[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 3]
[Senate]
[Page 3648]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              JOANNE HULS

  Ms. STABENOW. Mr. President, I rise today in both sadness and 
celebration because my longtime staff person friend JoAnne Huls has 
decided to leave the Senate.
  I am sad because I am losing my trusted and valued deputy chief of 
staff who has been with me for a decade.
  I celebrate because I am happy to see a dear friend move on to new 
challenges and I wish her the best of luck.
  JoAnne--a native Michiganian--joined me as a college intern in 1993 
when I was in the Michigan Senate.
  She has been with me in a number of capacities, including during my 
tenure in the House of Representatives.
  Then JoAnne came with me to the Senate, serving as my scheduler and 
my deputy chief of staff. She has also been with me through four 
campaigns, with the usual long hours, tense days and junk food.
  All of us appreciate the work our staff does for us. They become like 
family. We often ask them to work long into the night and into the 
weekend for salaries far less than they could command in the private 
sector.
  Why do they do it? I think that people like JoAnne Huls come to this 
institution and work hard every day out of a sense of dedication to 
their State and country.
  And JoAnne also came here out of a sense of loyalty and dedication to 
me and to the issues we care deeply about.
  I will forever be grateful to her for her hard work, commitment and 
friendship.
  So thank you, JoAnne, good luck. I know you will make a difference 
wherever you are and I know you will continue to care deeply about our 
democratic process.
  We are fortunate that people such as JoAnne Huls are willing to be in 
public service.

                          ____________________