[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 148 (2002), Part 12]
[House]
[Page 16077]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




           TRIBUTE TO CONGRESSIONAL STAFFER J. RUSSELL GEORGE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from California (Mr. Horn) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. HORN. Madam Speaker, all of us who serve in Congress depend 
heavily on skilled, capable and hardworking staff members to meet the 
demands of committee hearings, floor action and all the other 
activities of a national legislature. Over the past decade of my 
service in the House of Representatives, I have been blessed with a 
strong and effective group of staff members who have helped me meet the 
needs of both constituents and the Nation. My staff also has helped me 
engage in vigorous oversight of government programs as a subcommittee 
chairman of the House Committee on Government Reform.
  J. Russell George joined my staff in 1995 shortly after Republicans 
won control of the House and I was appointed to a subcommittee 
chairmanship. Since that time, Russell has been a key adviser to me and 
chief aide in directing the subcommittee through hundreds of hearings 
that investigated every department of the Federal Government. Russell 
helped me prod executive agencies into a serious and sustained effort 
to prevent any major breakdowns of government computer systems due to 
software problems related to the year 2000 changeover. Some called it 
Y2K.
  I thank Russell for his dedication and hard work, and I wish him all 
the very best in what I know will continue to be a very distinguished 
career in public service. He was a key force in pressing for 
legislation to collect debts owed to the taxpayers and he has directed 
many other subcommittee initiatives, such as misuse of taxpayers' well-
earned dollars. All of those efforts built on Russell's prior 
experience as a New York prosecutor.
  When Russell George was a teenager, he worked in the office of 
Senator Dole. He knew that this young man cared about the public 
interest. Through Senator Dole's office, Russell secured his education 
at Howard University and then went on to Harvard Law School. He was a 
Phi Beta Kappa at Howard, majoring in political science and minoring in 
history. He wanted to help his community and he did it, in Queens, New 
York. When he was ten years of age, he was helping charities.
  Senator Dole was with us today as he administered the oath of office 
for Mr. George's new responsibilities as the Inspector General for the 
Corporation for National and Community Service. We hope that he will 
maybe come back to the Hill sometime. He has been in the executive 
branch under President George H.W. Bush, the father of the current 
President. Both have seen faith in Russell George.
  He went back to the law firm in New York and we were able to get him 
to come down here because we knew what he had done earlier. In those 
days he was also assistant general counsel in the Office of Management 
and Budget and associate director for the policy in the White House's 
Office of National Service. Interesting, because that is the 
responsibility he has now. After serving all of that work in New York 
and in Washington, we thank him for his dedication and hard work and 
wish him all the very best in what I know will continue to be a very 
distinguished career in public service. He is a wonderful person and a 
sterling example of the men and women who serve our Congress.

                          ____________________