[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 135 (Tuesday, August 5, 2025)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E751]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           HONORING JULIE TENSEN AS SHE STEPS INTO RETIREMENT

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. MICHAEL K. SIMPSON

                                of idaho

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, August 5, 2025

  Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize my longtime 
employee, Julie Tensen.
  I have often said that a really good staff makes a decent Member of 
Congress look great--and I have the best staff. I've been fortunate to 
have outstanding individuals like Julie by my side.
  Julie started working for me early in my career. She's had many roles 
since the beginning, including Education Outreach Coordinator, where 
she teamed up with the Lee Pesky Learning Center to create a program 
aimed at helping new mothers read to their babies and create healthy 
habits that we know are so important in today's tech world. I can 
honestly say that Julie was ahead of her time and got me involved in 
this important initiative back in 2002.
  A Congressman's schedule is crazy at best. You have your Washington 
schedule full of hearings, votes, and thousands of meetings, and then 
you have the district schedule that consists of tours, site visits, 
office meetings, and so much more. Meeting with your constituents in 
their environment and the logistics that go with it are even more 
complicated. I could always count on Julie to dot every `i' and cross 
every `t'.
  People may also be unaware that every member of Congress receives an 
MRA, or a Member's Representational Allowance. This is your budget for 
running all of your offices. This includes staff salaries, rent, office 
supplies, computer equipment, subscriptions, travel expenses, and all 
other items that are purchased to run a congressional office. Julie was 
my Budget Director, overseeing the entire budget--a huge responsibility 
that she handled for me. Like everything that Julie did, she did well, 
and I never had to worry about a thing.
  From helping tens of thousands of Idahoans navigate complex federal 
issues to managing my entire state schedule, to personally attending 
meetings and events representing me, Julie has been far more than an 
asset--she has been family.
  As she enters retirement, Julie will enjoy some well-deserved time 
with her husband, and their children, Kris and Cole Anderson, Brad 
Tensen, Hannah Purdy, and their grandchildren, Max, Jacq, and Maggie.
  I will miss Julie, the rest of my staff will miss Julie, and so will 
the Idahoans that she so faithfully served for the last two decades.
  Mr. Speaker, I offer my sincere gratitude to Julie's husband, John, 
for sharing his amazing wife with Team Simpson for all these years. And 
I ask my colleagues to join me in thanking and honoring Julie Tensen 
for her decades of outstanding public service to the people of Idaho 
and this great Nation.

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