[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 40 (Monday, March 7, 2022)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E220]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




COMMEMORATING THE ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF KATHY GOLDSCHMIDT AND NICOLE FOLK 
                                 COOPER

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. DEREK KILMER

                             of washington

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, March 7, 2022

  Mr. KILMER. Madam Speaker, I'd like to take a moment to commemorate 
the public service of two individuals who have dedicated decades of 
their lives to enhancing the performance of congressional offices, 
helping Members of Congress and congressional staff improve as 
professionals and public servants, and working to revitalize Congress 
as an institution. Kathy Goldschmidt is the Director of Strategic 
Initiatives at the Congressional Management Foundation and reached her 
25th year of service there last month. Nicole Folk Cooper is the 
Director of Research and Publications at CMF, and last year reached her 
20th year of service. Both individually and as a team, Ms. Goldschmidt 
and Ms. Folk Cooper have made unparalleled contributions to enhancing 
the House and Senate.
  Starting at CMF in 1997, Ms. Goldschmidt recognized early on the 
potential impact of the internet on Congress and democracy, urging the 
organization to proactively work to help congressional offices with 
this new technology. During the last quarter of a century, she has 
authored or co-authored nearly every major CMF study on technology and 
Congress. In 2006 she led the effort to help the House of 
Representatives create a 10-year information technology road map, a 
crucial step that helped institutional leaders identify areas for 
operational improvement. Recently, she co-authored a series of reports, 
The Future of Citizen Engagement, which has the potential to help every 
congressional office build greater trust in the Congress and democracy. 
And in 2018 she co-authored a report entitled the Job Description for a 
Member of Congress that sought to provide a common understanding of the 
duties and responsibilities of a Member of Congress for all Americans. 
She has twice testified before congressional committees, including the 
Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress, which I chair. We 
thank her for her advice to our Committee and staff.
  Nicole Folk Cooper began working at CMF in 2001. For more than two 
decades she has trained staff, conducted analyses of congressional 
offices, and overseen a broad range of CMF projects. For 16 years she 
has been the editor of CMF's signature publication, Setting Course: A 
Congressional Management Guide. Every Member of Congress and senior 
staff is familiar with this unique publication, which provides 
thoughtful guidance on setting up and running a congressional office. 
She was the project manager and editor of a similar CMF publication, 
Keeping It Local: A Guide for Managing District & State Offices. 
Probably Ms. Folk Cooper's greatest contribution to Congress has been 
her leadership in the last 10 years of CMF's ``Life in Congress'' 
project. This initiative, in partnership with the Society for Human 
Resource Management, seeks to identify human resource challenges in 
Congress and provide recommendations for overcoming them in order to 
help make Congress a better place for both Members and staffers to 
work. Especially as the dual stresses of the pandemic and the attacks 
of January 6th weighed so heavily on the congressional workforce, CMF's 
``Life in Congress'' webinars and publications offered valuable 
guidance to Members and managers.
  As a team, Ms. Goldschmidt and Ms. Folk Cooper were also leaders in 
CMF's ``Gold Mouse Awards'' project, which identifies best practices in 
congressional websites. The modern congressional website, which focuses 
on Members' policy positions, voting records, and constituent services, 
was largely inspired and created by CMF and these two dedicated public 
servants.
  Madam Speaker, we all know that Congress wouldn't function without 
the invaluable work done every day by the staff who support us. Kathy 
Goldschmidt and Nicole Folk Cooper have been vital advisors and guides 
to Members and staff for decades and have worked diligently to enhance 
the performance of congressional offices and Congress as an 
institution. It's hard to quantify every contribution or influence 
they've had on the Congress. But it's easy to conclude that Congress, 
congressional staff, and democracy are better because of their work. I 
congratulate them both on these milestones in their long history of 
public service and I look forward to continuing to work with them and 
their colleagues at CMF for years to come.

                          ____________________