[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 15]
[Senate]
[Pages 22129-22130]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                TRIBUTE TO COMMANDER CATHERINE A. WILSON

 Mr. INOUYE. Mr. President, as the 106th Congress draws to a 
close, I stand to pay tribute to a distinguished Navy officer who 
served as a Congressional Science Detail on my staff during this 
Congress. Commander Catherine Wilson, United States Navy, was selected 
for this highly coveted position as a result of her outstanding 
training, experience, and accomplishments. Her superb performance and 
impeccable credentials earned her the respect and admiration of the 
Senate staff. She distinguished herself rapidly as a professional who 
possessed a pleasant demeanor, tremendous integrity, decisive 
leadership style, political savvy, and unending energy. The ultimate 
Naval officer, Commander Wilson is a visionary thinker who has the 
innate ability to implement these visions. Commander Wilson is the 
consummate professional and nursing has never had a better ambassador 
nor patients a more devoted advocate.
  Commander Wilson forged strong alliances and affiliations with staff 
from a myriad of Congressional offices, committees, and federal and 
civilian agencies that fostered a cohesive approach to legislative 
proposals. She worked

[[Page 22130]]

closely with staff members on the Appropriations Subcommittees on 
Defense and Labor, Health and Human Services and Education in support 
of military health issues and national nursing and health care agendas.
  As an advocate of Tri-Service nursing and military health issues, 
Commander Wilson championed independent practice for nurse 
anesthetists, the continuation of the Bachelor of Science degree as the 
minimum level of education for entry into military nursing practice, 
continued funding for a graduate school of nursing at the Uniformed 
Services University of the Health Sciences, and the Tri-Service Nursing 
Research Program. She was instrumental in securing appropriations 
language for a wide variety of health care initiatives including 
telemedicine, advanced medical technologies, and distance learning.
  More than fifty years ago, as I was recovering in a military 
hospital, I began a unique relationship with military nurses. Commander 
Wilson embodies what I know military nurses to be--strong, dedicated 
professional leaders stepping to the forefront to serve our country and 
committed to caring for our Sailors, Marines, Airmen, Soldiers, and 
their family members during peacetime and at war.
  Commander Wilson is an officer of whom the military and our nation 
can and should be justifiably proud: a unique combination of talent and 
devotion to duty. I want to personally acknowledge my sincere 
appreciation to Commander Wilson for her exemplary months of service, 
and to bid her a fond aloha and heartfelt mahalo.

                          ____________________