[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 192 (Tuesday, December 3, 2019)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1528]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        HONORING CAROLYN EDWARDS

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. PETER A. DeFAZIO

                               of oregon

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, December 3, 2019

  Mr. DeFAZIO. Madam Speaker, on behalf of myself and Mr. Graves of 
Missouri, today I would like to recognize the outstanding career, 
significant accomplishments, and invaluable contributions of Carolyn 
Edwards, a dedicated civil servant who in January will retire after a 
distinguished 46-year career with the U.S. Department of 
Transportation--44 of these with the Federal Highway Administration.
  Among her many exemplary accomplishments, Ms. Edwards has been 
involved in every Federal surface transportation bill since TEA-21 in 
1998. This has included support--through the technical assistance 
process--for Congressional Committees, countless Members of Congress, 
and their staff on legislative and highway policy issues.
  This is the fourth time that a Congressional Committee Chair (or 
Ranking Member) has publicly thanked Ms. Edwards, by name, for her 
contributions. Prior instances include--
  On July 29, 2005, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Environment 
and Public Works (Senator Jim Inhofe) thanked her on the Senate floor 
during floor consideration of the conference report for SAFETEA-LU;
  On June 29, 2012, in the Congressional Record the Chairman of the 
House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure (the Honorable 
John Mica) thanked Ms. Edwards, among others, for her work on MAP-21; 
and
  On December 3, 2015, I thanked Ms. Edwards on the House floor for her 
work on the FAST Act.
  Ms. Edwards joined the Federal Highway Administration in 1973 as an 
economist within the Agency's Office of Highway Planning. There, she 
helped to establish FHWA's Highway Performance Monitoring System--a 
system that 40 years later continues to provide national-level data on 
the extent, condition, performance, use, and operating characteristics 
of the nation's highways. Over the ensuing four-and-a-half decades, Ms. 
Edwards has gone on to serve in a range of high-level analytical 
positions at FHWA, including stints in FHWA's Office of Highway Policy 
Information and in FHWA's Office of Legislative Affairs and Policy 
Communications.
  As one example, during the mid-1990s, Ms. Edwards served in FHWA's 
Office of Highway Information Management. While there, she identified--
then helped to resolve--a $1.6 billion error in the Treasury 
Department's calculation of Highway Trust Fund revenues, which impacted 
the State-by-State distribution of Federal highway funding. Later, she 
also worked in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Budget and 
Programs, with a portfolio that covered Federal-aid highway programs 
and the Highway Trust Fund.
  Ms. Edwards is ending her career as a member--and former leader--of 
FHWA's legislative analysis team. In this capacity, she serves as an 
unparalleled national expert on a wide range of highway-related topics, 
including Federal highway legislation, the Highway Trust Fund, and the 
operations of the Federal-aid highway program. For years, she has been 
a go-to reference on these topics for both agency and departmental 
leaders. Furthermore, as testament to the quality of her work, over the 
course of her career, Ms. Edwards has been recognized with multiple 
FHWA Superior Achievement Awards, a Secretary's Team Award, and two 
Secretarial Awards for Partnering for Excellence.
  In closing, on behalf of myself, the Committee, my colleagues on both 
sides of the aisle, and our staff, I would like to thank Ms. Edwards 
for her steadfast public service, her support for the Congress, and her 
immeasurable contributions to the Federal-aid highway program.

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