[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 165 (Thursday, September 23, 2021)]
[House]
[Pages H5098-H5099]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   HONORING THE LIFE OF EMILY DeROCCO

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
Michigan (Ms. Stevens) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. STEVENS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the life of my dear 
friend, Emily Stover DeRocco, a generous spirit and dedicated public 
servant who inspired others to discover their purpose and to follow 
their dreams.
  Known for getting things done, Emily headed to Washington after 
graduating from Penn State University, determined to find a role 
working in the Federal Government, hoping to make a difference in the 
lives of everyday Americans.
  As the Assistant Secretary of Labor for Employment and Training in 
the George W. Bush administration, Emily was instrumental in 
redesigning our country's workforce development programs, particularly 
in strategically realigning education and economic development 
initiatives with the needs of

[[Page H5099]]

the business community, workforce development coming together with our 
manufacturing sector and, in particular, for emerging technologies.
  After leaving the Bush administration, Emily became a leader in the 
manufacturing sector when she joined the Manufacturing Institute as 
their president. Under her innovative leadership, the institute 
researched and confirmed the changing workforce needs and, in response, 
implemented national strategy on education and workforce reform.
  Emily founded E3, an aptly named consulting firm--educate, engage, 
employ--focused on helping others by linking education, workforce, and 
economic development, yet again harnessing her creativity and her 
special, keen ability to connect people and bring them together.
  In addition to her incredible career, Emily was a loving mother and 
wife. She met the love of her life while working full-time at the 
Department of the Interior and taking classes at Georgetown Law School, 
tenaciously walking across the stage while 8 months pregnant with her 
incredible daughter, Lauren.
  Emily spent her life coaching and mentoring others and impacted my 
life and work tremendously. She was, in fact, on everyone's speed dial.
  Her work led her to Detroit, Michigan, where she collaborated and led 
the workforce development efforts for the Lightweight Innovations for 
Tomorrow Institute, a public-private partnership intent on harnessing 
new technologies for our automotive sector and other industries of 
scale. She was the workforce leader.
  I had the privilege of speaking on numerous panels with her all over 
the country, with our friends at the NATC, ASME, in the defense sector, 
at NIMS, at NAM, and of course, yet again, the Manufacturing Institute.

  The need for workforce talent is the conversation of today. I met 
Emily in the middle of the Great Recession, when unemployment was 
through the roof, yet there were open jobs in our manufacturing firms 
all across the country. It is not a simple formula.
  What Emily sought to change and address in this country by training 
not only the next generation of workers but an existing workforce in 
the 21st century begat many new challenges: the advent of the digital 
age and the combination of computer technologies with our old-school 
manufacturing devices and pieces of equipment. She led the way.
  While she left us suddenly, she also left a legacy of work. We thank 
her so much for her service and her inspiration and the mark that she 
made on this country.

                          ____________________