[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 200 (Wednesday, December 19, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7886-S7887]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         TRIBUTE TO BETH THAMES

  Mr. BROWN. Mr. President, I rise to honor the career of an 
indispensable member of my staff, Elizabeth Thames. Beth has been with 
my office for over 20 years--all 12 years in the Senate and about a 
decade in the House before that.
  Now, after serving the people of Ohio for these 20-plus years, Beth 
retires at the end of the year. She joined our office after working as 
an editor at the Elyria Chronicle-Telegram. Far from being the enemy of 
the people, Beth knew what journalism was, knew how important it is, 
and knew to tell stories to help people, to afflict the comfortable, 
and to comfort the afflicted.
  Beth brought that same spirit to our office. She helped our office to 
connect with the community in Northeast Ohio and around the State. She 
writes down the name of every single Ohioan we meet together so we can 
better serve them. Her work has had an amazing impact on the people of 
Ohio.
  At meetings, at roundtables, and at community events, she listens and 
she learns about problems. She understands what Lincoln was talking 
about when he said: Go out and get your public opinion. She listens to 
people who don't often get listened to, and she is a voice for people 
whose voices are often not heard.
  In 2012 and 2013, she began hearing more and more about infant 
mortality--a huge problem in our State, particularly for African-
American babies. Frankly, State government didn't seem to give a damn. 
Constituents would bring up this issue over and over, but no one was 
doing anything about it. She started calling around. She met with 
anyone who would talk to her about what the State and Federal 
Government could do.
  She called Arthur James, a doctor on the faculty at Ohio State and at 
the Nationwide Children's Hospital. He was sounding that alarm. He met 
with Beth and told her how bad things were. A crisis at the time, 
Ohio--a generally wealthy State, which could do so much better were it 
not for corrupt State government--had the third highest infant 
mortality rate in the country, and ranked last for African-American 
babies.
  Beth started this conversation before many people were paying 
attention. She pushed every level of government to take this seriously. 
She talked with public health departments, with home visiting programs, 
with hospitals, with nurses, with doctors. She started conversations 
with legislators and legislative staff about what we could do on the 
Federal level, the State level, and the local level.
  It is because of her that we passed and President Obama signed the 
bipartisan Sudden Unexpected Death Data Enhancement and Awareness Act. 
It is because of Beth that we wrote to the Consumer Product Safety 
Commission and got them to add warnings to crib bumpers to promote safe 
sleep.
  It is because of Beth's hard work that then-Secretary of HHS Sylvia 
Mathews Burwell visited my hometown of Mansfield, OH, to see the great 
work that the Doctors Redding--husband and wife, two doctors in 
Mansfield, OH, my hometown--were doing and to see the great work they 
and community health workers were doing to help moms have healthy 
pregnancies and deliver healthy babies. The change was dramatic in the 
number of healthy babies who were born as a result of the work of all 
of them.
  We have more to do, but all of Beth's efforts have given our State 
important tools to pay attention to monitor this problem and to figure 
out how to solve it.
  For Beth, of course, it wasn't just infant mortality. Any time she 
heard about an issue in a meeting or roundtable, any time she heard 
about how our office could look and search for and find problems and 
find ways to be helpful, she was. She called agencies and offices. She 
talked with legislative staff. She always tried to find a solution.
  She heard from veterans about the challenges using GI education 
benefits. This year she spearheaded our first student veterans 
conference. We spread around the State to help student veterans, 
soldiers, sailors, air men and women, and marines who come back after 
serving to integrate into classrooms in a difficult situation, where 
they are around college students who are usually younger than they and 
didn't have their life experience. She connects those student veterans 
with resources that allow them to the get the most out of the benefits.
  For all of her efforts, Beth never sought recognition. She is 
generally quiet as a person. I can imagine her right now telling me to 
stop. She doesn't need all this fuss.
  This fall, the Elyria NAACP gave her an award--something she probably

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hoped I wasn't going to talk about--called the ``Unsung Hero Award.''
  That is Beth. By the end of a long career that touched so many lives, 
I can't let her go without giving her the recognition she reserves.
  Beth Thames, thank you for what you have done for our State. Thank 
you for what you have done for our country.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Perdue). The Senator from Idaho.

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