[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 2]
[Senate]
[Page 2460]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       TRIBUTE TO ALYCIA FARRELL

  Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, it is sometimes said that the work of the 
staff is little noticed until something goes wrong. Today, I wish to 
make comments about a member of the staff of the Appropriations 
Committee for a different reason: the outstanding record of service to 
the Senate and the Nation by Alycia Farrell.
  Alycia came to Washington, DC, to study at the Elliott School of 
International Affairs at the George Washington University. She joined 
the Senate Committee on Appropriations under the late chairman, Ted 
Stevens, in 2001. A year later, she was promoted to a professional 
staff member for the Subcommittee on Military Construction and in 2003 
moved to the Subcommittee on Defense.
  Alycia's responsibilities on the Subcommittee on Defense for the last 
12 years have been varied and complex. Her areas of expertise have 
included oversight of military health programs, where she has been 
instrumental in pushing for reforms to better serve the men and women 
in uniform and their families. She has tackled the most important 
issues in military health care over the last decade, including 
increasing funding for traumatic brain injury, suicide prevention, and 
implementing electronic health record systems for our veterans.
  She has also excelled in oversight of missile defense programs, where 
Alycia has been a key voice in promoting the defense of our country 
while also calling for accountability in these technologically complex 
and expensive programs. She is a notable expert in the cooperative 
programs between the United States and Israel, where Alycia has played 
a key part in obtaining funding for programs such as Iron Dome, which 
have helped protect a key American ally from harm.
  But no description of Alycia's contributions to the Senate are 
complete without mentioning what she has brought to the people who have 
worked with her for the last decade and a half. She is a bundle of 
cheerful energy who takes great enthusiasm in everything she does. This 
is especially true in her love of the outdoors and commitment to 
hockey.
  Alycia Farrell is soon to depart the Senate for new challenges. 
Raised in Alaska, she has heard the call of the northern climate from 
her youth and will soon move to Alberta, Canada, where she will 
establish a new life with her fiance.
  I send Alycia Farrell my heartfelt gratitude for outstanding service 
to the Senate, and I wish her all the very best on her future 
endeavors.

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