[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 24 (Monday, February 10, 2014)]
[Senate]
[Pages S849-S850]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

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                       TRIBUTE TO GERARD GRIMALDI

 Mrs. McCASKILL. Mr. President, I ask the Senate to join me 
today in honoring the work of Gerard Grimaldi. Gerard has a long 
history of public service in Kansas City, stretching back to his time 
serving as an aide to Senator Tom Eagleton and later as an aide to 
Congressman Alan Wheat. More recently, since 2001, Gerard has ably 
served as vice president of health policy and government relations for 
Truman Medical Centers. Everyone who knows Gerard respects him, and 
everyone who gets to work with him considers themselves lucky.
  A few years ago, I asked Gerard to serve as my nominee on a volunteer 
community advisory panel for the Bannister Complex in Kansas City, MO. 
This opportunity required a significant time commitment from Gerard--
time he would normally spend with his beautiful wife and four lovely 
children--to serve on a panel which offered Gerard no personal or 
professional benefit. Not only that, but this panel was created to help 
facilitate constructive community dialogue around some sensitive issues 
in a very heated environment. But, true to his background as a public 
servant, Gerard didn't hesitate when I asked him to volunteer.

[[Page S850]]

  Gerard not only served on the community advisory panel for over 3 
years, but he also was the chair of the panel, heading a diverse group 
of community leaders. This panel worked diligently to facilitate 
constructive community input and to help ensure transparency by 
government agencies involved in the Bannister Complex environmental 
cleanup and redeployment efforts. The work Gerard and the panel did was 
successful and has now come to an end.
  In the course of my adult life, I have been fortunate to meet many 
outstanding public servants--men and women who exemplify leadership and 
a genuine desire to contribute to the greater good. Of those public 
servants, Gerard is one of the best. I am proud that he is a 
Missourian, and I am honored to be able to recognize him here today.
  I ask that the Senate join me in congratulating and honoring Gerard 
Grimaldi for his exemplary public service to Kansas City and the great 
State of Missouri.

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