[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 93 (Monday, July 17, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1422]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    HONORING GAYE HYDE'S SERVICE TO CALIFORNIA'S EAST BAY COMMUNITY

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. FORTNEY PETE STARK

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, July 17, 2006

  Mr. STARK. Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor Gaye Hyde, my lead caseworker 
in Fremont, CA, district office, who will be retiring on July 31, 2006.
  Gaye has worked for me, and more importantly for the people of 
California's 13th Congressional District, for 31 years. I dare say that 
her level of commitment is hard--if not impossible--to match. I'm 
honored that she's stuck with me for so many years. But, it is my 
constituents who have been the real winners.
  Gaye has presided over tens of thousands of cases herself and has 
trained every caseworker who has come and gone from my staff over the 
past 30 years.
  She started handling constituent casework in the days before 
computers were used in the office. She had to type initial inquiries to 
agencies for assistance, have them mailed to Washington, DC for my 
approval, and then track their progress through written correspondence 
from various agencies and seldom returned phone calls. Typically, she 
took piles of letters home and fact checked and typed responses late 
into the night. She was always pushing to resolve cases and didn't feel 
there was time in the day to meet her standards or constituents' needs.
  How times have changed. Today, many constituents e-mail their 
requests for assistance. Gaye is able to e-mail constituent liaison 
offices in a variety of agencies, and much of the work is done via the 
Internet. The process makes communication faster, provides better 
accountability, and produces much less paper waste--all of which are 
great advancements.
  What hasn't changed over time is the importance of the role of 
congressional caseworkers. These staff members get little of the glory, 
but are the key component for an effective Member of Congress.
  Constituents who reach out for help from their Member of Congress 
usually are in great need. They are trying to file immigration 
documents for a loved one, obtain a lost Social Security check upon 
which their parent depends, or applying for a federal grant which could 
make or break their organization's ability to continue providing 
important services to the community.
  With Gaye at the helm of my casework operation, I've never had to 
worry about my constituents being served--and served superbly. Her 
retirement is well deserved, but those of us lucky enough to work with 
her, and thousands of East Bay residents she's helped over the years, 
will miss her tremendously.

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