[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 137 (Friday, August 18, 2023)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E784]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 RECOGNIZING THE SERVICE OF MARIE A. MAK, DIRECTOR OF CONTRACTING AND 
    NATIONAL SECURITY ACQUISITIONS, GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. BENNIE G. THOMPSON

                             of mississippi

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, August 18, 2023

  Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, I rise to recognize the 
dedicated public service of Ms. Marie Mak, Director of Contracting and 
National Security Acquisitions at the Government Accountability Office 
(GAO), upon her retirement from Federal service. Ms. Mak has devoted 
over 36 years of service to the Federal Government, including at Naval 
Air Systems Command and the U.S. Coast Guard, before joining GAO in 
2002.
  Since entering the Senior Executive Service in 2014, Ms. Mak has 
skillfully led numerous GAO teams to conduct insightful analyses of 
acquisition programs and contracting processes within the Departments 
of Homeland Security and Defense, resulting in high quality reports for 
Congress. Her wide-ranging portfolio has also included assessing the 
Federal Government's response to hurricanes, wildfires, and other 
natural disasters, as well as the COVID-19 pandemic.
  Throughout her GAO career, Ms. Mak has taken a balanced, fact-based 
approach to reviewing Federal programs--a fundamental cornerstone of 
what Congress and the American public value about GAO. Drawing on her 
experience at the Coast Guard, where she helped develop strategic plans 
and performance measures, and allocate resources, she was able to 
understand the challenges that agencies often confront in their day-to-
day management efforts. She coupled that experience with a critical eye 
to recommended actions that agencies can take to improve their 
acquisition processes to deliver better, timelier, and more affordable 
systems used to execute their missions. She has testified before 
Congress several times on a variety of Coast Guard acquisition and 
disaster response contracting issues and delivered numerous briefings 
on key defense acquisition programs. As a result of Ms. Mak's work, 
Congress is able to hold agencies accountable to first responders, 
warfighters, and the American public.
  Ms. Mak has received numerous GAO awards throughout her career, 
including the Customer Service Award and John Henry Luke Mentoring 
Award. While Ms. Mak's work has saved taxpayer dollars, she has also 
positively impacted the growth and development of the people with whom 
she works. Ms. Mak embodies GAO's people values of ensuring others are 
respected, valued, and treated fairly, and has served as a trusted 
mentor and advocate that invests her time in coaching and developing 
people. Her focus on staff development will benefit the next generation 
of GAO leaders to the advantage of Congress and taxpayers for years to 
come.
  I congratulate Ms. Mak on her well-deserved retirement and thank her 
for her distinguished service to Congress and the American public.

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