[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 175 (Wednesday, December 11, 2013)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8806-S8807]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            TRIBUTE TO LIEUTENANT COLONEL KELLY MARIE LAUREL

  Mrs. MURRAY. Madam President, today I wish to pay tribute to an 
exemplary leader, an accomplished Soldier, and an extraordinary 
American, as she retires from Active Duty with the U.S. Army. LTC Kelly 
Marie Laurel has dedicated nearly 25 years of service to our great 
Nation and has set the very standard of leadership, strategic thinking, 
and selfless service that we expect of our finest Army officers. 
Culminating her career as the hand-picked Deputy Chief of the Secretary 
of the Army's Strategic Initiatives Group,

[[Page S8807]]

Lieutenant Colonel Laurel has served and excelled at every level of our 
Army, and she exemplifies the patriotism, fidelity, and commitment to 
which every citizen should strive.
  From her early enlisted career as an airman in the Wyoming National 
Guard to her Active-Duty service in key positions ranging from medical 
platoon leader and company commander to personally advising the Army 
surgeon general and the Secretary of the Army, Kelly has been 
exceptional in every respect. Examples of her ever-increasing 
responsibilities include medical platoon leader, 61st Area Support 
Medical Company at Fort Hood, TX, company commander, Headquarters, 52d 
Medical Evacuation Battalion; and later the chief of the Management 
Division, 18th Medical Command in Korea; and the chief financial 
officer for the widely dispersed Heidelberg Hospital and its nine 
outlying clinics in Germany. Her work and potential was so great that 
then-Major Laurel was soon personally selected to serve the Army's 
surgeon general as the senior budget analyst, the chief of the 
Financial Health Policy Division, and finally as the senior 
congressional affairs coordinating officer.
  Fortunately for me and so many Members of Congress, the Assistant 
Secretary of the Army for Financial Management and Comptroller soon 
recognized her outstanding abilities and selected Kelly to serve as the 
Army's senior budget legislative liaison. I and my colleagues in both 
Chambers have personally benefited from Kelly's extraordinary 
intellect, keen analysis, and unmatched determination. During her 
tenure in this position, Kelly routinely worked the most sensitive, 
complex, and critical Army actions involving the Senate and House 
Appropriations Committees. Her wisdom and unmatched expertise led the 
Army to extraordinary success in obtaining vital funding for the most 
critical medical, environmental, and behavioral health programs and 
ensured that our soldiers and their families had the necessary support 
they needed during these years of war. Moreover, she was instrumental 
in obtaining vital funding for the restructuring and expansion of the 
Army National Cemeteries Program. Most recently, recognizing her 
leadership and exceptional intellect, the Secretary of the Army 
selected Kelly to be his deputy chief of strategic initiatives. In this 
capacity, Kelly advised the Secretary and other Army senior leaders on 
the development and implementation of critical service-wide policies 
and programs that will benefit the Army for many years to come.
  Kelly's superb career and character is also a true testament to the 
exceptional support and example provided by her family. As the daughter 
of first-generation Americans, Kelly was taught early the value of hard 
work, commitment, and selfless service by her parents Jose and Dolores 
Montemayor. Moreover, as a child of a career military family, Kelly 
learned to embody the values of loyalty, duty, respect, selfless 
service, honor, integrity and personal courage before she even knew 
there was an Army. As she has repeatedly demonstrated, to Kelly, these 
are not ideals but character traits; not platitudes, but requirements 
and expectations of every citizen. Clearly, her character, work ethic, 
and patriotism are examples to us all. We owe the highest praise and 
tribute to this great American and her family.
  Accordingly, on behalf of a very grateful nation, I join my 
colleagues today in recognizing and commending LTC Kelly Marie Laurel 
for nearly 25 years of service to this country. Although, to the Army, 
Kelly is irreplaceable, I am certain this exceptional citizen will 
continue to make great contributions to the United States as she 
embarks on the next chapter of her life.

                          ____________________