[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 14]
[Senate]
[Page 19498]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      RECOGNIZING FEDERAL EMPLOYEE


                             Deborah Autor

  Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I rise again to recognize the service of 
another great Federal employee. This is a tradition that was started by 
our friend and former colleague, Senator Kaufman, and I am proud to 
carry on that tradition. But I want to first say that I appreciate the 
remarks of the Presiding Officer about our colleagues who are leaving 
this body, and I share his great respect for not only Senator Kaufman 
but all of the colleagues who are leaving the body at the end of this 
Congress.
  Mr. President, oftentimes we forget that thousands of Federal 
employees go to work every day with the sole mission of making this 
country a safer place to live. Ms. Deborah Autor is one of those 
employees.
  As we enter into the cold and flu season, there is great concern 
about harmful medications that may fall into the hands of our children 
or other loved ones. As Director of the Food and Drug Administration's 
Drug Compliance Office, Ms. Autor works to protect public health by 
minimizing Americans' exposure to unsafe, ineffective, and poor-quality 
drugs that enter the marketplace.
  Ms. Autor is particularly focused on removing potentially dangerous 
prescription medicines, including cough medicines, anti-inflammatory 
drugs, antihistamines, and migraine medications, just to name a few. 
Under her leadership, the FDA has taken enforcement action to remove 
more than 500 unapproved prescription drugs from the market. She is 
also credited with designing a program used to identify unapproved 
drugs, evaluate the public health consequences, and explore any 
potential legal challenges.
  Many believe Ms. Autor is the brains behind the FDA's aggressive 
enforcement efforts. In conducting the research for these remarks, we 
found a quote from Mr. Steven Galson, a former Acting U.S. Surgeon 
General, and this is what he had to say about Ms. Autor:

       She developed the program under budget constraints, 
     withstood scrutiny and criticism from some in the drug 
     industry and Congress, successfully navigated the internal 
     FDA process and took aggressive action to clamp down on 
     illegal drug marketers.

  There are many others who have sung her praises and highlighted her 
commitment to public service.
  Prior to work at the FDA, Ms. Autor was a trial attorney for the 
Office of Consumer Litigation at the Department of Justice, where she 
served for 7 years. In this role, she litigated civil and criminal 
cases on behalf of the FDA.
  I hope my colleagues will join me in honoring Ms. Autor for her 
dedicated public service and important contributions to our Nation's 
health and safety.
  I would also add that in these challenging fiscal times, as we 
approach and go through the holiday season, I hope we all recognize the 
enormous contribution all of our Federal employees make. The Presiding 
Officer many times reminds all of us of the enormous role our men and 
women in the armed services play, and our thoughts and prayers are with 
all of them. But I think it is also important to recognize these great 
Federal employees such as Ms. Autor and literally the countless others 
who oftentimes--and sometimes at the disdain of folks in elective 
office--are the folks who provide enormous public service to all 
Americans. So I hope we keep them in our thoughts as well during this 
holiday season.
  Before I conclude my remarks, I also wish to thank my friend, the 
Senator from Vermont, who is a passionate advocate for trying to end 
the growing income inequality in this country. I know he is going to be 
making some impassioned comments, and I appreciate his giving me a 
couple of moments to recognize this Federal employee, and I look 
forward to hearing his comments.
  With that, Mr. President, I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Vermont.

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