[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 60 (Thursday, May 5, 2011)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E828]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    RECOGNIZING PUBLIC SERVICE WEEK

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. FRANK R. WOLF

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 5, 2011

  Mr. WOLF. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the work that 
federal employees do, day in and day out, to make our country a better 
place.
  Federal employees are on the front lines working to ensure that our 
government is running as efficiently and effectively as possible to 
provide the services taxpayers expect. They make our nation a safer and 
better place. They work in every congressional district of the country 
and thus it is incredibly appropriate that we honor their service this 
week.
  Whether it's the FBI agent working to find a kidnapped child, the DEA 
agent keeping drugs out of schools, or the DOJ attorney prosecuting a 
child molester--all are federal employees graciously serving our 
nation.
  We must also remember that there are intelligence agents risking 
their lives every day on the front lines side by side with our armed 
forces in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other fronts in the Global War on 
Terror who serve as federal employees. The first American killed in 
Afghanistan, Mike Spann, was a CIA agent and a constituent from my 
congressional district. Imagine the dangers a CIA employee or an FBI 
agent working side by side in Afghanistan with the U.S. military must 
encounter. A year ago January, I attended funerals for some of the 
seven CIA agents who were killed by a Taliban suicide bomber at Forward 
Operative Base Chapman near the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.
  Federal employees also put their lives on the line here at home. The 
Border Patrol agent shot and killed in Arizona this past December who 
was working to stop the flow of illegal immigrants across our southern 
border was a federal employee.
  The Immigration and Custom Enforcement agent who was killed and the 
two who were shot this past February outside of Mexico City were 
federal employees.
  Doctors who tend to our veterans and wounded warriors in veterans 
hospitals and who are developing new prosthetic devices to help them 
recover, medical researchers at NIH working to develop cures for 
cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer's, and autism--all are dedicated federal 
employees. These are individuals who could find more lucrative jobs in 
the private sector, but who are committed to public service. Dr. 
Francis Collins, the physician who mapped the human genome and serves 
as director of the National Institutes of Health, is a federal 
employee. The National Weather Service meteorologist who tracks 
hurricanes, the SBA staffer who helps a new business start up, the FDA 
inspector working to stop a salmonella outbreak--all are federal 
employees.
  Though they often receive little praise for the work they do, federal 
employees provide many of the services that make this nation great. 
Today I thank them for their hard work and service to our country.

                          ____________________