[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 181 (Friday, December 16, 2016)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1724]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          HONORING LORI HARJU

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. KEVIN BRADY

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, December 16, 2016

  Mr. BRADY of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I want to acknowledge and express my 
deep appreciation to Lori Harju for 25 years of government service the 
last five dedicated to serving me and the people of Texas' 8th 
Congressional District.
  Lori began her career working for her local Congressman, Guy Vander 
Jagt of Michigan. She grew up not far from the shores of Lake Michigan, 
in the town of Kaleva, and misses it to this day. I can't tell you how 
many times I've seen pictures of Lake Michigan, and of her many nieces 
and nephews as they have always been displayed in her office and on her 
screen saver. She brought with her to Washington the upper Midwest 
values of hard work, common sense, and humility--perfect attributes for 
working for a Member of Congress.
  From Representative Vander Jagt's office, Lori moved on to work for 
some of this body's most prestigious Members. She worked for 
Congressman Dave Camp of Michigan, who served as Chairman of the Ways & 
Means Committee, and for Congressman Phil Crane, another one of the 
Ways & Means Committee's most powerful and storied Members. Lori then 
moved to a senior political position in the Administration of George W. 
Bush, serving as the head of congressional affairs at the Department of 
Commerce's International Trade Administration.
  I was fortunate to be able to hire Lori at the end of President 
Bush's second term. Few people know Congressional procedures or how to 
get things done in Congress like she does. She originally served as my 
Legislative Director, and later became my Chief of Staff When I became 
Chairman of the Ways & Means Committee a little over a year ago, I 
asked her to help on the Committee as my Senior Advisor, because of her 
vast experience working with Ways and Means Committee members. Indeed, 
Lori has now worked for three senior Members of the Ways & Means 
Committee, a record few congressional staffers can match.
  I have always relied upon Lori's counsel and appreciate her 
forthrightness and her integrity. Lori has always served with humility 
and grace. I hope Lori will now have a little more time to spend with 
her family near the shores of Lake Michigan, but I also hope, as she 
leaves government service and begins the next phase of her career, that 
she won't move far and will continue to offer her valuable counsel. I 
and the rest of this House will miss her.

                          ____________________