[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 63 (Tuesday, April 28, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4799-S4800]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         TRIBUTE TO SHAP SMITH

  Mr. LEAHY. Madam President, I would like to take this opportunity to 
recognize the remarkable leadership of Mr. Shap Smith who represents 
the towns of Elmore, Morristown, Woodbury, and Worcester, and who is 
now the current speaker of the Vermont House of Representatives.
  Having recently assumed the role of speaker at the beginning of this 
legislative session in January, Mr. Smith

[[Page S4800]]

has already made his mark as a fair-minded and seasoned leader. He has 
driven the successful passage of several pieces of legislation, 
addressing Vermont's sexual abuse response system and legalizing same-
sex marriage, among other important issues. Marcelle and I recently had 
dinner with Shap and his wife Dr. Melissa Volansky. We are both 
impressed with his commitment to Vermont.
  I am looking forward to watching Shap Smith continue to lead the 
Vermont Legislature and build a record of fiscal and social 
responsibility. I wish him luck as he undertakes this challenging job 
during these difficult times.
  I ask unanimous consent that the text of an April 20, 2009, Rutland 
Herald article about Mr. Smith be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                [From the Rutland Herald, Apr. 20, 2009]

                    Smith Leads With Grinning Style

                            (By Susan Allen)

       Montpelier.--Each speaker of the Vermont House has his or 
     her own leadership style.
       Ralph Wright growled.
       Michael Obuchowski boomed.
       Walt Freed ruled.
       Gaye Symington analyzed.
       And Shap Smith . . . well, he grins.
       ``I'm a friendly guy,'' said House Speaker Smith, new to 
     the post this session, when asked last week about his style. 
     Smith, himself a Democrat, reaches across the political aisle 
     to work with Republicans, Progressives and Democrats alike.
       But don't think he's a pushover.
       ``People know I take the issues pretty seriously,'' added 
     Smith, a University of Vermont and Indiana University School 
     of Law graduate who handles intellectual property, insurance 
     coverage and civil litigation with the firm Dinse/Knapp/
     McAndrew during the off-session. ``I can go toe-to-toe in 
     debating issues.''
       Looking at the speaker, opponents might be tempted to 
     underestimate his political skills. With a wiry frame from 
     running, cross-country skiing and other athletic activities, 
     and his wire-rimmed glasses, Smith looks about 25. He is, in 
     fact, 43.
       And anyone who thought he might be too young to lead need 
     look no further than the recent House vote to override the 
     governor's veto of the same-sex marriage bill. Smith needed 
     100 members to support the override, and going into the vote, 
     the outcome was far from certain.
       As he announced the final tally to the House floor--to the 
     surprise of many, the needed 100 voted with the speaker and 
     same-sex marriage would become law in Vermont--Smith stepped 
     away from the podium briefly and appeared emotional.
       ``I have friends and colleagues to whom and for whom this 
     bill meant a great deal,'' he said during a conversation last 
     week in his window-lined Statehouse office. ``I am very 
     pleased we were able to do it. It was a great achievement.''
       Shap is actually Shapleigh Jr., a name that came from his 
     grandmother, who was adopted into the Shapleigh family from 
     the town of Shapleigh, Maine. His grandmother grew up in West 
     Lebanon, N.H., where ``there were all these Shapleighs,'' he 
     added.
       ``I went to high school in Morrisville. I always wanted a 
     different name,'' Smith said. ``Dave or Tim would have been 
     just fine. Shapleigh is not a usual Vermont name.''
       Smith had an eye on public service since serving in student 
     government in school. He followed politics closely in the 
     1990s while living in New York City and working for a law 
     firm there, and started becoming more serious about a run 
     after moving to Morrisville in 1999.
       In 2002, with 2-month-old son Eli at home but an open 
     legislative seat calling, he took the plunge, becoming what 
     he described as the ``Stealth'' candidate knocking on doors, 
     re-acquainting himself with friends from childhood and their 
     families, and quietly winning the seat under the radar.
       As all legislative leaders discover, juggling the pressing 
     Statehouse agenda and a home life is challenging (he has two 
     young children, and wife Melissa is a general practitioner).
       ``I go home almost every night,'' he said, adding that he 
     tries to arrive in time to read to his children or at least 
     put them to bed. ``I'm the one that gets them up in the 
     morning, which is a real reality check.''
       Things are less clear at the Statehouse, where Smith is 
     focusing on his legislative agenda:
       (1) Repairing and maintaining Vermont's transportation 
     system--the roads and bridges;
       (2) Expanding and improving telecommunications (computer 
     broadband) in rural areas;
       (3) Strengthening Vermont's public education system; and
       (4) Trying to close the gap in educational performance 
     between students on the lower economic scale and their 
     wealthier peers--a disparity consistently documented in 
     national and state school test scores.
       Hanging over those priorities is the staggering challenge 
     of trying to balance the state budget in dire economic times, 
     with the state hemorrhaging red ink. It is, he said, a task 
     that ``keeps me up at night.''
       ``How do you balance being fiscally responsible with 
     meeting the needs of the state?'' he asked rhetorically. And 
     while not completely unexpected, the economic challenge has 
     been ``worse than some of us thought it would be.''
       Returning to the place he was raised, meeting and re-
     meeting neighbors, old friends and classmates, and watching 
     his children grow up in the same area he did seems to drive 
     Smith's political vision.
       ``I want to make sure we put in place policies that allow 
     the next generation to have the opportunities that I did,'' 
     he said.

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