[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 12 (Monday, January 23, 2017)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E76]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]





ON THE RETIREMENT OF MS. CARMEN SOLOMON-FEARS AFTER A 39-YEAR CAREER OF 
          SERVICE AT THE CONGRESSIONAL RESEARCH SERVICE (CRS)

                                  _____
                                 

                            HON. KEVIN BRADY

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                        Monday, January 23, 2017

  Mr. BRADY of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise to offer my congratulations 
and best wishes to Ms. Carmen Solomon-Fears on the occasion of her 
retirement from a lifetime of dedicated service at the Congressional 
Research Service. Carmen's knowledge of American social policy, and 
especially in recent years involving the complex and important child 
support enforcement program, is nothing short of encyclopedic. Indeed, 
in stretching back to the late 1970s, Carmen's career at CRS spans most 
of the history of the child support enforcement program as well as 
other key social welfare programs of our time like SSI and TANF/AFDC. 
So if at times it seemed like Carmen was personally familiar with every 
word, comma, and footnote in the Social Security Act, it may be because 
she helped write so much of it during her outstanding career.
  And what history she has seen and helped shape during that time. From 
the 1988 Family Support Act to the landmark 1996 Welfare Reform Law to 
the 2005 Deficit Reduction Act, Carmen has played a key role in all of 
the major social welfare reform legislation of the past generation. But 
she has done more than just assist Congress in crafting the law. She 
has worked diligently to help us explain what detailed provisions of 
law mean to real people, both through her interactions with our 
personal office staff as well as her summaries of child support and 
other program policies that appeared in CRS reports as well as 
literally dozens of issues of the Ways and Means Green Book. This all 
speaks to her outstanding skills in legislation and policymaking. But 
there is much more to Carmen than that. She is truly one of the nicest 
people you will meet on Capitol Hill, or any other place for that 
matter. Her ready smile, easy laugh, and thoughtful counsel are a key 
part of her success, putting people on both sides of the partisan aisle 
at ease in trusting her always sound guidance.
  On behalf of especially the many Members of the Committee on Ways and 
Means who benefitted from her thoughtful work over her decades of 
service, I say thank you and congratulations to Carmen on an 
outstanding career. She truly has made a difference, which is a 
testament to her wisdom, hard work, and dedication in everything she 
does. I wish her nothing but the very best for all that awaits her in 
the future.

                          ____________________