[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 132 (Tuesday, September 16, 2014)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1417]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               HONORING THE RETIREMENT OF DEBBIE S. FRANK

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. TIM RYAN

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                      Tuesday, September 16, 2014

  Mr. RYAN of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I rise today on behalf of this great 
institution and those who serve and work here to acknowledge and to 
express appreciation to one of our long-tenured House employees, Debbie 
Frank, who is retiring from the House following her twenty years of 
service as a Senior Employee Assistance Counselor with our Office of 
Employee Assistance (OEA).
   Following the completion of her Master's Degree in Social Work at 
the University of Pennsylvania and the initiation of her career in New 
Jersey with the Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) at Cooper Medical 
Center and New Jersey Transit, Debbie joined the OEA staff in 1994, as 
the OEA and other non-legislative services transitioned from the Clerk 
of the House to the newly created Chief Administrative Officer (CAO). 
Throughout her career with the House and the CAO organization, Debbie 
has worked tirelessly with managers and employees, whether it is the 
House, Congressional Budget Office or the United States Capitol Police, 
she has assisted them in addressing the myriad of personal challenges, 
mental health and addiction problems, and other behavioral and work-
life balance issues that potentially impact the performance and 
productivity of our workforce. Whether Debbie was providing the OEA's 
critical assessment, referral and follow-up services to an employee in 
crisis, consulting with a Member or Chief of Staff on strategies to 
manage an employee's return to work following an absence for addictions 
treatment, facilitating a Member's annual staff retreat, or conducting 
a training session for the general House workforce, Debbie consistently 
brought compassion, competence, organizational insight, institutional 
sensitivity, and practical solutions to her work. Over the years, she 
also became a strong advocate for a mindfulness approach to building 
personal resiliency in dealing with the stresses of an employee's work 
life and those of his or her personal life--an approach that I've 
studied, advocated and personally practiced for years.
   During her tenure with the OEA and the House, Debbie managed a 
number of key initiatives for the OEA, including the House Health and 
Wellness Fair, the Drug-free Workplace training, and the OEA's Disaster 
Response capability. Since its inception in 1994, Debbie also served as 
the OEA's field placement supervisor for graduate level social work 
students interning with the OEA and learning the fundamentals of 
employee assistance programming and service delivery in the workplace.
   In addition to her day-to-day work with the employees, managers, and 
Members routinely seek out the services and resources of the OEA to 
deal with the challenges presented when an employee's personal issues 
impact their performance or the effectiveness of the office, and Debbie 
has been on the front lines in providing support, assistance, guidance, 
and reassurance to the House community in the midst of some of the most 
troubling events of the past two decades. She was on-site in Oklahoma 
City working with House staffers following the Murrah Federal Building 
bombing in 1995. In 1998, she was part of the OEA team's response to 
the Capitol Police and House communities following the tragic fatal 
shooting of two Capitol Police officers in the Capitol Building. 
Following September 11th and the anthrax incident in October 2001, 
Debbie was also part of the CAO's communications effort, managed by the 
OEA and serving as the critical informational conduit to the House 
workforce throughout the six weeks that sections of the House campus 
were closed--keeping employees and families informed of the status of 
the remediation efforts and the staggered opening of offices and the 
availability of House services as sections of the House buildings were 
cleared for occupancy and resumption of operations. She served as the 
OEA's lead in working with the House response team following Hurricane 
Katrina in 2005. And she helped manage the OEA's immediate and ongoing 
response to the tragic shootings in Tucson in January 2011.
   As Debbie departs the House and embarks on her retirement in Texas, 
I join the Chief Administrative Officer, Ed Cassidy; the CAO's Chief 
Human Resource Officer, Jason Hite; and the entire OEA team--Bernard 
Beidel, Liz McBride-Chambers, Kristin Welsh-Simpson, and Margot 
Hawkins-Green--in wishing Debbie well and Godspeed. And I personally 
thank her on behalf of the many Members, employees and family members 
she has helped, assisted and supported over the past two decades. Well 
done, Debbie!

                          ____________________