[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 110 (Thursday, June 24, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4750-S4751]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     TRIBUTE TO LYNNE TERRY PHIFER

  Mr. COONS. Madam President, I rise today in this Chamber to pay 
tribute to a dedicated Delawarean, a friend who is wrapping up 36 years 
of public service to our State and our Nation.
  Lynne Terry Phifer of Newark, DE, a valued member of my Senate staff, 
is retiring at the end of this month. She has been a high-spirited, 
pure-hearted presence for us as long as I have known her, and I am 
deeply grateful to Lynne for her service and grateful for her 
significant contributions.
  Before I say farewell, though, it is only fitting to highlight her 
long career and offer up some thanks and some thoughts from her 
friends, family, coworkers, and well-wishers.
  Her story didn't start and doesn't end with her more than 8 years 
serving in my offices for the Senate and for Wilmington, DE. She grew 
up in a community along the banks of Naamans Creek, where it empties 
into the Delaware River. It is known as Claymont, DE, an area that has 
become better known, perhaps, because of Claymont's favorite son, our 
President, Joe Biden.
  Lynne graduated from Claymont High School in 1972, the same year 
Biden was first elected to this Chamber. It was at Claymont High School 
where, some members of my staff report, in good humor, Lynne made a 
name for herself ``playing a mean clarinet.'' I didn't know clarinets 
could be mean.
  Lynne's public service career began shortly thereafter. She started a 
10-year run with Delaware's Department of Labor, the Department of 
Health and Social Services, and the Division of Personnel. After that, 
her career continued across city, county, State, and Federal 
governments.
  From 1988 to 1992, she worked for well-known Mayor Dan Frawley of 
Wilmington. She later took on similar responsibilities for our 
Lieutenant Governor and now-Governor, John Carney, and later for Paul 
Clark, my successor as county executive in New Castle County. Paul said 
it was his good fortune to have hired Lynne.

       She was a shining light in the field of government 
     service--

  County Executive Clark said--

       and an absolute joy to work with. I am privileged to call 
     Lynne my friend and wish her the best in retirement.

  Governor Carney offered similar sentiments, saying:

       When I was Lieutenant Governor, Lynne helped make our 
     office run smoothly and always offered a helping hand to 
     constituents. She is a compassionate, hardworking colleague 
     and a good friend, and I am personally grateful for Lynne's 
     many years of dedicated service. . . . I wish her and her 
     family all the best in retirement.

  For more than 8 years in my office in Wilmington, Lynne has 
seamlessly managed my front office and my college internship program. 
And I can't tell you how hard a job it is to be the person who answers 
the phone, day in and day out, particularly when serving a Senator like 
me who seems to draw all sorts of attention and angry phone calls.
  So Lynne, thank you in particular for handling all the calls and 
complaints and concerns of Delawareans who call in day in and day out.
  Lynne has remained our beloved gatekeeper, the first person to greet 
visitors, the familiar voice on the main telephone line, someone who 
has handled sometimes literally hundreds of calls a day. She is known 
for being reliable and trustworthy. She is highly regarded by my whole 
team and recognized for her breadth of knowledge of our State, who is 
who, which call needs to be answered first, who are the movers and 
shakers.
  She is known for always staying calm and professional when helping 
constituents. And, trust me, some of these calls can be incredibly 
emotional and difficult, whether assisting someone needing a 
vaccination appointment or dealing with a veterans benefit question.
  She has run my internship program flawlessly, and that is a true 
testament to Lynne. During her more than 8 years of running that, she 
has interviewed, hired, trained, mentored, and supported more than 150 
college interns--a good number of whom have gone on to join our full-
time professional staff.
  She is, as Brendan Mackie would say, a true force multiplier. Several 
of our interns, as I have mentioned, have gone on to be staff, both in 
Wilmington and in Washington, and many others have gone on to executive 
branch Agencies or to be activists, attorneys, nonprofit leaders, 
mentors, and volunteers.
  It is a profound understatement to say that my team and I, and my 
wife Annie and I, will deeply miss Lynne. Annie and I have known Lynne 
going all the way back to their time together in the Women's Democratic 
Club of Delaware, when we were young couples and looking forward to 
someday both being parents of twins.
  On my current staff, Marcus Wright, who is my outreach coordinator, 
added:

       Lynne is always at the top of her game. As her counterpart 
     in DC, I [learned to] lean on her knowledge and followed her 
     example. She helped me be a better staffer, and I owe her an 
     enormous debt of gratitude.

  Desiree Burritt, one of my most seasoned and capable caseworkers, 
said:

       Lynne is ever-present and incredibly dependable.

  Jessica Glass, my deputy scheduler said:

       Lynne not only helped me through the intern program . . . 
     but I'm learning so much . . . sitting on the other side 
     [now] and getting to interview interns with her! She . . . 
     [has] watched me go full circle during the past four years.

  Brian Cunningham, a beloved former staffer, said:

       I always appreciated Lynne's warm greetings to the littlest 
     guests in the office--

  He means his kids--

       when [my] kids came to visit, or sit with their parent to 
     help finish out the workday, it was Lynne who . . . had a 
     stash of snacks [and always a kind word].

  Among her coworkers, she has earned a lot of good-natured nicknames: 
Lynney, Lynney-Boo, Lynne-yrd Skynyrd, and others I won't repeat, but 
she is clearly omnipresent in the hearts and minds of those who served 
alongside her in Delaware.

[[Page S4751]]

  Her dedication goes far beyond government service. She has 
volunteered her time with so many groups. I mentioned the Women's 
Democratic Club. She has also served as chair of the 22nd 
Representative District Committee, serving Hockessin, Pike Creek, North 
Star, and Newark for many, many years.
  And she was honored with the Distinguished Service Award from the New 
Castle County Democrats in 2008 for her tireless service.
  On the homefront, her pride and joy include Dennis Phifer, her 
husband, and their twin sons, Matthew and Christopher.
  We can't forget the beloved family canine, Elle. In her retirement, 
Lynne will have more time to spend with Dennis, Matt, and Chris, and 
her network of friends, going all the way back to her Claymont days. 
She looks forward to spending her mornings with Dennis, she says, 
making him coffee, reading the paper together, and staying up late, as 
Dennis dozes off, trying to finish the daily crossword.
  She surely will have more time with Elle, walking her around the 
neighborhood and spoiling her with treats. Dennis said of Lynne, who 
absolutely loves animals, that she wants to use her newfound time to 
volunteer to help service dogs and other support animals.
  Alice Paul, the famous suffragette, in speaking about the fight for 
women's rights, said: ``I always feel the movement is a . . . mosaic. 
Each of us puts in [our own] little stone, and then'' at the end, you 
see a beautiful mosaic.
  When looking back at Lynne's years of public service--36 years--this 
analogy seems apt. Lynne has been a hard-working and headstrong person, 
someone who has done incredible things, often behind the scenes, and 
helped create her own great mosaic through her decades of dedication 
and service to our community, our city, our county, our State, and this 
Senate.
  Whether it was throwing her support behind Joe Biden amid a Senate 
reelection run or helping constituents in my office or the hundreds of 
folks she has trained and recruited and mentored, Lynne's mosaic will 
last long and reach far, leaving her mark on Delaware for many, many 
years to come.
  Lynne will undoubtedly continue to accomplish good and meaningful 
things, finding those moments in small pieces of colored stone or glass 
or ceramic and putting those in place, adding to her ongoing mosaic of 
life.
  In closing, through her career, her volunteerism, and her civic 
activism, Lynne has made a real difference. I can't thank her enough 
for her first-class dedication and her friendship. Lynne will be deeply 
missed in the Senate, and filling her shoes will be near impossible.
  Lynne, thank you. Best of luck in all your future endeavors. You are 
treasured, and we will cheer you on your way as you celebrate this next 
chapter of your life.
  With that, I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Texas.

                          ____________________