[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 1]
[Senate]
[Pages 1446-1447]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                  TRIBUTE TO MARIE FABRIZIO DICKINSON

  Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I rise today to recognize the 
distinguished and exemplary career of Marie Fabrizio Dickinson, Chief 
Clerk of the Senate Armed Services Committee. Today, Marie achieves a 
notable and important career milestone: thirty years of continuous 
service with the Senate Committee on Armed Services.
  ``Far and away the best prize that life offers,'' Teddy Roosevelt 
once remarked, ``is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.'' 
During the past thirty years, Marie has tirelessly devoted her 
professional pursuits to work we all know to be certainly worth doing: 
supporting the men and women of the Armed Forces.
  Marie began her career in 1970 as the sole staff assistant for the 
Republican minority Committee staff. In 1987, Marie was promoted to 
Assistant Chief Clerk--serving eleven years in that assignment. When I 
became Chairman of the Committee in 1999, I was very fortunate to have 
Marie accept my request for her to serve as Chief Clerk of the 
Committee.
  During the last year, Marie has excelled as Chief Clerk. The Armed 
Services Committee has undertaken many

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initiatives and issues in the 106th Congress--pay and benefits reform 
for our servicemembers, military operations in the Balkans, and an end 
to the decade-plus downward trend of defense spending. In each 
instance, at any hour of day, or night, under Marie's direction, 
Committee administrative operations have been flawless. The gains we 
have made in support of our servicemembers during the past year are due 
in no small part to the professional acumen and personal commitment of 
Marie Dickinson.
  It is no small feat to attain the distinction achieved by Marie. Less 
than one percent of the employees of the Senate serving today have 
thirty or more years of service. Having supported five consecutive 
Chairmen prior to me--Senators Stennis, Goldwater, Tower, Nunn, and 
Thurmond--and seven staff directors of the Armed Services Committee, 
Marie is only surpassed in her duration of service with the Committee 
by the venerable Senator Strom Thurmond.
  Mr. President, I invite you and our Senate colleagues to join me and 
offer our sincere appreciation to Marie Dickinson for her outstanding 
and distinguished thirty years of services. I do so with the hope that 
Marie will continue her outstanding service as Chief Clerk of the 
Committee on Armed Services for many more years.
  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, today I am pleased to join our Chairman, 
Senator Warner, in congratulating and thanking Marie Fabrizio Dickinson 
on the occasion of her thirtieth anniversary on the staff of the 
Committee on Armed Services. This is a remarkable milestone for Marie. 
The Armed Services Committee and the Senate are very fortunate to 
continue to be the beneficiaries of her tremendous dedication and 
devotion to duty. In our Committee's history, no other staff member has 
ever served longer. But this tribute is about much more than the number 
of her years in service.
  A native Washingtonian, Marie was initially appointed to the 
Committee as a clerical assistant by Senator John Stennis in 1970. In 
1986, she was named the Committee's Assistant Chief Clerk by Senator 
Barry Goldwater and in 1999 Senator Warner promoted her to Chief Clerk. 
Whether managing the myriad of details associated with military 
construction projects, editing the Committee's SALT II hearing 
transcripts, or administering the complexities of thousands of military 
and civilian nominations, Marie has consistently given her best to our 
Committee and performed with excellence.
  One of the true hallmarks of Marie Dickinson's service on the 
Committee has been her ability to achieve success by working with quiet 
yet steadfast determination. If you ever need a living reminder of the 
timeless virtue of letting one's work speak for itself, look no further 
than Marie Dickinson. Marie has earned the trust and respect of those 
around her not because of what she has said, but because of what she 
has been able to accomplish in her loyalty, unselfishness, and 
attention to detail.
  Those who know Marie know that throughout her career on the Armed 
Services Committee she has demonstrated a strong commitment to 
maintaining the traditions of the Committee in general and in 
preserving the records of our Committee in particular. Many of us would 
certainly agree with these goals, but very few of us would be able to 
actually take the steps necessary day-in-and-day-out to safeguard the 
records that comprise the Committee's history. Marie's Herculean 
efforts to archive, research, compile and protect our Committee's 
record will insure that our Committee's important work is chronicled 
and documented for the historians of the future.
  Marie Dickinson has dedicated her entire professional career to the 
work of the Armed Services Committee. It is very fitting that we take 
time today, on this her thirtieth anniversary, to pay tribute to and 
thank her for the significant and lasting contributions she has made to 
our work on the Committee and to the United States Senate. I hope, as I 
know Senator Warner does, and all the other Committee Members and the 
staff do, that Marie will continue to serve with us for many more 
years.

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