[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 163 (Tuesday, September 21, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6581-S6582]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       TRIBUTE TO PAUL M. MATULIC

  Mr. BURR. Madam President, today I wish to pay tribute to Paul 
Matulic, a dedicated member of the Senate Select Committee on 
Intelligence staff for over 16 years. Paul's total service to the U.S. 
Senate spans 27 years, the first 11 of which were spent as foreign 
policy adviser to Senator Orrin Hatch. Since joining the staff in 2005, 
Paul has been resolute and unwavering in his commitment to the 
committee's oversight mandate. He has managed an array of critical 
responsibilities ranging from oversight of intelligence community 
covert action programs and regional monitoring of America's national 
security hotspots and warzones, to making key contributions in support 
of the committee's most sensitive and high-profile investigative work. 
Paul never got anything but difficult assignments because I trusted him 
and I knew he would do an excellent job.
  Through it all, Paul maintained an erudite and exemplary 
professionalism that bettered both his colleagues in the performance of 
their oversight work and the intelligence professionals who he oversaw. 
Paul was exacting as an overseer, but he always balanced his demanding 
expectations with a heartfelt, genuine admiration for the extraordinary 
men and women of the intelligence community he helped oversee. Paul 
enjoyed relationships of trust and respect with his colleagues and 
members of the committee alike because he was thorough, he was 
prepared, and above all, Paul always gave you the truth, whether you 
wanted to hear it or not.
  Before coming to work for the Senate in 1994, Paul served as the vice 
president of Hill & Knowlton, a global public relations consultancy in 
New York City. Prior to that, Paul spent several years as an editorial 
and research assistant in the office of former President Nixon. Paul 
earned a master's degree in international affairs and political economy 
from Columbia University, and a bachelor of science in international 
affairs from St. John Fisher College in Rochester, NY. Prior to 
college, Paul experienced life at its grandest and grittiest, working 
from one side of the North American continent to the other, all the way 
into the Yukon Territory, spending time as a gravedigger, a magician, a 
ranch hand, a construction worker, a janitor, and a bartender.
  Paul's work for the committee, by its very nature, defies elaboration 
in this public forum. It is enough to say that Paul approached every 
day in the office with one ideal in mind: Democracy is underwritten by 
a vigorous system of checks and balances and that accountability is all 
the more necessary when it is applied to intelligence activities that 
might otherwise escape public

[[Page S6582]]

scrutiny. The pride and purpose Paul took from being a part of that 
oversight mechanism were evident in the seriousness with which he 
approached his work. I am personally grateful to Paul for everything he 
did on the committee's behalf.
  Paul plans to spend his retirement with Margo, the great love of his 
life, at his side. He intends to travel, read, and walk the woods of 
the Rock Creek Park where he has found so much comfort and solace over 
the years. The son of European immigrants, who emigrated himself from 
Canada when he was 4 years old, Paul's story is a distinctly American 
one. Everyone who got to play a role in it these past 16 years is 
better for it.
  It gives me great joy to publicly thank Paul for his contributions to 
the work of the committee, the integrity of congressional oversight, 
and the security of this great Nation. He has been a credit to what we 
do from the moment he joined the staff.
  Congratulations and best of luck to you in retirement, Paul. Neither 
your expertise, your good humor, nor your wise counsel will soon be 
replaced.

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