[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 2]
[Senate]
[Page 1697]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      IN HONOR OF RICHARD SHAPIRO

  Mr. LIEBERMAN. Madam President, today I honor Richard H. Shapiro, who 
retired as executive director of the Congressional Management 
Foundation, CMF, in December after 18 years of service with the 
foundation and 17 years as its executive director. During those 18 
years, Mr. Shapiro has worked tirelessly to help all member and 
committee offices operate more productively and efficiently.
  Mr. Shapiro is a talented business consultant who has adapted many of 
the best practice methods of the business world to the unique 
institution that is the congressional office, and taken the time to 
train thousands of congressional staffers in these methods. In 
addition, Mr. Shapiro and his staff at CMF have conducted 
organizational assessments for member, committee and leadership 
offices. Some years ago, he was kind enough to conduct a structure 
evaluation for my Senate office, and he made several useful suggestions 
regarding my office's mail operation, web site and internal 
communications. My office implemented them all, and both my office and 
constituents are all better off for it.
  He has also helped many new Members of Congress set up both their 
Washington and district offices, a task that can be very daunting for 
anyone new to Congress. He has also conducted individual assessments 
and coaching for senior managers and Members. Under his leadership, the 
CMF began offering management guidance to congressional officers 
responsible for managing the House or Senate as a whole. Furthermore, 
Mr. Shapiro has helped to coordinate bipartisan events for all the 
Chiefs of Staff, which helps them get to know each other and work 
together better.
  Mr. Shapiro was also a leader in promoting the use of the World Wide 
Web and other digital forms of communications in Congress. Under his 
leadership, the CMF pushed for Members of Congress to establish Web 
sites that constituents could use to e-mail their representatives and 
get information on Congress. The CMF continues to encourage 
congressional offices to improve their Web sites by giving out the 
annual Golden Mouse award to the office with the best and most 
innovative Web site.
  Considering all that CMF has done under Mr. Shapiro's leadership, one 
is very surprised to find out that CMF has a very small staff and 
budget. But those who know Mr. Shapiro would tell you that, given his 
talent and dedication, it is no big surprise that CMF was able to 
provide so many quality services under his helm.
  Madam President, it my sincerest pleasure to thank Richard Shapiro 
for sharing his talent and dedication with us for so many years. 
Congress is a better place for it.

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