[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 131 (Friday, August 16, 2024)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E825]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        TRIBUTE TO KEM ANDERSON

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. JAMES E. CLYBURN

                           of south carolina

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, August 16, 2024

  Mr. CLYBURN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor a fellow South 
Carolinian and a remarkable public servant. Mrs. Kem Anderson has 
retired after 28 years of service at the Department of State and the 
United States Senate. The impact of her work continues to benefit our 
great country.
  A native of Denmark, South Carolina, Mrs. Anderson has worked 
tirelessly to serve the people of her home state. Earlier in her 
career, she served as a special assistant to Senator Ernest ``Fritz'' 
Hollings (D-SC), where she specialized in immigration casework. She 
also served on the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and 
Transportation; the Subcommittee on the Consumer, chaired by former 
Vice President Albert Gore; and the Subcommittee on Communications, 
chaired by Senator Daniel K. Inouye, before joining the State 
Department in February 1994.
  Her State Department career spanned the tenures of nine Secretaries 
of State. During this time, she worked on numerous high-profile issues, 
including helping organize the NATO Summit for its 50th anniversary in 
Washington in 1999. In 1997, she served on the planning committee to 
rename the State Department's library, the oldest federal government 
library, after statesman Ralph Bunche, and was recognized by then-
Secretary Madeleine Albright for her contributions to these efforts. 
While serving in the State Department's Bureau of Consular Affairs, she 
was responsible for monitoring the work of task forces that were 
drawing down personnel at U.S. missions in East Africa and served as a 
control officer for the funerals of two Americans who were tragically 
killed in the 1998 bombing of the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya.
  Mrs. Anderson was recently awarded a Meritorious Honor Award for her 
contribution to the success of the State Department's repatriation of 
over 100,000 Americans from 136 countries during the COVID-19 pandemic. 
On June 11, 2020, the United States Senate passed Senate Resolution 
567, commending career professionals at the Department of State for 
their extensive efforts to repatriate U.S. citizens during the 
pandemic. Her efforts were instrumental in keeping Congress informed on 
those repatriation efforts.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask that you and our colleagues join me in commending 
Mrs. Kem Anderson's extraordinary career and congratulating her on her 
well-earned retirement. As Mrs. Anderson embarks on this next chapter 
of her life, I am confident that her years of service will continue to 
resonate in the halls of Congress, the State Department, and the lives 
of Americans for many years to come.

                          ____________________