[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 14]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 19283]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




    HONORING THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE AMERICAN POLITICAL SCIENCE 
              ASSOCIATION CONGRESSIONAL FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. JIM COOPER

                              of tennessee

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 22, 2003

  Mr. COOPER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to offer my sincerest 
congratulations to the American Political Science Association on the 
50th anniversary of its Congressional Fellowship Program. I am also 
personally deeply grateful to the APSA for the privilege of working 
with one of the program's most talented fellows this year, Dr. Frances 
Lee of Case Western Reserve University.
  Frances has been a true delight and an invaluable asset to my office. 
Both my staff and I feel honored to have had a chance to benefit from 
her many-faceted intelligence, her unstinting hard work, and her ever-
cheerful demeanor. In her short time with us, she has worked on several 
projects of both local and national impact that are of special 
importance to my constituents back in the Fifth District.
  For example, Frances took principal responsibility in preparing a 
comment letter to the Internal Revenue Service, protesting its ``pre-
certification'' proposal for recipients of the Earned Income Tax 
Credit. This credit provides approximately $89 million in refunds to 
the hard-working families of my district each year, and its benefit to 
my constituents cannot be overstated. Frances worked with both local 
and national community groups and advocates to help raise awareness of 
the IRS proposal, which would have imposed an onerous bureaucratic 
burden on EITC beneficiaries by requiring them to ``register'' for this 
credit in advance. Frances meticulously researched the details of the 
IRS plan and crafted a well-written and persuasive letter urging the 
IRS to reconsider the impact of its proposal. Her efforts have drawn 
not only attention from the media but the interest of community groups 
in Nashville, who are now working with our office to make free tax 
assistance more readily available in our community. I cannot thank her 
enough for what her work will do to help ensure that my constituents 
continue to receive the tax credits they have earned through their hard 
work.
  In addition to this effort, Frances provided our office with valuable 
assistance and advice on issues as varied as diversity in media 
ownership, prescription drugs and Medicare and social security. She 
also worked on projects critical to local economic development and 
charity.
  Both my staff and I will miss Frances deeply, and on behalf of my 
staff, I wish her the very best in all of her future endeavors. And to 
the APSA for granting us the opportunity to work with Frances, I again 
offer my sincerest thanks.

                          ____________________