[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 122 (Thursday, July 31, 2014)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5295-S5296]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       TRIBUTE TO NANCY OLKEWICZ

  Mr. DURBIN. Madam President, today, I want to talk about the worst 
kept secret in the Senate. Nancy Olkewicz is really great at her job. I 
have depended on her many times as have many others in this Chamber. 
She has had many roles in the Senate, and she has been spectacular with 
all of them. She has served under chairmen like the late Senator Robert 
C. Byrd, Senator Harry Reid, and me. Over the years, she has been given 
many challenging assignments, and she has never failed to deliver. It 
is with great pride and some sadness that Nancy has announced her plans 
to leave the Senate Sergeant at Arms and retire from the Senate this 
summer. We celebrate her 36 years with us. She will be very much 
missed.
  Many people in Washington see their professions as just jobs. For 
Nancy, her work has meant much more than that. The agencies she helped 
fund and the people she has worked with are her second family. She has 
been working in the Senate since she was 19 and an aide to Senator Paul 
Sarbanes. Nancy practically grew up in the Senate. Her countless 
friends and the respect she has earned from both sides of the aisle are 
a testament to her accomplishments and her demeanor.
  If you want to see a monument to Nancy's work here, look no further 
than the Senate rain garden. This innovation has been capturing and 
filtering runoff from parking lots to reduce storm water flooding and 
keep pollutants from entering local streams and rivers for 10 years 
now. This remarkable project could not have happened without Nancy's 
work for the Legislative Branch Appropriations Subcommittee. Thanks to 
her tenacity and pleasant--but stern--oversight, the Senate rain garden 
was completed on time and under budget. Today, the Senate rain garden 
stands as a constant reminder of sustainability and stewardship every 
day for the visitors and staffers on Capitol Hill.
  I could go on much longer talking about Nancy. She is accomplished, 
humble, and kind. Many of us in the

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Senate, from the men and women responsible for maintaining these 
hallowed halls to the most senior Senators, have been on the receiving 
end of her bright smile and cheerful greetings. Three million annual 
visitors and thousands of staffers are unknowing beneficiaries of years 
of work she contributed quietly behind the scenes, playing a pivotal 
role in the construction of Capitol Visitor Center.
  So what is Nancy going to do now? She is excited about joining the 
National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, where she will contribute her 
considerable skills to conservation efforts across the country.
  While I wish her continued success in her new job, I have a suspicion 
her future also will involve a certain baseball team not too far from 
here, the Washington Nationals. Nancy is a fourth generation 
Washingtonian, and she is all in for the Nats. I hope Bryce Harper and 
Jayson Werth understand that they will have to up their game. Because 
Nancy will be there, coaching them from the stands.
  It is with great pride that I ask my colleagues to join me in 
thanking Nancy for her long career in the Senate and celebrating the 
many contributions she has made here. Her extraordinary work will be 
remembered by many. Thank you, Nancy Olkewicz.

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