[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 33 (Tuesday, February 27, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2267-S2268]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       RETIREMENT OF RICK SHAPIRO

 Mr. BINGAMAN. Mr. President, today I wish to honor Rick 
Shapiro, who recently retired as executive director of the 
Congressional Management Foundation.
  I became acquainted with Rick early in my Senate career, when I asked 
Rick to help me and my staff strengthen the management of my Senate 
office. That began a very useful relationship with Rick and CMF.
  Under his leadership, CMF grew in size, scope, and impact. Rick has 
made CMF an integral part of the early organization of nearly every new 
House and Senate office, through CMF's practical publications and its 
role in new office orientations.
  For many offices like mine, Rick used his skills in organizational 
management to help members and their senior staff improve how they run 
their offices and serve their constituents. His confidential counsel 
and evaluation, and that of a strong staff that he recruited and 
supported, has allowed many Senators and Members of Congress to focus 
on their jobs as legislators, with the confidence that their offices 
would be well run.
  Rick also used his extensive knowledge of strategic planning to 
ensure offices have a strategic vision and the means to deliver on that 
vision. He and his staff have facilitated hundreds of staff retreats, 
helping House and Senate offices produce ambitious, but realistic, 
plans for their work.
  Rick was the driving force behind CMF's research into cutting edge 
topics. For example, CMF's research and guidance on the Internet and 
electronic communications has been the single most important force in 
bringing many

[[Page S2268]]

offices into the 21st century in their use of new technology.
  Before joining CMF, Rick worked in the U.S. House of Representatives, 
first as a staff investigator and later as the staff director of two 
House committees. He brought his significant knowledge of the workings 
of the Congress to CMF and it progressed under his leadership.
  All of us who know him and have benefited from his work wish him 
well, and look with interest to his next project.

                          ____________________