[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 200 (Wednesday, December 19, 2018)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1683]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     IN APPRECIATION OF PAUL THOMPSON UPON HIS RETIREMENT FROM THE 
                    GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. BENNIE G. THOMPSON

                             of mississippi

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, December 19, 2018

  Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, I rise to express my 
appreciation of Mr. Paul Thompson upon his retirement from the 
Government Accountability Office.
  Over the past four decades, Mr. Thompson has worked on a diverse 
range of issues in the Legislative and Executive Branches. Mr. Thompson 
began his federal career in 1977, as a staff member to the then-U.S. 
House Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries. He then joined the 
Department of Energy's Office of General Counsel in 1980 as a Law 
Clerk. In 1982, he left the Department of Energy and joined the 
Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) as an Attorney-Advisor. In 
1987, Mr. Thompson took a position in the private sector, but, just 
three years later, he began working at what we now know as the 
Government Accountability Office. But in 1991, it was called the 
General Accounting Office.
  Over the past 27 years, Mr. Thompson has helped GAO carry out its 
core mission of supporting Congress in meeting its constitutional 
responsibilities and to help improve the performance and ensure the 
accountability of the federal government for the benefit of the 
American people. In my capacity as the top Democrat on the Committee on 
Homeland Security Committee, I have found him to be a reliable resource 
to our staff in our efforts to carry out vigorous oversight and 
appreciate his personal commitment to providing staff with valuable 
insights and information.
  Mr. Speaker, you may be wondering whether Mr. Thompson and I are 
related. We are not related, but we share a commitment to 
accountability and oversight.
  We thank Mr. Thompson for his service to our country and wish him the 
very best.

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