[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 1]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 58]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      IN RECOGNITION OF GARY JONES

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. MICHAEL C. BURGESS

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, January 17, 2012

  Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize FEMA Region 6 
Deputy Regional Administrator Gary Jones as he retires from public 
service. Mr. Jones retired at the end of 2011 after forty-six years of 
state and federal service.
  Earning a Bachelor's Degree in Education from the University of 
Arkansas and a Master's Degree in Public Health Administration from 
Tulane University, Mr. Jones began his public service with the State of 
Arkansas. This state career spanned thirteen years, including three 
years as the Director of Arkansas' Emergency Medical Services Program. 
He then went into federal service in 1977 with the U.S. Public Health 
Service where his role as Arkansas State Coordinator for Physician 
Recruitment to identify doctors, dentists and nurses for rural Arkansas 
communities federally designated as medically underserved.
  In 1983 Mr. Jones joined FEMA and moved to Denton. By 1987 he was 
Branch Chief for Region 6 Technological Hazards Branch where he was 
responsible for the region's Radiological Emergency Preparedness, 
Radiological Defense, Hazardous Materials, Earthquake Preparedness, 
Hurricane Preparedness, Dam Safety and the Chemical Stockpile Emergency 
Preparedness programs.
  In 1994 Mr. Jones was promoted to his current position as the FEMA 
Region 6 Deputy Regional Administrator, during which he served on five 
separate occasions as the FEMA Region 6 Acting Regional Administrator 
for a span of time that exceeded four years.
  During the seventeen years he served as Deputy Regional 
Administrator, he provided executive leadership and oversight in over 
three hundred federally declared disasters including his roles as 
Deputy Principal Federal Official for Hurricane Rita (2005) and Federal 
Coordinating Officer for Hurricanes Katrina (2005) and Georges (1998) 
as well as service in Hurricane Andrew, the Oklahoma City bombing, the 
Columbia Space Shuttle disaster, Tropical Storm Allison, and the 
duration of 2008 which featured Hurricane Ike and proved to be a 
record-breaking year for the region in presidentially declared 
disasters. Several of these disasters have directly impacted the 26th 
District of Texas, and with each I and my staff have come to rely on 
his timely and thorough briefings during which he patiently shared the 
progress and challenges unique to each situation.
  As Mr. Jones enters retirement, the region loses a reliable and 
dedicated public servant. I wish for him many well-earned years to 
spend time with his wife Mary, daughter Shea Hutchison, and his 
granddaughter. I am honored to represent Gary Jones and FEMA Region 6 
in Washington, D.C., and on behalf of the constituents of the 26th 
District of Texas I rise to thank him for his service.

                          ____________________