[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 19]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 27738]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



  TRIBUTE TO THOMAS A. BUTTS, ASSOCIATE VICE PRESIDENT FOR GOVERNMENT 
   RELATIONS AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN'S 
                        WASHINGTON, D.C. OFFICE

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. LYNN N. RIVERS

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                        Monday, November 1, 1999

  Ms. RIVERS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to Thomas A. 
Butts, Associate Vice President for Government Relations and Executive 
Director of the University of Michigan's Washington, D.C. Office, who 
is retiring from the University after 35 years of distinguished public 
service.
  Mr. Butts has served as the University's liaison to Congress and 
federal agencies for almost two decades. In addition to opening the 
University's Washington Office in 1990, he has logged thousands of 
miles commuting between Ann Arbor and Washington as together we've 
labored to strengthen higher education in the United States.
  Mr. Butts' success as an advocate for higher education emanates from 
his great personal warmth, his many contacts in government and academe, 
and his professional expertise, particularly in the area of student 
financial aid. Over the years, Mr. Butts has contributed enormously to 
the deliberations resulting in reauthorization of the Higher Education 
Act. He also championed the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan 
Program.
  Prior to becoming a government relations officer, Mr. Butts served 
the University as an admissions counselor and assistant director of 
admissions in 1964-67, assistant director of the Educational Resources 
Information Center I Counseling and Personnel Services in 1969-71, 
director of Student Orientation in 1967-77, and director of Student 
Financial Aid in 1971-77.
  He also worked as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Student Assistance 
with the U.S. Department of Education in the late 1970s. More recently, 
he has served as a member of both the National Commission on 
Responsibilities for Financing Postsecondary Education and of the 
Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance.
  Mr. Butts earned a Bachelor of Science degree in English, economics, 
and secondary education from Eastern Michigan University in 1959, and a 
Master of Science degree in education in 1964 and Ph.D. doctoral 
candidate certification in 1974, both from the University of Michigan. 
He was a first lieutenant in the U.S. Army in 1960-63.
  I applaud Mr. Butts' accomplishments and express my deep gratitude 
for his commitment to the well-being of students and to colleges and 
universities in Michigan and nationally. I congratulate Mr. Butts, a 
trusted adviser and friend, on this special occasion, and wish him a 
healthy and rewarding retirement.

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