[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 26 (Tuesday, February 14, 2017)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E189-E190]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 THE RETIREMENT OF MS. KAREN SPAR AFTER A 37-YEAR CAREER OF SERVICE AT 
                THE CONGRESSIONAL RESEARCH SERVICE (CRS)

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. KEVIN BRADY

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, February 14, 2017

  Mr. BRADY of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise to offer my congratulations 
and best wishes to Ms. Karen Spar on the occasion of her retirement 
from a lifetime of dedicated service at the Congressional Research 
Service. Since she began her career in 1980 at CRS, Karen has risen 
from an analyst to the head of the Children and Families Section and 
eventually the Division of Social Policy's first Division Research 
Coordinator.
  In her early days as an analyst, Karen worked on major legislative 
initiatives of American social policy, including the Omnibus Budget 
Reconciliation Act of 1981, the Job Training Partnership Act of 1983, 
the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act of 1996, and the 
Adoption and Safe Family Act of 1997.
  As head of the Children and Families Section, she supervised work in 
many of these same policy areas, including income support, child care, 
nutrition assistance, housing, child welfare, vulnerable youth, child 
support enforcement, poverty, and others. Her leadership efforts shaped 
a disparate group of policy areas and analysts from different 
backgrounds. They became a coherent and highly

[[Page E190]]

effective research group to support Members from both sides of the 
aisle.
  Of special importance to the Committee on Ways and Means, Karen has 
been a major contributor to nearly every one of the 23 editions of the 
Committee's Green Book, going back to its creation in 1980. She has 
contributed sections on child care, child welfare, and the Social 
Services Block Grant. For more recent editions, she managed the 
extensive contributions from CRS and helped shepherd it into its new 
electronic format, which has enabled the Committee to publish it on a 
more frequent and consistent basis.
  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 Karen Spar on an 
outstanding career. She truly has made a difference, which is a 
testament to her hard work and dedication. I wish her nothing but the 
very best for all that awaits her in the future.

                          ____________________