[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 30 (Monday, February 23, 2015)]
[Senate]
[Page S1028]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       TRIBUTE TO ROGER COCKRELL

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I wish to pay tribute to one of the finest 
staffers I have encountered in my years in the U.S. Senate. Roger 
Cockrell is retiring this week after 15 years of service to the Senate 
Appropriations Committee, which was proceeded by more than 20 years 
with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, mainly in Vicksburg, MS.
  I spent many years as either the chairman or ranking Democrat on the 
Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee. It is a great bill. It 
not only funds a lot of important energy and science priorities, it 
also provides the annual funding for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 
and the Bureau of Reclamation, both of which are tremendously important 
to my home State of Nevada. Sorting through all of the projects and 
programs that are funded through these two agencies is tremendously 
technical and complicated work.
  I realized fairly early in my time at the top of that subcommittee 
that I needed an experienced engineer to ensure that we were 
prioritizing and funding these thousands of projects according to both 
technical merit and also national priorities. So, I brought in Roger as 
a fellow from the Corps of Engineers and it turned out to be one of the 
best decisions I ever made. As all Members have been known to do, I 
kept him as a fellow for as long as the Corps would pay him and then I 
hired him away.
  Roger is exactly what you want in a staffer, particularly one who 
represents you on the Appropriations Committee: Smart, extremely well-
prepared, hard-working, and, in the case of Roger, more willing to work 
with the staff of other Members to make their priorities work within 
the rules than anyone I have ever met. If Roger could not make your 
project work within the rules, regulations, and laws regarding a water 
project, it is a pretty safe bet that it was a bad project. So far as I 
know, Roger never turned down a meeting with anyone and his eternally 
sunny and friendly nature always made him a delight to work with.
  I left that subcommittee many years ago now, but Roger stayed there 
and has gone back and forth to both the Republican and Democratic 
staffs several times depending upon who is in the majority around here. 
I can think of no higher compliment to a Senate staffer than to be held 
in such high esteem by both sides that he or she is retained by the 
majority year-after-year, Congress after Congress because of his or her 
expertise and, more importantly, fairness. And Roger is nothing if not 
fair to all who have appeared in his doorway over the years. The Senate 
is a better place because of people like Roger Cockrell.
  I wish Roger and his wife Anna Lisa all the best as they move on to 
whatever is next in their lives. I am sad to see him go, but he has 
earned more time with his family, including his daughter Melissa. I 
have known him long enough to know that he won't be able to sit still 
for long. I join my colleagues on both sides of the aisle in expressing 
my gratitude for his long and dedicated service to our Nation.

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