[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 120 (Tuesday, July 29, 2014)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1263]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         HONORING ANGELA EVANS

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JAMES P. MORAN

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 29, 2014

  Mr. MORAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor the contributions of a 
respected and long-serving public servant, Angela Evans. This 
remarkable woman merits our recognition and gratitude for her 
dedication and commitment to public service, serving more than 35 years 
at the Congressional Research Service (CRS)--the Legislative Branch 
agency created by the U.S. Congress to serve as its primary source for 
policy research and analysis.
  Angela Evans began her career at CRS in 1971 as an analyst working on 
welfare reform, health care finance, education and training, and budget 
reform. She quickly advanced in her management and policy roles, as she 
displayed a unique talent for advancing the mission of CRS, as well as 
strategically examining how the agency's role may evolve in the future. 
By 1982, she was serving as the Section Head for the Education and 
Public Welfare Division, where she secured the House and Senate 
Appropriations Committees as first-time clients for CRS. Additionally, 
in her role as Section Head she began the first formal student intern 
program, which was then adopted agency-wide.
  In 1994, she was hand picked by the Librarian of Congress, James H. 
Billington, to be the Head of Congressional Relations and to assist 
with Deputy Librarian duties for the 1994 calendar year. Her leadership 
in these two roles led to the inauguration of the ``THOMAS'' website 
for the Library. Additionally she led the team that developed the 
``Legislative Information System,'' or LIS, which was the first 
integrated confidential website for the Congress. For the next two 
years, as Acting Assistant Director for the Research at CRS, she 
achieved Senior Specialist status, the highest research position in CRS 
at the time, for her research undertaken on the social sciences. She 
also led efforts to evaluate all CRS research projects, resulting in 
the establishment of formal standards of quality and analytic rigor 
that are still in place today.
  Beginning in 1996, and for the last 13 years of her time at CRS, she 
served as the Deputy Director of CRS. She was the first woman to hold 
this position--a feat worth recognizing on its own. Here she oversaw 
all facets of research, scholarship, development, and operations at 
CRS. She personally developed, managed, and supported organizational 
efforts to build and sustain relationships with Members of Congress, 
with policy and public administration scholars, university 
administrators, and with foundations. She believed in the mission of 
the agency and strived every day to exceed the goals and expectations 
set before her. Angela Evans led major organizational changes that not 
only enhanced the research capacity of CRS, but also improved the 
effectiveness of critical operations. Among her many achievements was 
developing the first agency-wide research framework used to identify 
public policy challenges, guide interdisciplinary research on these 
challenges, and assess the quality of the research. She also led the 
first agency-wide reorganization in 30 years, where a more streamlined 
structure was established to support interdisciplinary collaboration 
across research areas and professional disciplines to better serve 
Congress. These are just several examples of many contributions that 
Angela Evans made during her time at CRS that we are still seeing the 
direct impact of today. Her dedication, leadership, and commitment were 
recognized by CRS in 2009, when she was honored with the Distinguished 
Service Award.
  Her public service did not end when she retired from the agency in 
2009. She continues to serve the public now as a Clinical Professor in 
Public Policy Practice at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public 
Affairs, University of Texas at Austin. There, she has already received 
a variety of accolades from her students, fellow faculty, and alumni, 
including: the Best New Professor, 2010; the Most Valuable Class, 2011 
and 2012; an alumni Texas Exes Teaching Award, 2012; and the Most 
Helpful Professor to Students each year 2010 through 2014. Angela Evans 
also continues to play essential roles in national organizations which 
focus on continuing the advancement of public service in this country. 
She is a Fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration and 
has served on its Nominating Committee and the Business Model Task 
Force. She is also the current President of the Association for Public 
Policy Analysis and Management (APPAM) and serves on the Executive 
Committee of the Network of Schools of Public Policy, Affairs, and 
Administration (NASPAA).
  As 2014 marks the 100-year anniversary of CRS, it is only fitting 
that we recognize Angela Evans for her great contributions to the 
advancement of public service. I commend her for her lifetime 
commitment to this challenge and am pleased to recognize her 
achievements.

                          ____________________