[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 20]
[Senate]
[Page 29478]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                      RECOGNITION OF JULIE ROLING

 Mr. JOHNSON. Mr. President, I rise today to express my 
appreciation for the hard work of Julie Roling, a Brookings Institution 
Fellow who has worked as part of my staff for the past six months. 
Julie has been a tremendous asset to my legislative staff, and I am 
fortunate to have had her assistance. When she returns to the National 
Security Agency in December, I know she will be missed by me and my 
staff.
  Very often, Brookings Fellows have reputations that precede them in 
Capitol Hill offices. Known as some of the best and brightest 
government employees, they are considered secret weapons to the Members 
they assist. Julie has been no exception. She came to my office with a 
wealth of government experience and policy knowledge, as well as a 
model work ethic and positive attitude. While her expertise lies in 
defense procurement, Julie welcomed projects in a broad array of new 
issue areas and contributed a great deal to my legislative staff.
  Throughout the past six months, Julie has worked on a number of 
projects dealing with the environment, natural resources, agriculture 
and trade. Julie led research efforts regarding a controversial 
wetlands policy during her time in my office. The unfortunate 
circumstances surrounding this issue pitted the interests of 
agricultural producers against environmental groups. It was imperative 
that my staff and I have access to the most recent information, in 
order to effectively address the concerns of my constituents. Julie's 
research provided my office with up-to-date and unbiased information 
that enabled me to communicate clearly with both farmers and 
environmentalists during this time. Julie handled frequent 
communication with government agencies and almost daily communications 
with South Dakotans.
  Julie also provided valuable assistance on crop insurance legislation 
this year as well. Both the House of Representatives and the Senate 
introduced numerous bills to reform the crop insurance program in this 
Congress, an issue of great importance to the farmers of South Dakota. 
Julie collected and synthesized information that enabled me and my 
staff to decide which crop insurance reform bills most effectively 
addressed the concerns of South Dakota farmers.
  One of the most challenging tasks Julie undertook was the creation of 
a comprehensive resource guide regarding restructuring of the 
electricity industry. The end result of Julie's work was a thorough 
index of restructuring terms, industry positions, key issues and 
legislative proposals. Anyone who is familiar with the complexity of 
deregulation proposals can appreciate the hard work and attention to 
detail required to create such a resource, which will be invaluable to 
me as the Senate Energy Committee continues to discuss and evaluate 
restructuring legislation.
  Again, I wish to express my deep gratitude to Julie for a job well 
done. I wish her the very best in her future endeavors.

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