[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 113 (Thursday, July 26, 2012)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1345]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         DEBRINA WORKMAN 30 YEARS WITH CONGRESSMAN NICK RAHALL

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. NICK J. RAHALL II

                            of west virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 26, 2012

  Mr. RAHALL. Mr. Speaker, thirty years ago today, a young woman joined 
my Congressional Staff to help serve our fellow West Virginians in the 
midst of our State's rich coalfields. She hailed from the community of 
Holden and still resides there near her parents' home.
  Though she was very young, she had a burning passion to help people. 
And so she has, by the hundreds, nay thousands, over the decades 
working from her home base in my Logan District Office. For years, once 
a week, she did outreach work, bringing the constituent services of 
this Member of Congress to the good people of Mingo County. Working 
from the Mingo County seat of government in Williamson, she keeps me 
abreast of the important issues confronting the citizens of the Tug 
River Valley, the demarcation line of the famed Hatfield and McCoy 
Feud.
  To say she is a seasoned expert in agency process, procedure and 
practice is an understatement. She knows constituent casework inside 
and out. More importantly, Mr. Speaker, she knows the families of the 
coalfields, where they came from and where most of them are headed. She 
knows this because she cares, cares deeply that people are treated 
justly, and that justice is meted in a timely manner. She can scrap the 
varnish off truth faster and cleaner than anyone I know, whether you 
want her to or not.
  In the office she laughs with family members when things go right for 
them, and at home in the evening, she sheds tears for them when they 
are troubled. Indeed her passion still burns brightly, though now 
through these many years, it takes on the golden hue of seasoned 
compassion. She knows just the right thing to say to put people at 
ease. Not the art of politics, just working the Golden Rule, overtime.
  In these past thirty years, she has stuck with the people of southern 
West Virginia, through floods, blizzards and now a derecho. Her loyalty 
knows no bounds, even by Mother Nature's standards. Those in West 
Virginia's Third Congressional District and I are indeed fortunate to 
have Debrina Taylor Workman on our side because when the need arises, 
she can be a force of nature all by herself.
  Members of Congress are indeed blessed with godsends like Debrina to 
help us serve. While we don't say it often enough, we are thankful for 
their many sacrifices on our and the good people we represent behalves. 
Please join me in thanking Debrina for thirty years of service to her 
country and its families. May the good Lord's blessings continue to 
shine upon Debrina, her son, Jordan, and her many friends and family.

                          ____________________