[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 24 (Thursday, February 8, 2007)]
[House]
[Page H1402]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    TRIBUTE TO YARDLY POLLAS-KIMBLE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Rush) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. RUSH. Madam Speaker, I rise today to acknowledge a woman who has 
touched the lives of so many people with her caring, her intelligence, 
her compassion and her generosity. This woman has been a friend and 
inspiration to me personally and has affected the lives of so many 
people here in the Congress, in the First Congressional District which 
I represent, as well as throughout the country, with her wisdom and her 
expertise in the legislative process.
  Madam Speaker, I am referring to my deputy chief of staff and 
legislative director for the past 9 years, Mrs. Yardly Pollas-Kimble. 
It saddens me to announce that Mrs. Pollas-Kimble will be leaving my 
office and embarking on a career in the private sector, where I am sure 
she will continue to be very successful and widely acclaimed.
  Madam Speaker, anyone who has worked on the Hill for any significant 
amount of time has probably heard of or worked with Mrs. Pollas-Kimble 
in some capacity. Not only has Mrs. Pollas-Kimble been the glue that 
has held my office together for so many years, but she is a person that 
countless other staffers from many offices on both sides of the aisle 
have come to rely on for information, for direction and for guidance. I 
don't know of anyone who has been so accessible to so many people, and 
always with a smile on her face, as Yardly has been.
  Directing my legislative agenda for the past 9 years, Mrs. Pollas-
Kimble has been someone that I have come to rely on deeply, and she has 
guided many legislative initiatives for my office, including the COPE 
Act, the Family Telephone Connection Protection Act, the 
Telecommunication Ownership Diversity Act, the Nursing Relief for 
Disadvantaged Areas Act, and the Payday Borrower Protection Act.
  By the way, Madam Speaker, if any of my colleagues would like to sign 
on as cosponsors to any of these fine pieces of legislation, they can 
call Yardly today or tomorrow before she leaves.
  But seriously, Madam Speaker, my office and Congress as a whole will 
truly be missing a jewel of a person when Mrs. Pollas-Kimble leaves the 
Hill. Rarely have I worked with a person who so seamlessly embodies the 
spirit of the American dream, with the perfect combination of 
ingenuity, creativity, class, compassion and intellect.
  Born in New York City, and I won't say what year, Yardly moved with 
her family to Haiti when she was 8 years old. While in Haiti, Yardly 
saw both the natural beauty in the people, language and culture, as 
well as the poverty and destitution that she would later dedicate her 
life to helping to eradicate, not only in Haiti, but throughout the 
world.
  After graduation from high school at the age of 16, which proves that 
she was a genius, Yardly returned to this country where she graduated 
from the University of Houston with her Bachelor's degree in politics. 
Yardly would go on to earn a Master's degree in public accounting and a 
Juris Doctorate from American University here in Washington, D.C.
  After receiving her MPA, Yardly traveled to West and Central Africa, 
where she spent 2 years monitoring elections in fledgling democracies. 
While in Africa, Yardly was able to hone her multilingual skills, as 
today she is a fluent speaker of four languages, including French, 
Spanish, English and Creole.
  While attending the University of Houston, Yardly would meet fellow 
classmates and future husband Kevin Kimble, and the two were married in 
1992. Today they have two beautiful children, Anael and Kohl, who are 
both on the path to education and leadership.
  Madam Speaker, I can't express how much Yardly has meant to my 
office, where she has been a trusted advisor, a confidant and a friend 
to me. Yardly has also served as a mentor and a tutor of the 
legislative process to everyone on my staff who has been a part of our 
family. Additionally, I cannot count the times I have seen staffers 
from other offices call or drop by to ask Yardly's opinions on specific 
legislation or the legislative process.
  Madam Speaker, I have been truly blessed to have Yardly on my staff 
for so many years, and I am truly proud to call her a friend. I know 
she will be successful in future endeavors.

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