[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 20 (Thursday, January 30, 2020)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E115]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       TRIBUTE TO BRIAN WHEELER FROM THE TRANSPORTATION SECURITY 
                             ADMINISTRATION

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. LUCILLE ROYBAL-ALLARD

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, January 30, 2020

  Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD. Madam Speaker, the Transportation Security 
Administration (TSA) will soon bid farewell to its Senior Advisor for 
Congressional Appropriations, Mr. Brian Wheeler. Mr. Wheeler has been 
the TSA's liaison to the House Homeland Security Appropriations 
Subcommittee for the past 17 years, and will be retiring from the 
federal government after nearly 30 years of dedicated service. He will 
be greatly missed by his TSA colleagues, as well as by the members and 
professional staff of the Homeland Security Appropriations 
Subcommittee.
  As chairwoman of this subcommittee, and as a member of the 
subcommittee since its creation, I am grateful to Mr. Wheeler for his 
diligent and reliable work to relay key financial and security matters 
to our subcommittee. He has accurately addressed our requests, and 
consistently met tight timelines. The information he has provided to us 
has been invaluable in our subcommittee's efforts to mitigate future 
threats to our nation's transportation systems, including our work to 
fund such TSA needs as more advanced detection equipment and crucial 
increases in personnel at airport checkpoints across the nation.
  Our Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee has greatly 
benefited from Mr. Wheeler's commitment, dependability, and experience. 
He has provided invaluable insights into the operations of a complex 
transportation security system managed by a large domestic agency 
sourced with both appropriated funds and mandatory fee revenue. He also 
has a keen awareness of the kinds of information appropriators need as 
we make informed judgments and decisions about the TSA.
  Mr. Wheeler's superb analytical skills, including his graphic and 
chartmaking talents, have been essential to our subcommittee's review 
of the TSA's annual budget requests, which now exceed $8 billion worth 
of budget authority. He translates several hundred pages of budget 
submissions into concise summaries. He has built detailed spreadsheets 
that have synthesized funding issues into easily understood 
programmatic rationales, which has put the subcommittee in a position 
to optimize our use of taxpayer dollars by ensuring that only critical 
requirements are funded.
  Mr. Wheeler has given outstanding service to our subcommittee, the 
House, the TSA, and the nation. His professionalism, perception, superb 
analytic focus, and technical skills have been invaluable to us. On 
behalf of all of us at the Homeland Security Appropriations 
Subcommittee, I wish him all the best as he moves into retirement and 
the next phase of his life's journey.

                          ____________________