[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 13]
[Senate]
[Pages 17732-17733]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        TRIBUTE TO DEREK MILLER

  Mr. HARKIN. Madam President, as I prepare to relinquish the gavel as 
chair of the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, I 
would like to take a few minutes to express my deep gratitude to our 
staff director, Derek Miller, for his sterling service in one of the 
Senate's most demanding staff positions.

[[Page 17733]]

  Knute Rockne was fond of saying: ``I've found that prayers work best 
when you have big players.'' Successful committee chairs in the Senate 
have the same approach. We know that it is not enough to be on the side 
of the angels; we have got to have big players. Here in the Senate, 
that means big intellect, work ethic, big heart. Those are qualities 
that Derek Miller possesses in superabundance.
  Derek originally came to work for me in 2003, during my tenure as 
chair of the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, where 
he was the lead staffer in our efforts to address the childhood obesity 
epidemic by improving the nutritional content of foods available in 
schools. Derek's goal and mine, simply put, was to get junk food out of 
our schools and to get healthy foods in. Our efforts came to fruition 
with passage of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010, which 
reformed the school lunch program and established national nutrition 
standards for all foods sold in schools, including foods sold in 
vending machines, school snack bars, and a la carte cafeteria lines.
  In addition, in the 2008 farm bill, Derek was instrumental in 
dramatically expanding a program I created in the 2002 farm bill to 
provide fresh produce free of charge to students in elementary schools 
that have a high proportion of children from low-income families. Also 
in that 2008 farm bill, he spearheaded important reforms to the 
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as the food 
stamp program.
  In 2010, Derek moved to my personal office as legislative director, 
where he proved himself to be a gifted parliamentary strategist and 
where he combined equal measures of humor and commitment to progressive 
policy to successfully advance my agenda. It is my hope that his weekly 
email summations of the Senate floor activity live on in posterity.
  Early this year I tapped him to lead the staff of the HELP Committee.
  The ``P'' in the HELP Committee abbreviation stands for ``pensions.'' 
But we also like to think it stands for ``people.'' Traditionally, the 
HELP Committee has been a powerhouse of progressive legislation--
legislation to give people a hand up, provide a ladder of opportunity, 
and expand access to health care and a secure retirement.
  Under Derek's skilled leadership, the committee has been true to that 
great progressive tradition. He has played a critical role in passing 
important bipartisan legislation to meet the everyday needs of working 
Americans. Indeed, amidst a Senate too often mired in partisanship, I 
thank Derek for helping our committee to chart a very different 
course--a course of bipartisanship and accomplishment. In this 113th 
Congress, the HELP Committee has passed a remarkable 23 bills signed 
into law by the President, distinguishing our Committee as the Senate's 
most productive.
  But beyond legislative accomplishments, I want to pay tribute to 
Derek's excellence as a manager, as not just staff director but a true 
staff leader. Derek's colleagues respect that he has no ego, he has 
only a job to get done--and that is so rare here on the Hill, where 
empire-building and self-aggrandizement are all too common.
  Derek is respected by staff because his approach is to empower those 
around him, to support them in every way, but to give them plenty of 
room to do what they do best.
  He sees the professionals on the HELP Committee as people first, and 
as staffers second. If there is an illness, a pregnancy, or some other 
challenging circumstance, Derek will move heaven and earth to give the 
staffer the support he or she needs.
  Derek is attentive to his colleagues' family needs because, in his 
own life, family comes first. Inevitably, Derek's wife Sun and his son 
Philip have paid a price because of Derek's long hours at work, and for 
that I owe them a debt of gratitude.
  On behalf of my Senate colleagues, and in particular on behalf of 
members and staff on the HELP Committee, I thank Derek for his 
dedicated service to the people of the United States. I wish him much 
happiness and success in the years ahead.

                          ____________________