[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 114 (Thursday, July 14, 2016)]
[House]
[Pages H4989-H4990]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    THANKING MY CONGRESSIONAL STAFF

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 6, 2015, the gentleman from New York (Mr. Gibson) is recognized 
for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader.
  Mr. GIBSON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to my 
hardworking staff.
  Over the past 6 years, I have had the honor and privilege to serve in 
this House of Representatives. At the end of this term, my time of 
service as a Member in this body will come to a close, as I honor my 
self-imposed term-limit pledge.
  As I reflect on my congressional service, there has been a constant 
throughout this time. The first is my wonderful family. And the second 
is my incredible, selfless staff who have worked with me to serve the 
good people of our district.
  We have a saying in our office, that we only hire people who love 
people. This may sound simple, but it is amazing, the difference it can 
make when you have a team of people dedicated to helping others. Every 
day, they exhibit compassion, kindness, patience, and really take the 
time to listen to our constituents.
  For some of my staff, that was their first job out of college. More 
than a few started as an intern with us. For others, this job was a 
return from retirement, yet another chapter in a lifetime of service to 
this great Nation.
  So many of our staff have stayed the entire 6 years, a loyalty for 
which I am deeply grateful. And those who have moved on have continued 
to excel, with achievements of which I am very proud. A couple are now 
on their well-deserved retirement.
  When we close out our term, my team will have left a legacy of real, 
meaningful service to the people of New York and to this Nation. Their 
accomplishments are far too numerous to name, but I just want to 
highlight a very small sampling of the work they have accomplished.
  Here in the House, we have been part of the effort to ensure our 
Armed Forces, our servicemen and -women, have the resources and support 
they need for the missions we ask of them. We have fought tireless 
battles to help all of our veterans, including our Blue Water Navy 
veterans who have been left out of Agent Orange coverage.
  We have helped improve mental health care and made significant 
progress combating the scourge of opiate addiction that is devastating 
our communities. We have helped both our family farms and our small 
businesses and improved health care for seniors.
  We passed the first bill that addresses Lyme disease and other 
tickborne illnesses. And we fought to empower students and teachers and 
to ensure our students weren't burdened with onerous, high-stakes 
testing in our schools.
  Mr. Speaker, in our district, when we were hit with the devastating 
storms--Hurricanes Irene, Lee, and Sandy--my staff joined me on the 
front lines, from helping residents in the immediate aftermath of the 
storms to ensuring they received the assistance they needed to recover 
over the following years. We were committed to ensuring every community 
came back stronger than they were the day before the storm.
  And we have continued other efforts. We have helped expand broadband 
access, and we have helped with conservation efforts. We have helped 
fix our roads and bridges and advocated for a countless number of 
grants to be awarded to our local businesses, nonprofits, fire 
departments, and the like.
  My staff has also completed over 7,000 cases for my constituents. Mr. 
Speaker, I can tell you we have had so many constituents come up to my 
wife, Mary Jo, and I and tell us about the work that our staff has done 
that, in many cases, helped change their lives.
  They are exceptional people, one and all. They are model public 
servants. I want to close with reading their names into our 
Congressional Record for this day so that they get a small piece of the 
recognition they so richly deserve.
  Before I do, Mr. Speaker, I also want to say thank you to each and 
every one of them and their families. Our communities are strong and 
our Nation is better because of their service.
  Mr. Speaker, the members of Team Gibson, in alphabetical order: 
Robert Allard; Allison Argust; Sergeant First Class Dennis Bartow, U.S. 
Army National Guard; Katherine Better; Jeffrey Bishop; Steven Bulger, 
my district director; Paula Brown; Sergeant First Class (Retired) 
George Christian, U.S. Army National Guard; Nicholas Czajka; Sergeant 
First Class (Retired) Kathy Fallon, U.S. Army National Guard; Todd 
Felter; Remy Fortin; Brad Gentile; Nathan Gil; William Gonzales, New 
York State Trooper, retired; James Haggerty, United States Marine 
Corps, Korean war; Ridge Harris; Patricia Hohmann; Colonel Stephen 
Ledbetter, U.S. Army; Joseph Levi, a wounded Army combat veteran; Shay 
Mason; Major Patrick McGuigan, U.S. Army; Ann Mueller; Padraic O'Brien, 
now a New York State Trooper; Lieutenant Colonel Curt Owens, United 
States Army Reserves; Barbara Palmer; Megan Paulsen; Corinne Boughton 
Penston; Duane Postupak; Patricia Raucci; Peter Ryan; Brian Scarlett; 
Major Matthew Schardt, U.S. Army; Christine Schiff; Rebecca Shaw; 
Matthew Sheehey; Steven Stallmer; Theodore Stephan; Major Ricardo 
Turner, U.S. Army; Stephanie Valle, my chief of staff; Carol Waller; 
Mark Westcott; Anthony Zampelli; and Patrick Ziegler.
  May God bless them all.
  I yield back the balance of my time.

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