[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 177 (Thursday, December 8, 2016)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1641]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         TRIBUTE TO RACHEL CARR

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. PETER A. DeFAZIO

                               of oregon

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, December 8, 2016

  Mr. DeFAZIO. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Rachel Carr, who 
has served as Counsel for the Subcommittee on Aviation for the 
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, U.S. House of 
Representatives, since I became Ranking Member in 2013. As a long-time 
Member of the Committee, I have had the pleasure of working with Rachel 
on numerous transportation issues, from railroads, pipelines, and 
hazardous materials safety to unmanned aircraft systems and efforts to 
defeat faulty legislative proposals to privatize the Air Traffic 
Control system. Her hard work and wise counsel have been invaluable to 
me and to many Members of the Committee, and I look forward to 
continuing to work with her as she embarks on a new endeavor.
  Rachel is a long-time aviation lover. In a recent Congressional 
Quarterly article which featured key staff on Capitol Hill, Rachel 
reminisced about how she went to air shows as a child, and then studied 
engineering thinking she would get into a technical aspect of the 
industry, but after an internship at an airport, Rachel became 
intrigued with the policy side of transportation and, in particular, 
aviation. Indeed, Rachel began her career on Capitol Hill serving as 
Staff Assistant for the Full Committee in 1999 and, just a short time 
later, the Subcommittees on Aviation and Railroads, a foreshadowing of 
her accomplishments to come.
  Rachel went on to serve as Manager of Legislative Affairs for the 
Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association; an attorney at Coddington, 
Hicks & Danforth in Redwood City, California; and then, in 2009, 
Counsel for the Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous 
Materials for the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. In 
that role, she helped lead efforts to investigate the Office of 
Hazardous Materials Safety of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials 
Safety Administration, which resulted in numerous improvements to the 
Department of Transportation's hazardous materials safety program. She 
also played a key role in defeating Republican efforts to privatize 
Amtrak, our national passenger rail system before landing on the 
Aviation Subcommittee.
  Rachel's understanding of complex transportation safety issues has 
been an asset to the Committee for over a decade. Rachel was 
instrumental in drafting significant pieces of legislation including 
H.R. 4441, the ``Aviation Innovation, Reform, and Reauthorization Act 
of 2016''; An Act to allow the Administrator of the Federal Aviation 
Administration to enter into reimbursable agreements for certain 
airport projects (P.L. 114- ); and the FAA Extension, Safety, and 
Security Act of 2016 (P.L. 114-190). The latter legislation includes 
provisions that will substantially improve aviation safety and 
accommodate an emerging group of new airspace users who operate 
unmanned aircraft.
  Last month, Rachel was appointed Federal Policy Advisor for the 
Denver International Airport. Her expertise and counsel will be truly 
missed.
  I join my colleagues on the Transportation Committee in wishing 
Rachel and her dog, Sasha, all the best in her new endeavor.

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