[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 112 (Tuesday, July 12, 2016)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1092]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          RECOGNIZING LIEUTENANT COLONEL MICHELLE M. WILLIAMS

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. ROBERT B. ADERHOLT

                               of alabama

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 12, 2016

  Mr. ADERHOLT. Mr. Speaker, I would like to recognize and pay tribute 
to Lieutenant Colonel Michelle M. Williams for her exemplary dedication 
to duty and service to the United States Army and to the United States 
of America. Lieutenant Colonel Williams has served for the last two 
years as a Congressional Budget Liaison for the Secretary of the Army.
  A native of St. Louis, Missouri, Lieutenant Colonel Williams was 
commissioned from the ROTC program at the Florida Institute of 
Technology, where she received a Bachelor's degree in Business 
Administration. While there, Michelle received her airborne wings. She 
was commissioned as a Finance Officer in 1999. As a junior officer, she 
deployed to Bosnia where she served as a cash control officer, 
responsible for the distribution of over $1 million in cash, cash 
documents and equipment to Multinational Division-North in support of 
Operation Joint Forge. She also served as a Finance Detachment 
Commander in Iraq, where she led her troops through hundreds of 
missions across Baghdad and through the risky Sunni-Triangle area of 
operations. Her unit disbursed over $1 billion dollars. Michelle also 
served in several other organizations, as a resource manager in the 
Joint Chiefs of Staff J8, and as a budget officer in the Pentagon 
before being promoted to Major.
  As a Field-Grade Officer, Michelle served as a Deputy Comptroller for 
United States Southern Command where she established herself as the 
lead and technical expert when deploying the Army's new Financial 
Management system, GFEBS at SOUTHCOM. She deployed again as the Budget 
Officer for United States Army Central Command in Arifjan, Kuwait where 
she was responsible for obligations exceeding $1 billion and eliminated 
inefficient processes while improving audit readiness and preventing 
duplicate payments.
  In 2014, Michelle returned to the Pentagon as an Army Budget Liaison, 
where she was of great assistance to many Members of Congress and their 
staffs. Lieutenant Colonel Williams facilitated many briefings from 
Army officials here on Capitol Hill. In addition, Michelle managed a 
portfolio that included the Army's Operations and Maintenance account, 
the Working Capital Fund, and activity at the Depots that support the 
Army, a significant portion of Alabama's contribution to our Nation's 
defense.
  Mr. Speaker, on behalf of a grateful nation, I ask you and my 
colleagues to join me in commending Lieutenant Colonel Williams for her 
service to our great Nation. Michelle's leadership throughout her 
career has positively impacted her soldiers, peers, and superiors. We 
wish Michelle and her husband Jeff Pashai all the best as they continue 
to serve the nation in her next assignment as the Division G8 at Fort 
Carson, Colorado.

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