[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 20]
[House]
[Pages 27489-27490]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        TRIBUTE TO JEFF TRANDAHL

  (Mr. SHIMKUS asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. SHIMKUS. Mr. Speaker, obviously with the very exciting day that 
we have had, to the Clerk, my 1-hour Special Order changed to a 5-
minute Special Order, now to a 1-minute.
  I just want to say thank you for the work you have done. The 32nd 
Clerk of the House, a native of Spearfish, South Dakota, again over 20 
years of service.
  We had a great reception last night where your loyal supporters and 
friends and folks that have worked for you were there to say thanks for 
a tremendous effort. You give great credit to the professional staff 
and working in what has to be a very challenging environment, dealing 
with politicians and our whims and our foibles.

                              {time}  2340

  We want to thank him for that. He has brought great credit to that in 
a long line of Clerks who served honorably, and we just wish for his 
successor great success and blessings as she takes on this great 
challenge in this new role.


                               background

       32nd Clerk of the House.
       Native of Spearfish, South Dakota.
       Twenty years of House service.
       Aide to: James Abdor (R-SD) in House and Senate; Virginia 
     Smith (R-NE); Pat Roberts (R-KS); Committees on 
     Appropriations and House Administration.
       Assistant to the Clerk, Acting Chief Administrative 
     Officer; Deputy Clerk; appointed Clerk December 1998 and 
     elected Clerk 106th through 109th Congresses.

[[Page 27490]]

       Graduate of University of Maryland.
       Begins appointment as Executive Director of National Fish 
     and Wildlife Foundation on November 21, 2005.


                          highlights as clerk

       Guided major House information technology initiatives to 
     including introduction of XML technology to standardize 
     creation and exchange of legislative information.
       Oversaw creation and management of first permanent and 
     professional House curatorial and archival services.
       Oversaw flourishing of House Page Program with construction 
     of new Page Residence Hall, and enhanced academic status and 
     national recognition of the House Page School.
       Instrumental in creation of House Office of Emergency 
     Preparedness and leader in establishing and improving 
     continuity of operations planning for the House.
       Implemented program to expand House portraiture collection 
     of historical House figures, including the first woman, the 
     first African-American, and the first Hispanic-American 
     elected to Congress.
       Implemented the first electronic filing program for the 
     House.

  Mr. HASTERT. Mr. Speaker, I rise to express my appreciation to Jeff 
Trandahl, the departing Clerk of the House. We are going to miss Jeff 
who has given over 20 years of faithful service to the United States 
Congress.
  After rising through the ranks in Member and committee offices, in 
1994 Jeff became a principle assistant to the transition team of the 
new Republican majority, helping to set up the first new majority in 
almost five decades. Jeff served as an assistant to the Clerk and then 
as the Acting Chief Administrative Officer of the House. In December 
1998, I selected Jeff as my first officer appointment and the 32nd 
Clerk of the House. Jeff was subsequently elected by the House to four 
consecutive 2-year terms. He served on four occasions as the presiding 
officer for the opening of the House, overseeing the seating of Members 
and the election of the Speaker.
  As the chief legislative official of the House, Jeff has been 
responsible for the daily legislative operations of the House from the 
day's Journal to our voting system. He has led the House Page Program, 
which under Jeff's leadership was recognized as a top educational 
institution, and he has managed the House's historical, curatorial, and 
archival needs.
  Jeff has also been very instrumental in the development of the 
Capitol Visitor Center project, especially the future exhibit space. 
Jeff has provided valuable leadership to the House Fine Arts Board, the 
Capitol Preservation Commission, and the National Archives Advisory 
Committee on the Records of Congress.
  Jeff's tenure as Clerk has coincided with extraordinary events, 
including 9/11 and anthrax. Thanks to Jeff and the other Officers of 
the House, the House was prepared with contingency plans. Jeff was also 
instrumental in making the ceremonial session in New York City to mark 
the 1 year anniversary of 9/11 a tremendously moving and historical 
event.
  On both sides of the Capitol building and on both sides of the aisle, 
Jeff is known for his fairness, his dedication, and his hard work. As I 
have said before, Republican and Democratic Members of Congress alike 
have enormous respect for Jeff's vast institutional knowledge, his 
utter professionalism, and his ability to get things done--traits which 
have made him a very effective and successful Clerk.
  I join my colleagues in wishing Jeff all the best.
  Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the Members and staff of the U.S. House of 
Representatives, I express our sincere gratitude for Jeff's long and 
faithful service.

                          ____________________