, she 
has, among other things, successfully guided the Federal Technology 
Service through the most recent edition of the governmentwide 
telecommunications program, FTS 2001.
  Throughout her career as a civil servant, Sandra Bates has been 
active in the federal technology community, serving in leadership roles 
with a number of government and industry councils and associations. She 
has received numerous awards, including NASA's Exceptional Service 
Medal, the Presidential Rank Award of Meritorious Service, the 
Government Information Technology Award, the Fed 100 Award, 3 separate 
years, the Industry Advisory Council's Outstanding Individual 
Government Communicator Award, and the American Council for 
Technology's John J. Franke Award for Extraordinary Contributions to 
Long Term Federal Service. She leaves behind a long list of 
accomplishments in her distinguished career of service to our Nation.
  Mr. Speaker, in closing, I would like to extend my best wishes to Ms. 
Bates on her retirement as commissioner of the Federal Technology 
Service. While I know that she will be greatly missed, her retirement 
is well deserved. I call upon my colleagues to join me in honoring Ms. 
Bates and in wishing her the best of luck in all future endeavors.

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