[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 155 (Tuesday, December 6, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2446-E2447]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       TRIBUTE TO JOHN B. GABUSI

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. RAUL M. GRIJALVA

                               of arizona

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, December 6, 2005

  Mr. GRIJALVA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to John B. 
Gabusi, an Arizona native known nationally and internationally, who 
retired September 30 as Vice Chancellor of Pima Community College.
  Mr. Gabusi was an accomplished administrator who brought excitement, 
enthusiasm and excellence to his endeavors and his relationships. He 
possesses a superior intellect, is extremely well informed, and has an 
amazing ability to analyze information quickly and accurately. He is a 
compassionate human being with a particular affection for the less 
fortunate. He extends his help quietly, hoping only that others will 
overcome obstacles and achieve success.
  Mr. Gabusi joined Pima College in 1991. He established the economic 
development office, then moved on to create a government relations 
program. From there, he undertook a myriad of successful activities for 
the College. Among his other remarkable achievements was a marketing 
campaign that increased the school's enrollment by 30 percent over a 
five-year period and a counseling-mentor program that increased the 
number of area high school graduates who enrolled at Pima by more than 
60 percent over a three-year period.
  Mr. Gabusi grew up in the mining town of Clifton. He earned a 
bachelor's degree from the University of Arizona in 1964, and was 
studying for a Ph.D. in political science when, in 1966, he and 
classmate Earl deBerge created a Tucson polling firm known as Survey 
Research Associates. He departed the partnership in 1968 to join the 
staff of U.S. Representative Morris K. Udall, whose congressional 
district then encompassed the entire State outside of Phoenix and 
Maricopa County. His friend deBerge continued the firm, which now is 
based in Phoenix and known as the Behavior Research Center Inc.
  He spent 23 years away from Arizona, most of the time in Washington, 
DC.
  Mr. Gabusi walked the halls of Congress as a Udall aide, and served 
as Udall's principal staffer for the Postal Reorganization Act of 1971, 
the first step toward today's independent postal system. Mr. Gabusi 
managed four of Udall's congressional campaigns and directed the 
congressman's attempted bid for the 1976 Democratic Presidential 
nomination.
  President Jimmy Carter reached out for his help in 1977, appointing 
Mr. Gabusi as Assistant Director for Management and Budget of the 
Community Services Administration. He oversaw a $2 billion annual 
budget at an agency with 1,800 employees between Washington and 10 
regional offices.
  Two years later, President Carter chose Mr. Gabusi for another major 
position: Assistant Secretary for Management in the fledgling 
Department of Education. Among other things, he managed the inter-
agency task force that designed and implemented all of the required 
systems to create the Cabinet-level department.
  Both jobs required Senate confirmation and Mr. Gabusi was one of a 
handful of appointees to undergo that process on two occasions.

[[Page E2447]]

  With the 1981 change in administrations, Mr. Gabusi departed 
government service for private enterprise. He spent 2 years as General 
Manager of Rural Ventures Inc., the economic development arm of Control 
Data Corporation of Minneapolis.
  He returned to Washington in 1983, and spent the next 8 years as an 
economic development consultant on a national and international basis.
  His emphasis was on providing technical assistance to foreign 
ministries, and special contracts, primarily from the U.S. Agency for 
International Development, sent him to EI Salvador, Costa Rica, 
Nicaragua and Panama. He also consulted with the governments of Egypt 
and Poland, and played a major role in establishing Poland's first 
retail banking system.
  Back home, Mr. Gabusi provided economic development and government 
expertise to small businesses, Indian tribal councils, small cities and 
towns and one federal agency, the Economic Development Administration.
  Mr. Gabusi has been struggling with renal cell cancer for nearly 3 
years and it was with regret that he retired from Pima College. He was 
a positive and progressive force at the college and in every other 
venture he undertook.

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