[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 57 (Monday, April 20, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4440-S4441]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              TRIBUTE TO VICKIE VANZANDT AND STEVE HICKOK

 Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I wish to recognize Vickie 
VanZandt and Steve Hickok for their exemplary record of public service 
to the Bonneville Power Administration, the people of Washington State, 
and the Pacific Northwest.
  Vickie VanZandt retired on March 28, 2009 after 35 years with the 
Bonneville Power Administration. She most recently served as 
Bonneville's transmission business line senior vice president. As the 
senior executive, Vickie assured the transmission grid operated safely 
and reliably in order to provide power to over 12 million customers. 
Her work involved coordinating and setting policy for transmissions 
system planning, design, construction, operations, and maintenance--
clearly, no small feat.
  Vickie graduated magna cum laude from the University of Washington's 
School of Engineering, is a registered engineer, and is a member of Tau 
Beta Pi engineering honor society. She has been a board member of the 
Western Regional Transmission Association, past president of the 
Northwest Regional Transmission Association, and has chaired the 
arbitration committees of both of these organizations. At the request 
of the Department of Energy, she also chaired the Operations Team 
investigating the East Coast Blackout of August 13, 2003.
  Steve Hickok, Bonneville Power Administration's deputy administrator, 
retired on April 4, 2009, after 27 years of faithful service. Previous 
to his time with Bonneville, Steve served on the staff of my former 
colleague, Senator Mark Hatfield, as well as with the Senate Committee 
on Energy and Natural Resources and the Senate Committee on 
Appropriations. His experience here in the Senate served him well, and 
at Bonneville, Steve has served as the assistant administrator for 
conservation and renewable resources development, the chief operating 
officer, and the group vice president for sales and customer service. 
He was appointed as the deputy administrator, the organization's second 
highest-ranking position, in 2001.
  Steve graduated with honors from Pomona College in Claremont, CA, and 
is also a graduate of the Stanford Executive Program. He has received 
many awards during his time at Bonneville, including the Secretary of 
Energy's Meritorious Service Award and the prestigious Presidential 
Rank Award, which he earned in both 1992 and 2000.

[[Page S4441]]

Steve has served on the boards of directors of the Electric Power 
Research Institute, the Western Energy Institute, the American 
Leadership Forum of Oregon, the Portland Business Alliance, and the 
Bonneville Environmental Foundation.
  Again, I express my thanks to both Vickie VanZandt and Steve Hickok 
for their years of invaluable service to the Bonneville Power 
Administration, and to the entire Pacific Northwest region. The people 
of Washington State and the region have certainly benefited from their 
dedicated public service and experience. I wish them all the best in 
their future endeavors.

                          ____________________