[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 107 (Tuesday, September 5, 2006)]
[Senate]
[Page S8963]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                        TRIBUTE TO NICK WALTERS

 Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I want to take a moment and wish best 
of luck to an accomplished, young and promising Mississippian who is 
leaving federal service to pursue private sector opportunities.
  Nick Walters, originally of Wiggins, MS, was appointed as 
Mississippi's USDA Rural Development Director by President George Bush 
in 2001. Since then, Nick has done a great job supporting Mississippi's 
communities, helping to secure resources needed for public facilities, 
utilities, and for economic development.
  This is a key Federal position for my State. As Nick likes to say, 
this is the ``nonfarm,'' or ``nonfood'' part of USDA. It is about new 
water and waste water systems, so people can have clean, dependable 
running water. It is about new community centers, town halls, and even 
high-tech or educational assets like broadband service, telemedicine 
and long-distance learning.
  Since taking office, Nick has presented scores of oversized checks, 
in countless, photos for local papers telling stories about a new water 
tower or a new police car or fire truck.
  Some people might think these things are small, and they often are in 
terms of Federal dollars. But these modest services will reverberate 
for years to come. As Nick says: USDA Rural Development is really about 
economic development, helping to encourage and sustain job creation--
paving the way for communities to grow.
  Nick has helped administer more than $100 million to Mississippi's 
cities and towns through this agency.
  He hasn't sat on his laurels waiting for mayors, supervisors, town 
alderman or CEOs to approach him. Nick has been proactive, innovative, 
and he has actively sought cases and ways to meet individual community 
needs through USDA's various Rural Development Programs.
  We've all heard the old saying: Don't tel1 me what you can't do, tell 
me what you can do. That has been Nick Walters' approach to public 
service. His first inclination is to act.
  That is something we Mississippians appreciate. After Hurricane 
Katrina, we saw many Federal bureaucrats in FEMA and elsewhere strapped 
by indecision, blinded by tunnel vision, stuck on what they could not 
do, obsessed with the word ``no,'' when they should have been saying 
``yes.''
  Nick isn't that type. He has provided a great example of what someone 
in this office can do using its authority to the utmost, and we are 
working hard to find a successor who will continue this strong 
leadership.
  Nick Walters will be missed, but my guess is that he will be back in 
public service one day. In what capacity? I don't know. That's a 
decision for him, his wife Lisa and his young children, Porter and John 
Garrett.
  But now with this success behind him and given his previous 
experience in the private sector, his work with former Mississippi 
Governor Kirk Fordice, his stint as chief of staff for the Mississippi 
Public Service Commission--Nick Walters will be successful in wherever 
his endeavors may lead.
  I hope my colleagues will join me in thanking Nick Walters for his 
exemplary service to the Federal Government and, more importantly, to 
America as Mississippi's USDA rural development director.

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