[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 11]
[Senate]
[Page 15452]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        TRIBUTE TO MIKE HORSLEY

 Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. President, it is with great pleasure and the 
highest regards that I speak on the retirement of my long-time friend 
and valued constituent James Michael Horsley. Mike announced his 
retirement as president of the Alabama Hospital Association earlier 
this year and is planning to transition to his next venture in 
November.
  Mike has had a long and distinguished career with the Alabama 
Hospital Association and has represented well the interests of 
hospitals and the patients they serve. His tremendous knowledge of the 
health care industry has been a valuable resource for members of the 
Alabama delegation. This knowledge is grounded not only in his 24 years 
of service to the association but also in his service to the State as 
commissioner of both the Alabama Medicaid Agency and the Alabama 
Department of Mental Health. His knowledge of health policy is 
unparalleled in the State and his expertise will be sorely missed as we 
continue to discuss the myriad of issues concerning health care 
delivery.
  Not only is Mike well versed in health policy, but he is also a 
skilled negotiator, who has been able to convene diverse interests and 
facilitate lasting solutions that benefit all parties. He is respected 
as a man for his word, with a reputation for being ethical in all of 
his endeavors.
  Mike is a strategic thinker who possesses the ability to find 
innovative solutions for seemingly insurmountable challenges. Under his 
leadership, Alabama's hospitals have been able to provide 
extraordinarily good care with very limited resources. In addition, he 
has been very active in highlighting the inequalities of the current 
Medicare wage index payment mechanism and advocating for a change of 
the broken system. I commend Mike's tireless work to reform the 
Medicare Area Wage Index, and I am proud to have worked with him on 
many successful endeavors to improve the wage index. In 2003, after 
leadership by the Alabama Hospital Association, the Congress passed 
legislation that improved the wage index for several rural States. The 
action resulted in payment gains for hospitals in Alabama of 
approximately $1 million per hospital per year. The State of Alabama 
has been lucky to have him as their champion on this issue.
  I also want to commend him for his exemplary service to his country 
as an active member of the U.S. Navy and as a long-time reservist. Mike 
was a respected intelligence officer who retired at the rank of captain 
and was responsible for keeping many of our Navy men and women out of 
harm's way.
  In addition to this remarkable career and military service, Mike is 
also a devoted husband, father, and grandfather. He has been married to 
Wanda for almost 40 years, and together, they have one son and two 
grandchildren. In light of these and all of his many accomplishments, I 
want to congratulate him on his outstanding career and to wish him the 
best in his impending retirement.

                          ____________________