[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 5]
[Senate]
[Pages 6450-6451]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     TRIBUTE TO GEORGE R. STEPHENS

 Mr. CRAIG. Mr. President, it is with mixed emotions that I 
offer this congratulatory statement to George R. Stephens, a long-time 
GPO liaison to the Senate Republican Policy Committee, on the eve of 
his retirement. George has been a part of the Policy Committee family 
for so long that we've practically forgotten he's on a different 
payroll. In fact, his tenure with the Committee long precedes my 
service as Committee Chairman.
  But, let's start at the beginning. George R. Stephens began his 
employment with the Government Printing Office in 1969, following in 
his mother's--and his grandmother's--footsteps. George's mother, Ella 
Stephens, joined GPO in 1950 as a ``clerk-typist.'' George's first GPO 
job was a Linotype operator. After a short stint in the private sector, 
George returned to work at GPO's headquarters for about 10 years. In 
January of 1981, he began his 18-year service as a GPO liaison to the 
U.S. Senate, assigned to the Republican Policy Committee (RPC) as a 
printer/proofreader. The position included aiding the RPC in publishing 
its Record Vote Analysis, a publication the Committee has provided 
continually since its inception in 1947.
  George has served under four Policy Committee chairmen: John Tower of 
Texas; Bill Armstrong of Colorado; Don Nickles; and now myself. It must 
have been a challenge for a nonpartisan federal employee to work in the 
single large committee room that houses the dedicated, outspoken, and 
decidedly opinionated RPC staff, engaged in near-constant discourse 
about how to solve the problems of the day. To his credit, George's 
professionalism and nonpartisanship never wavered, yet he is accepted 
as a full-fledged member of our Policy Committee family. I think it's 
fair to say he appreciates our party's dedication to keeping government 
in its place--that is, good government, but not Big Government.
  George has certainly been an energetic advocate for the good 
government work of his employer, Congress' printer. In a letter to the 
editor to Roll Call in 1995 responding to that newspaper's call for 
increased privatization of GPO services, George wrote, ``. . . There 
isn't another printing company on this earth capable of producing such 
large jobs so quickly and with the high standards to which Members have 
become accustomed. Newcomers to Washington quickly learn that GPO 
prints and delivers the Congressional Record and the Federal Register 
on a daily basis. They also learn that its ability to have printed 
bills and other documents available within hours of their drafting is 
essential to the smooth and timely operation of Senate proceedings.''
  George's years of service with the GPO span an era of unprecedented 
growth in technology. From typewriters and hot metal typesetting, to 
so-called cold press, to computer desktop publishing, fiber optics, CD-
Rom's and online publishing, George has witnessed truly revolutionary 
changes to the world of printing. However, one thing has not changed: 
our government's commitment to assure public access to government 
information. George is part of that proud tradition.
  While some witnesses to a revolution turn and run in fear of the 
unknown, George has embraced each development along the way. His 
eagerness to keep up with changing technology has been an asset to our 
Committee, but his eagerness is not limited to technology. This is a 
man who loves his job. With a record that likely competes with any 
postman, George travels 60 miles each way every day to arrive at work 
on time, no matter the weather or traffic conditions. His dedication is 
commendable.
  But George will not be remembered simply for his work as our 
Committee's GPO liaison. He's also an avid ham radio operator, and for 
13 years has served as president of the Capitol Hill Amateur Radio 
Society. The club was formally established in 1969, and, at the urging 
of Senator Barry Goldwater of Arizona, it established a station in the 
Russell Senate office building. That station has been maintained on a 
voluntary basis, without any government funds, ever since. Over the 
years, the club has stood ready to provide communications in the event 
of a disaster, and to help connect military personnel overseas with 
their friends or family members. In one of its many accomplishments 
under George's leadership, the club in 1991 hosted a commemoration of 
the bicentennial of the birth of Samuel F.B. Morse, by reenacting 
Morse's historic 1844 message, ``What hath God wrought!'' from the 
Nation's Capitol to Baltimore. The telegraph instruments used for the 
re-enactment were loaned by the Smithsonian Institution, and because 
the society's members are proficient in Morse code, the re-enactment 
was historically accurate.
  Yet, things have a way of changing. Like hot metal typesetting, ham 
radio is truly a phenomenon of the 20th century. The advent of the 
computer and the Internet age have reduced ham radio's appeal. And so 
now, when George goes, so too goes the Capitol Hill Amateur Radio Club. 
On George's last day of government service, April 30, the club will 
disband, the equipment will be donated to a foundation, the antenna 
removed from the Russell roof. The callsign ``W3USS'' will remain alive 
but inactive. This marks the end of a remarkable era.
  So, let us look to the future. George and his wife Bea live in a 
little southern Maryland town called Avenue. His house is right on the 
water, but George doesn't own a boat. He says he's never had time for 
boating. Now, he's looking at buying a nice little 24-foot or 30-foot 
``party boat'' so he can host friends in an occasional leisure-filled 
afternoon on the lower Potomac. Perhaps, after that little purchase, he 
won't miss us all quite so much!
  In closing, on behalf of myself, and of the current and former staff 
of the U.S. Senate Republican Policy Committee, I wish to offer 
heartfelt thanks for George's many valuable years of service, and our 
hopes that he and his wife enjoy many happy and healthy years of

[[Page 6451]]

retirement. We truly cannot give enough thanks to someone who has 
dedicated himself to making sure we Senators--literally--dot our `i's' 
and cross our `t's'.

                          ____________________