[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 107 (Thursday, June 23, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Page S3156]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        TRIBUTE TO CAMILLE PEASE

  Mr. KING. Mr. President, as most of us here in the Senate know, this 
Chamber functions with a dedicated and able staff to support us. 
Because we are a relatively small body that has to oversee the actions 
of the far larger executive branch, we rely on specialists detailed 
from other Agencies throughout the government. It is really a two-way 
deal. When they come here, they learn about the intricacies of the 
legislative process and get to participate in it. In return, we benefit 
from their years of experience in the Agency they come from.
  In my case as chairman of the Strategic Forces Subcommittee of the 
Senate Armed Services Committee, we rely on the Government 
Accountability Office or GAO staff who specialize in nuclear and space 
systems to help us on the programmatic details of a multitude of 
programs in the Department of Energy and Defense, and every year, the 
committee sponsors one of them to spend a year with us.
  For the past year, we were fortunate enough to have Ms. Camille Pease 
with us from the GAO as our detailee, and now, her year is up, and she 
is heading back.
  Because of the way the Armed Services Committee works in preparing 
for a markup, members such as myself and Senator Fischer, our ranking 
member on the subcommittee, spend a tremendous amount of time with 
staff, including Cami, on hearings and briefings in order to build a 
legislative record and develop legislation for our annual markup of the 
National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA. In every aspect, Cami was 
there to enrich us with her expertise on the National Nuclear Security 
Administration. In return, I hope she is wiser on how we work in this 
Chamber, and in the Armed Services Committee in particular, on a 
bipartisan legislative process that has managed to produce a NDAA for 
the past 61 years.
  So we thank you, Cami, for spending time with us, and we wish you the 
best on your return to the GAO. We hope your time with us will help you 
in the years to come. I hope you take back to the GAO that, when it 
comes to the national security of this nation, and the NDAA in 
particular, this Chamber does work in a bipartisan and productive 
fashion, and it is my hope it will continue to do so in the years to 
come.

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