[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 139 (Friday, August 26, 2022)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E877]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




PAYING TRIBUTE TO MIKE DEAN FOR HIS DECADES OF SERVICE IN THE OFFICE OF 
                    THE CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. STENY H. HOYER

                              of maryland

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, August 26, 2022

  Mr. HOYER. Madam Speaker, I rise to honor the House's lead 
upholsterer, Mike Dean--a master craftsman from Maryland's Fifth 
Congressional District whose work has touched the lives of every person 
who serves the House of Representatives. After nearly four decades of 
hard work on Capitol Hill, Mike recently announced his well-deserved 
retirement.
  If you have ever sat on a bench, chair, or sofa in the Capitol, you 
have benefited from Mike's steadfast commitment to his craft. To Mike, 
upholstery is an art as much as it is a trade. He and his colleagues do 
not cut corners. From the ``eight-way tie'' to the ``fox edge,'' Mike 
and his team have mastered traditional techniques that most people in 
their field have sacrificed to save time and money. He operates perhaps 
the most interesting contraption in the Capitol complex: a vintage 
horsehair picker from the 1930's. Most of the House's furniture 
contains horsehair that Mike has recycled and fluffed using the picker, 
and experts at the Smithsonian believe it is the only machine of its 
kind still in active use today.
  To reupholster just one of the beautiful, century-old Turkish chairs 
you see around the Capitol, it can take Mike and his team eighty hours 
of labor and forty pounds of horsehair. Unsurprisingly, the chairs 
remain just as comfortable today as I imagine they did in Speaker 
Joseph Cannon's time. Although modern techniques and materials would be 
easier to use, Mike knows that there is no substitute for quality and 
durability.
  As Members of Congress, we strive to uphold longstanding political 
and procedural norms and traditions to treat this institution with the 
reverence it deserves. Mike's work is not so different. He is committed 
to historical preservation and authenticity because he knows it is the 
only way to produce and maintain furniture worthy of adorning the 
People's House. For as long as the Capitol has stood, artisans like 
Mike have served as its custodians. For that, they will always be a 
part of its history.
  I ask all my colleagues to join me in thanking Mike Dean for his 
decades of diligent service and in wishing him a happy retirement.''

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