[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 8]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 11347-11348]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      A TRIBUTE TO FRANCIS T. MIKO

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. DAVID E. PRICE

                           of north carolina

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 3, 2007

  Mr. PRICE of North Carolina. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the 
accomplishments of Francis T. Miko, Specialist in International 
Relations with the Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Trade Division of the 
Congressional Research Service. Mr. Miko retired on April 27, 2007, 
after serving the Congress for over thirty years in various positions 
at CRS. Mr. Miko's tenure spanned multiple Congresses and several 
epochs in foreign policy and European affairs, his area of 
specialization. He has served as the institutional memory of Congress 
on important issues in which

[[Page 11348]]

he was the recognized expert. His work as an analyst, manager, and 
leader in the CRS organization is particularly notable for his tact, 
judgment, and unswerving commitment to the core CRS mission of 
supporting an informed national legislature with nonpartisan analytical 
and research work.
  Mr. Miko began working at CRS in 1974 as a research assistant in 
Soviet and Eastern European affairs. As an analyst and later as a 
specialist, Mr. Miko served as the principal CRS expert on Central and 
Eastern Europe. The quality of his work earned him widespread 
recognition and significantly contributed to CRS's reputation as a 
center for advanced policy analysis. During the Cold War years, he 
produced numerous studies on Eastern Europe and the detente period 
between the United States and Soviet Union, including major east-west 
initiatives such as the Conference on Security and Cooperation in 
Europe (CSCE). He participated in the congressional delegation to the 
Belgrade Conference of the CSCE in 1977 and the Budapest CSCE Cultural 
Forum in 1985. He was seconded to the Department of Defense in 1992 to 
serve as a representative of the Secretary of Defense at the CSCE 
Review Conference in Helsinki. As the Cold War wound down, Mr. Miko 
completed major CRS projects on the impact of the transformation of 
Eastern Europe after 1989 and the end of the Soviet Union in 1991. 
Later, he provided key analyses on global security issues such as 
organized crime, trafficking in persons, and approaches to counter-
terrorism. In the immediate aftermath of the September 11, 2001, 
terrorist attacks on the United States, Mr. Miko served as co-
coordinator of the CRS Terrorist Task Force that worked across subject 
divisions to coordinate related research needs for Congress.
  I got to know Mr. Miko well in another role, one through which he 
also provided invaluable service to Congress. He has played an 
instrumental part in two congressional programs to assist with the 
development of new democracies. From 1990 to 1996, Mr. Miko coordinated 
the CRS role in the Frost-Solomon Special Task Force on the Development 
of Parliamentary Institutions in Central and Eastern Europe. The role 
of the Task Force was to help strengthen the parliamentary 
infrastructures of the formerly passive legislatures in twelve 
countries of post-communist central and eastern Europe. This 
unprecedented initiative of the U.S. Congress entailed extremely 
demanding and complex activities involving technical assistance on 
legislative practice, library and research institutional development, 
and automation systems and design. Mr. Miko's understanding of Europe 
on the one hand, and of Congress on the other, was essential to the 
success of the program, as his first-hand knowledge of the people and 
cultures of Eastern European countries helped the Task Force 
appropriately tailor its activities to the needs and working styles of 
its legislative partners in the region.
  Representative David Dreier and I worked closely with Mr. Miko on the 
Frost-Solomon Task Force, and our positive experiences inspired us, in 
2005, to establish the House Democracy Assistance Commission to 
strengthen democratic institutions in emerging democracies worldwide. 
In this effort Mr. Miko has again proven an invaluable resource as a 
veteran expert in the development of democratic legislatures. He has 
helped the Commission determine appropriate partner nations, 
participated in needs assessments, and delivered direct technical 
assistance to partner legislatures. Most recently he accompanied us on 
a mission to Georgia, where we are working to support the democratic 
gains of the Rose Revolution. I and other Members of the Democracy 
Assistance Commission will greatly miss having such ready access to Mr. 
Miko at CRS, but we hope to find ways to continue to draw upon his 
insights and expertise as we move ahead with our work.
  Over the years, Mr. Miko assumed several senior management positions 
at CRS, serving twice as section head of the Europe, Middle East, and 
Africa section, and once as deputy assistant director for the foreign 
affairs division. He represented the Library of Congress at the 
National War College in 1984-1985. He earned a Distinguished Service 
Award for his performance as representative of the Office of the 
Secretary of Defense at the 1992 Helsinki Review Conference.
  In all of his professional endeavors, Mr. Miko has been a role model 
of the highest level of service to the U.S. Congress, the Library of 
Congress, and CRS. He has excelled as a capable manager of programs and 
resources, as a nationally renowned expert in his field of policy 
expertise, as a diplomat, and as a notable contributor to the 
legislative work of Congress.
  On behalf of my colleagues in Congress, I want to express my 
appreciation to Francis Miko for his many years of public service and 
for his multiple contributions to the Congress, and to wish him well in 
his retirement.

                          ____________________