[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 16 (Tuesday, January 28, 2014)]
[Senate]
[Page S495]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                        TRIBUTE TO DIANE SKVARLA

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I wish to say a fond farewell to the 
Senate's long-term curator Diane Skvarla, who has been such a 
tremendous asset to the institution over the years and a very good 
friend to our office as well. All of our dealings with Diane over the 
years have been marked by her great professionalism and her deep 
knowledge of and respect for the Senate and its history.
  Diane and her staff have been invaluable in the multiyear restoration 
of the Strom Thurmond room and keeping up the rest of our historic 
suite. My staff has always enjoyed working with Diane and her staff, 
and I hope we have been as gracious in return.
  For a lot of young people who wring their hands or wander around for 
a while after college, Diane started working full time in the Senate 
the Monday after she graduated and has been here off and on ever since.
  She witnessed a lot of changes in the curator's office over the 
years. When Diane started here full time in 1979, there were only three 
staffers in the office, but in the years leading up to and after the 
Nation's bicentennial when preservation came back into vogue, there was 
no shortage of new work.
  Diane went on to earn a master's degree in museum studies from George 
Washington University in 1987, and it paid off when she helped put 
together a major exhibit for the Senate's own bicentennial in 1989. 
Diane collaborated on the exhibit with Don Ritchie, and together they 
set a new high standard for projects of this kind. At the time Diane 
was the associate curator and Don was the associate historian. They 
both rose through the ranks of their respective offices, so it has been 
a fruitful collaboration for many years.
  Diane spent most of her early childhood in England where she first 
learned the sport of dressage. She gave up horses during college at 
Colgate University in upstate New York and went back to England in 1991 
to become certified in teaching the sport. She kept up her riding after 
she returned to the States and came back to the Senate as head curator 
in late 1994, replacing the widely admired Jim Ketchum.
  With Jim's support and encouragement, Diane learned the ropes and has 
doggedly pursued the legislative mandate of the Senate curator's office 
ever since, and that mandate is to protect, preserve, and educate.
  Some of the biggest challenges Diane has faced have involved dealing 
with disasters. In 1983, a bomb planted near the Senate Chamber 
destroyed portions of the corridor--including a portrait of Daniel 
Webster. Under Diane's supervision, a conservator put the pieces back 
together and restored it.
  Other projects Diane has been particularly proud of over the years 
include the publication of the U.S. Senate Catalogue of Fine Art, a 
481-page book that took years to complete, and the restoration of a 
giant portrait of Henry Clay, from my State, that was given to the 
Senate after being discovered in the basement of a historical society. 
This magnificent painting of Clay now hangs in the stairway off the 
Brumidi corridor. The restoration of the Old Senate Chamber was also a 
proud achievement.
  The entire Senate family is grateful to Diane for her many years of 
devoted service to this institution. Through her work, she has helped 
preserve and bring to life the shared objects of our collective history 
as a people--precious objects that belong to all Americans and to our 
posterity. Her legacy is literally all around us.
  We thank her for her work and wish her and her husband Chris all the 
very best in the years ahead.

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