[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 172 (Tuesday, December 21, 2010)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2230]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                IN APPRECIATION OF MARY COLLEEN McCARTY

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. ALAN B. MOLLOHAN

                            of west virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, December 21, 2010

  Mr. MOLLOHAN. Madam Speaker, on January 2, 1974, a gallon of gas cost 
about 53 cents, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 855, and the 
top-selling 45 on Billboard's chart was Jim Croce's ``Time in a 
Bottle.'' That was also the day a recent college graduate, Mary Colleen 
McCarty, began her professional career, reporting to work in the 
personal office of Representative Robert H. Mollohan of West Virginia's 
first congressional district.
  On January 2, 2011, Colleen will bring that remarkable career to a 
close, retiring from my office as Chief of Staff. For the 37 years 
between those two January days--9 years spent working for my father and 
28 in my office--Colleen built a record of service and accomplishment 
that few congressional staffers can match.
  All of us understand how important staff is to our work. It's been 
one of my privileges to work with many terrific staffers throughout my 
28 years in Congress, men and women who have contributed to the first 
district in a wide variety of ways and whom I am proud to call friends 
today. But Colleen has always been the one constant. Few staffers 
survive, let alone thrive, for 37 years in what can be a stressful and 
demanding work environment. But what's behind that longevity? In 
Colleen's case, several things.
  First is a real commitment to public service. Colleen never lost 
sight of our purpose here. She came to work every day determined to 
help the residents of the first district. She began her career as a 
caseworker, helping somebody get the VA benefits he'd earned or qualify 
for black lung benefits after a career in the mines, or maybe making 
sure someone else was getting the right social security check or 
helping an American stranded overseas with a visa problem. There's 
nothing abstract about that work; you see the results immediately and 
tangibly, and that was a lesson that Colleen applied to all of her work 
in my office--what we do up here matters to people and for that reason 
alone all of us need to do our best.
  Another thing that Colleen brought to work every day was her honesty 
and the courage of that honesty. I learned early on not to ask 
Colleen's advice unless I were willing to hear something completely 
opposite of what I believed or hoped to hear. Colleen never hesitated 
to speak her mind to me, and, fortunately, she didn't always wait to be 
asked. I have always understood how important that quality is.
  Honesty is only one measure of Colleen's personal integrity. She also 
has strength and compassion in equal measures. That is true in her 
personal life as well as her professional one. I know, for example, how 
deeply her parents came to rely on Colleen as they negotiated the not 
uncommon challenges of aging. They knew, as I do, that you can always 
rely on Colleen.
  A Congressman's Chief of Staff generally has two major 
responsibilities. The first is to serve as principal adviser. I just 
touched on how important Colleen's counsel has been. The other role, of 
course, is building and managing a good staff, something at which 
Colleen has always excelled. She cares about people, supports them, and 
helps them grow, both professionally and personally.
  The culture of my office has always been a positive one, and that is 
thanks in large part to Colleen's leadership. I speak for myself as 
well as scores of staffers over the years in thanking Colleen for a 
thousand kindnesses, large and small, visible and hidden. In a very 
real way, Colleen retires with two bodies of work. The first is her 
sizable contributions to the congressional work of my father and me. 
And the second is the large network of staffers who have benefited from 
her support and mentoring over the years. In both bodies of work, 
Colleen enters retirement knowing that she made a difference in 
people's lives, that she left things better than she found them. And 
what more satisfaction could one ask of any career?
  I always dreaded the prospect of having to replace Colleen. She 
actually tried to retire once or twice but always made the mistake of 
asking me rather than telling me. My response never varied--``No, 
Colleen, I just don't think it's the right time.'' And it never was the 
right time, for me anyway. I simply relied on her too much.
  Well, Madam Speaker, now it is, finally, the right time. As I prepare 
to leave office, I take with me many wonderful things. But few mean as 
much to me as the support and the friendship of Mary Colleen McCarty. 
My wife, Barbara, and I offer Colleen our warmest wishes for a 
wonderful retirement.

                          ____________________