[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 4 (Wednesday, January 6, 2021)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E12-E13]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 RECOGNIZING SHARON STARK FOR HER SERVICE AS DISTRICT DIRECTOR FOR THE 
                11TH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT OF VIRGINIA

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. GERALD E. CONNOLLY

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, January 6, 2021

  Mr. CONNOLLY. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor my dear friend and 
District Director, Sharon Stark, on her retirement after more than a 
decade of dedicated and faithful service to our community.
  Mrs. Stark's strong work ethic started at a young age when she got 
her first job selling shoes at the age of 15. After college, she began 
her career as a bank teller and worked her way up to be a Vice 
President of Operations by the time she was 29. She then started a 
second career as Vice President of a Top 25 title company for 
residential and commercial real estate.
  In 2005, Sharon was selected to be a member of Virginia's 11th 
Congressional District Democratic Committee where she served as the 
Treasurer for many years with our dear friend Chairman George Burke. 
Two years later, in 2007, she was named finance chair for George 
Barker's campaign for the Senate of Virginia. The success of the Barker 
campaign flipped control of the Senate and helped Democrats secure the 
majority.
  Sharon has managed my Congressional district offices since 2009. 
Under her leadership, the office has established a stellar reputation 
for constituent services and community engagement.
  It was during the depths of the 2008 financial crisis and the 
subsequent collapse of the housing market that Sharon demonstrated just 
how hard she was willing to fight for constituents. She put her 
considerable talent and expertise to work for our constituents. People 
came to our office at risk of being foreclosed upon, having their 
utilities turned off, not knowing where they would be sleeping the next 
night, and Sharon took up their cause. She fought with the banks, gave 
people hope where they saw none, and even went to the courthouse steps 
to prevent foreclosures. She saved people's homes and changed their 
lives for the better.
  Since 2011, our offices have kept track of the financial assistance 
we have been able to secure for our constituents. This assistance 
includes helping constituents receive their refund from the IRS or 
benefits from the Veterans Administration, helping someone resolve 
their Social Security Disability Insurance claim, and other efforts 
that result in constituents receiving financial assistance owed to 
them. Over the past 9 years, Sharon and her team have helped our 
constituents obtain nearly $20 million in one-time or retroactive 
benefits plus $9 million per year in recurring benefits.
  Sharon has organized countless events for the benefit of our 
constituents. She has established an Open Season event that brings 
together various health plan providers and industry experts to educate 
thousands of federal employees, retirees, survivor annuitants, and 
veterans on their health plan options for the coming year. Sharon 
spearheaded the annual Congressional Art Competition for VA-11 and has 
grown the event into something truly

[[Page E13]]

memorable for the participants and their families. Students compete for 
more than $1,000 in scholarship prizes and have the opportunity to see 
for the first time their own artwork in a professional gallery setting.
  Sharon has also coordinated countless town halls, roundtables, fairs 
and festivals outreach booths, and numerous other community 
engagements. The events often grapple with serious topics such as gun 
control, the opioid epidemic, health care, and she has always striven 
to ensure that they are meaningful exchanges of information and 
viewpoints for attendees.
  One particular area into which Sharon has thrown herself and her 
considerable energy is the Military Service Academy nomination process 
for VA-11. She organizes and coordinates the advisory boards from each 
service academy, sets the interview calendar, supports the 
deliberations, and in the end helps nominate the future military 
leaders of our nation. Under Sharon's leadership, our district is 
routinely in the top three nationally for having the most students 
accepted into one of the prestigious U.S. Military Academies. For 
Sharon, it is a labor of love and service to both our country and the 
promising young students who seek to serve their nation in uniform.
  This past year as we endured the COVID-19 pandemic, Sharon once again 
stepped into the breach, deferring her retirement by working tirelessly 
to help constituents who have faced personal tragedies and financial 
hardships. During the pandemic, Sharon has helped small businesses 
secure desperately needed grants and loans, helped families resolve 
issues with economic impact payments, and made every effort to ensure 
that our constituents who were stuck abroad were able to make it back 
to the United States safely. In 2020 alone, Sharon and our staff were 
able to help more than 1,800 individuals overcome personal crises 
directly related to the global pandemic.
  Madam Speaker, Sharon Stark is a model public servant and I ask my 
colleagues to join me in wishing Sharon Stark health and happiness as 
she concludes a distinguished career in service to her country and 
community. There are people who have their health, a roof over their 
head, or food on the table thanks to Sharon. I am proud to have had her 
lead my district offices for the past 13 years and represent me in our 
community. Our office, constituents, and district will miss her 
immensely; as will I, and I wish her nothing but the best in retirement 
in which she will be able to spend more time with her husband Seth, her 
daughter Christine, and her granddaughter Jacqueline. Job well done 
Sharon Stark.

                          ____________________