[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 135 (Friday, December 8, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2222]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  TRIBUTE TO SYDNEY TALLY HICKEY--MILITARY FAMILY ADVOCATE, NATIONAL 
                      MILITARY FAMILY ASSOCIATION

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JAMES P. MORAN

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, December 8, 2006

  Mr. MORAN of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to 
Sydney Tally Hickey, military family advocate and member of the Board 
of Governors of the National Military Family Association (NMFA)--in 
recognition of her distinguished service to her country. From 1983, 
when she joined the NMFA Government Relations staff, until her death on 
December 1, 2006, she taught an entire generation of NMFA members to be 
consummate advocates and better the lives of hundreds of thousands of 
active duty, National Guard, Reserve and retired service members, their 
families, and survivors. She did this by being smart, detailed, and 
persistent--armed with the facts, an unblinking perseverance, and a 
luminous passion.
  I had the honor of knowing Ms. Hickey personally. She was a military 
family member all her life as an Air Force daughter and Navy spouse. 
She was married to Capt. Dennis J. Hickey IV, who is retired from the 
U.S. Navy, and has her two daughters and a grandson.
  In 1983, she joined the NMFA Government Relations staff and served as 
the Vice President of the Department from 1987 to 1990. On January 1, 
1990, she was selected to become the Association's first paid 
professional staff member and served as Director of Government 
Relations until her retirement in October 1999. Mrs. Hickey continued 
her work with the Government Relations Department as a volunteer 
consultant on health care issues. She also served on the NMFA's Board 
of Governors.
  Over the years, military families everywhere benefited from Sydney's 
hard work and foresight. She was the driving force behind the set of 
transition benefits Congress put in place for service members and 
families during the drawdown following the first Gulf War. Recognizing 
that military families overseas deserved the same access to federal 
safety net programs as those living in the United States, Sydney and 
NMFA worked aggressively for several years to secure the legislation 
creting the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) nutrition program 
overseas. Thanks to her work, military families stationed overseas also 
became eligible for the Earned Income Tax Credit and Supplemental 
Security Income.
  Frequently invited to provide testimony before Congressional 
Committees on issues facing military families, she also helped guide 
the development of many of today's family readiness programs. Thanks in 
part to her foresight in anticipating the needs of families and her 
skill in articulating these needs, Congress and the Department of 
Defense established many vital enhancements to the quality of life of 
military families.

  Sydney Hickey helped to take the voice of the military family from a 
whisper to a giant roar, forevermore to hold a significant place in any 
pertinent discussion. She brought stories of military families' 
everyday experiences to the policy makers and now military family 
members are routinely represented on Congressionally-mandated advisory 
panels and DoD working groups and councils that develop and oversee 
programs and benefits applicable to them. She was one of the pioneers 
who taught and encouraged family members to get involved in the 
representative process, by sitting on boards and councils and teaching 
them how to work with legislators. She helped military family members 
become their own best advocates.
  Sydney's work brought her many awards and recognitions, including the 
1992 National Citizenship Award from the Military Chaplains 
Association, the 1993 Defense Transition Services Award from the 
University of Central Florida, the 1998 ``Champion for Children'' award 
from the Military Impacted Schools Association, and the 1999 Department 
of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service.
  In that same year, NMFA established an award for exceptional service 
to uniformed service families, presented it to Mrs. Hickey, and named 
it in her honor. She also received the Military Coalition's Award of 
Merit and recognition by the Defense Commissary Agency for her work as 
a ``legendary champion for the causes of military life.''
  Sydney Hickey's legacy is greater than a list of awards. Her legacy 
is seen every day in the dedication and accomplishments of the people 
she mentored over the years: NMFA volunteers and employees, military 
family members, leaders of military associations, and countless others. 
It is in the increased awareness of military families that Members of 
Congress, their staffs, DoD civilians, contractors, and others gained, 
thanks to their interactions with Mrs. Hickey. Military families who 
may never know the name of Sydney Tally Hickey have benefited from her 
body of work and have an enhanced quality of life due to her efforts. 
Today, we honor the memory of this tireless advocate, whose life was a 
tribute to the military families she served.

                          ____________________