[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 6]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 8071]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                             VALERIE GRASSO

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. RICK LARSEN

                             of washington

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 7, 2016

  Mr. LARSEN of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the 
extraordinary career of Valerie Bailey Grasso. Ms. Grasso retired 
earlier this year, concluding a remarkable 32 years of federal civil 
service with the Department of the Navy, the Library of Congress, and 
the Congressional Research Service (CRS). For the last 18 years, she 
has served as a defense acquisition policy analyst in the Foreign 
Affairs, Defense, and Trade Division of the CRS, rising to Specialist, 
the highest grade attainable. While at the CRS, she supplied Members of 
Congress, their personal staffs, and the staffs of congressional 
committees with consistently high quality insights, policy analysis, 
and historical context. I personally relied on reports she authored on 
topics including rare earth elements, veterans employment, and surplus 
military equipment.
  Ms. Grasso joined the CRS as a permanent staff member in 1998. She is 
the author or co-author of more than 30 CRS reports on a wide array of 
defense-related topics associated with weapon systems acquisition, 
defense contracting, the evolving defense industrial base, outsourcing 
of defense functions, contract competition, domestic material sourcing, 
and sealift. Her works were widely read by congressional clients and 
contributed directly to the CRS' mission of informing the legislative 
debate. I served as co-chair on the House Armed Services Committee's 
2012 Panel on Business Challenges within the Defense Industry. Valerie 
provided direct support to that panel and her insights and analysis 
were essential to the panel's work.
  Valerie was also a long-time member and officer of the Congressional 
Research Employee Association (CREA), the collective bargaining 
organization representing the interests of those working at the CRS. 
She served on the CREA board for nearly a decade, from 2004-2013, where 
she was a member of the telework committee and the CREA bargaining 
team. In 2013, she was elected Vice-President of CREA, and for the last 
two years of her career she served as CREA's President. She has also 
been recognized for her work with the Library of Congress chapter of 
Blacks in Government.
  I ask my fellow Members to join me in applauding Valerie Bailey 
Grasso for her lifelong commitment to supporting the nation and this 
body and in wishing her a long and enjoyable retirement.

                          ____________________