[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 15]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 21565-21566]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                       TRIBUTE TO RICHARD J. LIEN

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. DARLENE HOOLEY

                               of oregon

                    in the house of representatives

                      Tuesday, September 14, 1999

  Ms. HOOLEY of Oregon. Mr. Speaker, I would like to take this 
opportunity to enter into the Congressional Record a few words 
expressing the profound gratitude and esteem I have for a very special 
public servant in my congressional district. Richard J. Lien has served 
the public as a Social Security Field Representative for the last 25 
years. He has also been one of Social Security's special congressional 
liaisons for more than a decade. We will lose Dick to retirement on 
September 24.
  My staff and I have worked with literally dozens of congressional 
liaisons, and it is no exaggeration to say that Dick is the best of the 
best. Dick has worked with nearly every member of my staff and helped 
thousands of my

[[Page 21566]]

constituents with problems ranging from the easily fixable to the 
nearly impossible. Dick tackled problems big and small with his 
characteristic persistence and compassion for those he was trying to 
help.
  There was the time he got a woman her lost Social Security check just 
in time to prevent her home from being foreclosed. The time he got a 
young American girl living in Jerusalem a replacement Social Security 
Card in a week, so she could complete important State Department 
paperwork. The time he forwarded a young man--on Christmas Eve--more 
than $20,000 owed him in back disability pay.
  I could go on and on until I had filled several volumes. My 
constituents have called him a savior, a godsend, and even Santa Claus. 
And I haven't even touched on the work he has done for the other 
members of Oregon's Congressional Delegation and our predecessors.
  Through his years of service to the public and the Congress, Dick has 
been unfailingly professional, courteous, and persistent. He never gave 
up on a tough problem or complained, though he often bore more than his 
share of work. Dick will be sorely missed--by Oregon's members of 
Congress, by the Social Security Administration, and by the countless 
Oregonians he helped, many of whom probably never knew he was the one 
making sure they got their Social Security checks every month.
  Dick, today I salute you, my staff salutes you, and Oregon salutes 
you. May you have a peaceful and well-deserved retirement.

                          ____________________