[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 184 (Tuesday, December 4, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Page S14737]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[[Page S14737]]
                        TRIBUTE TO STAN GARNETT

 Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, in a few days Stan Garnett will 
retire from the Food and Nutrition Service of the U.S. Department of 
Agriculture, after 35 years of tremendous service to people in our 
Nation and elsewhere in the world.
  Stan's experience and dedication to fighting hunger and malnutrition 
extends beyond his 35 years with the Department of Agriculture. 
Following his graduation from college, Stan answered President 
Kennedy's call to service abroad and spent 2 years in the Peace Corps 
in the Philippines. Thereafter, he joined Catholic Relief Services and 
spent 6 years administering food assistance programs in Southeast Asia 
and in Africa under tremendously difficult circumstances. He often 
traveled by helicopter in battle zones in Vietnam to deliver food 
assistance to war refugees, and he also provided food aid in Nigeria 
during the tragic Biafran conflict.
  Following his work overseas, Stan returned to the United States and 
joined the Food and Nutrition Service of the U.S. Department of 
Agriculture in 1971. Over the years, Stan held many different positions 
within the Food and Nutrition Service, the majority of them pertaining 
to legislative and regulatory policy in Federal child nutrition 
programs. Throughout his career, Stan served with accomplishment and, 
not surprisingly, continued a steady ascent in the ranks at the Food 
and Nutrition Service of the Department of Agriculture, eventually 
serving as the Director of Supplemental Food Programs and Director of 
the Child Nutrition Division.
  Stan fulfilled those positions with great competence, but with 
integrity and humility as well. In 9 cases out of 10, Stan knows more 
about the issue at hand than anyone else in the room, but he never acts 
as if this is the case. Stan treats everyone equally--Members of 
Congress, members of his own staff, and the many people across the 
country who for so long have relied on Stan's expertise to help them 
operate child nutrition programs in their own communities. Stan is 
known by all who come in contact with him as a generous and caring 
administrator who is trusted by all.
  After 35 years of Federal service, there is no question that Stan has 
certainly earned a much-deserved retirement. His absence will certainly 
be acutely felt, both within the Department of Agriculture and here in 
Congress. However, I have no doubt that one of Stan's biggest 
contributions is to leave child nutrition programs in the hands of 
capable colleagues who have benefited, as I have over the years, from 
his tremendous expertise, and who will ensure a smooth transition as 
new leadership assumes his responsibilities.
  In so many respects, the Stan Garnett who will retire this year is 
strikingly similar to the Stan Garnett who took up President Kennedy's 
call to service by entering the Peace Corps as a young man. His 
commitment to ending hunger and to promoting the economic security and 
nutrition of low-income families is as strong today as it was as a 
bright-eyed college graduate. Just as important, he has imparted this 
same idealism and commitment to numerous young people who have had the 
privilege to work with him over the years. To those who question what a 
career in public service can accomplish, I ask only that they look to 
Stan's career. What they will see in him is not just 40 years of 
service, but a call to action. I have no doubt that, because of his 
incredible commitment, Stan is a remarkable inspiration and example of 
heeding this call to action and public service.

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