[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 132 (Wednesday, July 28, 2021)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E833]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]





                    IN HONOR OF MICHAEL JOSEPH REED

                                 ______
                                 

                      HON. SANFORD D. BISHOP, JR.

                               of georgia

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, July 28, 2021

  Mr. BISHOP of Georgia. Madam Speaker, it is with deep gratitude and 
great admiration that I rise today to honor and commend an 
extraordinary public servant, husband, and friend of long standing, Mr. 
Michael Joseph Reed. Michael, my Chief of Staff and Senior Policy 
Advisor, will be retiring from federal public service effective August 
3, 2021. He will leave behind a stellar career and a void in my office 
that will be hard to fill. A retirement reception will be held for him 
at 5:00 p.m. on July 28, 2021 in Washington, D.C., attended by numerous 
friends, family, colleagues, and others with whom his life and career 
have intersected.
  Michael Joseph Reed is a native of Buffalo, N.Y. He earned his 
Bachelor's degree in Business Administration from Oakwood College in 
Huntsville, Alabama. He also earned a Master's degree in Urban and 
Regional Planning from Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee.
  Michael's career in public service began as a Presidential Management 
Intern (PMI) at the U.S. Department of Transportation, Office of Budget 
Policy. This experience led him to his first Capitol Hill position as 
an intern for former Congressman Louis Stokes of Ohio, who was a member 
of the House Appropriations Committee. After leaving Congressman 
Stokes, he joined the staff of Congressman William Gray, Chairman of 
the House Budget Committee and a member of the Appropriations 
Committee, as Legislative Director.
  After leaving Congressman Gray's office, he was Vice-President for 
Marketing at the United Negro College Fund. He was also the Director of 
Regional Card Marketing and Vice-President for Government Affairs for 
the American Express Company.
  In 2003, when I was selected to serve on the House Appropriations 
Committee and was searching for a seasoned Appropriations Specialist 
and Legislative Policy Advisor, I was blessed to hire Michael as my 
Special Assistant for the Appropriations Committee. He served in that 
capacity for twelve (12) years until he was appointed Deputy Chief of 
Staff in 2011 and Chief of Staff in 2015.
  For eighteen (18) years, I have been matriculating in ``The Michael 
Reed School of Budgetary Policy.'' He has been a master teacher of the 
process and its nuances. While he initially had no working knowledge of 
agriculture issues, he worked hard to learn these issues and used his 
skills to help my growth and effectiveness in the Agriculture 
Subcommittee of Appropriations and facilitate my securing the 
Chairmanship. Michael drove the Congressional response in the form of 
agriculture disaster relief over the past three (3) years to include 
typhoons, volcanic eruptions, wildfires, hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, 
droughts, and other exigencies. Georgia and American Agriculture were 
able to get relief because of his significant work. Georgia agriculture 
producers and rural communities benefited mightily from his efforts. 
Michael led my staff with great aplomb. He never told me only what I 
wanted to hear but always told me what I needed to hear. Because of 
him, we have been able to serve the people better.
  Former Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm once said, ``Service is the 
rent we pay for the space we occupy on this earth.'' Michael has paid 
his rent and paid it well.
  Having served in the public sector, corporate sector, and the 
nonprofit sector, he has truly made a difference. But none of this 
would have been possible without the grace of God, the love and support 
of his loving wife, Attorney Diane Fields Reed, his father-in-law, 
Judge Richard Fields, and their beloved dog, Alexandra.
  Madam Speaker, I ask my colleagues here in the House of 
Representatives, to join my wife, Vivian and me, along with our entire 
Congressional staff, past and present, and the 730,000 residents of the 
Second Congressional District of Georgia in honoring and commending Mr. 
Michael Joseph Reed on his outstanding career and upon the occasion of 
his retirement. We wish him well as he begins a new chapter in his 
life.

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