[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 7]
[Senate]
[Page 10096]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         TRIBUTE TO TERI SPOUTZ

  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I have often remarked that the education 
of a Senator is a daunting task. Fortunately, the U.S. Senate is 
blessed with many talented staff who are dedicated to that challenge.
  Among them is Ms. Teri Spoutz, a professional staff member of the 
Defense Appropriations Subcommittee for the past 5 years. To read 
through Teri's accomplishments is to understand how fortunate the 
Senate is to be able to attract some of the best talent in Washington, 
DC.
  Teri grew up in southern California and began her career as a 
civilian at Los Angeles Air Force Base. As a financial manager, she 
served in a variety of positions overseeing major acquisitions of 
satellites and rockets for the Air Force.
  Teri and her family then left sunny California for the cold, 
windswept plains of the missile fields at F.E. Warren Air Force Base, 
WY, as her husband, Stephen, pursued his promising career as an Air 
Force officer. The Spoutz family landed in Washington, DC, in 2003, and 
Teri continued her work in the Pentagon.
  By 2008, Teri had been promoted to the Senior Executive Service as 
the Chief of Budget Investment for the Department of the Air Force. For 
nearly 3 years, Teri was the top financial overseer of all Air Force 
procurement, research and development, and military construction 
funding.
  In March 2011, Teri was persuaded to join the staff of the Defense 
Appropriations Subcommittee under the leadership of Chairman Daniel 
Inouye. Her expert knowledge of how the defense acquisition system 
works--and, too often, how it does not work--has resulted in many 
billions of dollars for our national defense being cut from 
underperforming programs and reinvested in more important ones.
  As a staffer, she carried out in-depth reviews on the most important 
programs in the Pentagon's budget, including detailed annual 
examinations of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, the largest weapons 
contract in the history of the Pentagon, and dozens of other large 
developmental and procurement programs.
  But Teri has always held a special interest in space. On the Defense 
Subcommittee, she led investigations into bringing competition to space 
launch, which in just the last year has shown can cut the cost of 
rockets by half. She was also vital in stopping an effort to cut off 
access to rocket engines that are vital to our national security, which 
could have resulted in billions of additional costs to the U.S. 
taxpayer.
  Teri is soon leaving the U.S. Senate. I thank her for her service on 
the Defense Subcommittee, commend her for all that she has 
accomplished, and wish her and her family all the best.

                          ____________________