[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 15 (Tuesday, February 2, 2010)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E119-E120]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 ACKNOWLEDGING CAROL NICHOLS ON HER RETIREMENT AND FOR HER SERVICE TO 
                               THE HOUSE

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. ROBERT A. BRADY

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, February 2, 2010

  Mr. BRADY of Pennsylvania. Madam Speaker, on the occasion of her 
retirement on February 1, 2010, I rise today to thank Carol Nichols of 
the Office of the Chief Administrative Officer, CAO, for her years of 
dedicated and outstanding service to the United States House of 
Representatives.
  Since joining the House in 1992, Carol has served this great 
institution in a variety of capacities--some of which have been 
groundbreaking, and all of which have contributed to the enhancement of 
the functioning of a Member's Congressional office. When initially 
hired by the Clerk of the House, Carol became the first woman to work 
in the ``shops'' on the House side of the Congress, taking a position 
in the House Upholstery Shop. As Carol learned and perfected her craft 
as an upholsterer serving the needs of Congressional offices, she also 
gained a finer appreciation for the day-to-day operational dynamics and 
the equipment and furniture resource needs of a Member's office. In 
particular, she came to have a keen appreciation for the particular 
logistical challenges presented to a Member's office and the House 
during the Congressional Transition every two years, when many offices 
and staffs relocate to new space and are challenged with maintaining 
optimum functionality while furniture and equipment moves are underway.
  With the establishment of the Office of the Chief Administrative 
Officer in 1995 and the partnership with the Architect of the Capitol's 
Superintendent's Office, the CAO and AOC established joint Coordination 
teams to focus specifically on managing the office moves in a more 
collaborative and efficient manner during the 106th Congressional 
Transition, with the ultimate goal to reduce the office's down time 
experienced by the Member and the staff. Carol was assigned to the 
initial team of Move Coordinators--an assignment in which her attention 
to detail and exceptional organization skills proved invaluable. She 
brought a number of innovations and improvements to the process, and in 
preparation for the subsequent transition, Carol was appointed team 
lead of the Move Coordinators, for which she received recognition by 
being honored with the CAO's Distinguished Service Award. In every 
transition that followed through the 111th Congress, Carol served the 
House as the CAO's lead for the transition.
  Carol's ability to manage large scale moves, to successfully 
coordinate the efforts of her team, to effectively troubleshoot 
problems, to anticipate the customer's needs and exceed their 
expectations, and to get the desired results and deliver solutions 
along the way became particularly helpful during the anthrax incident 
in the fall of 2001 as the House faced the challenge of relocating 
every Member's office from the House buildings in a matter of a few 
days. Carol played a critical role on the CAO team in setting up 
separate offices for every Member at an alternate location, and in 
managing their subsequent transition back to the House complex 
following the incident. Several years later, Carol served as the single 
point-of-contact for the CAO office in working with the Architect of 
the Capitol in coordinating and facilitating the relocation of offices 
and staff from the O'Neill House Office Building prior to its 
demolition.
  With the CAO's creation of Office Coordinators and the House Office 
Service Center to work with Congressional offices day-in and day-out to 
manage more effectively their office logistical needs, Carol was 
promoted to serve

[[Page E120]]

as the initial Manager of the Office Coordinators. Carol completed her 
service to the House as the Director of the CAO Customer Service 
Center, where she has been responsible for the oversight of not only 
the Office Coordinators, but First Call, CAO Graphics, and Modular 
Furniture as well.
  As Carol embarks on her retirement with her husband, Phil, who 
retired from the House in 2007 following 31 years of service, I am 
happy to extend to Carol the best wishes of the Members and employees 
of the House of Representatives for an enjoyable and fulfilling 
retirement. In recognizing her years of service to the House, I 
congratulate her on her unwavering commitment and exceptional 
performance over the years, and I personally thank her for making our 
lives in Congressional offices a bit easier through her contributions 
to the efficient management of the physical environment and logistics 
of our offices.

                          ____________________