[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 14]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 20667]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


                 HONORING THE SERVICE OF LORIE GRINNAN

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JOHN RATCLIFFE

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, January 3, 2018

  Mr. RATCLIFFE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to both express my deep 
appreciation and to say thank you, on behalf of the constituents I am 
privileged to represent in the 4th Congressional District of Texas, to 
Lorie Grinnan, a member of my staff who has completed 20 years of 
dedicated service to communities in our district. Notably, my comments 
today build upon those offered into the Congressional Record about Mrs. 
Grinnan by my predecessor, Ralph Hall, on October 16, 2013.
  Lorie Grinnan served as a Regional Representative in my Rockwall 
office during the first three years of my time in Congress. Prior to 
that, Lorie served for eight years as a Rockwall County Commissioner 
and, going further back, served Rockwall area communities for nine 
years on the Rockwall ISD Board of Trustees (including two terms as 
board president).
  As Lorie neared the end of her second term as County Commissioner, 
she announced that she was not going to seek re-election and planned to 
conclude her public service when her term expired at the end of 2014. 
However, as I was preparing to begin my first term in Congress, I asked 
Lorie to consider foregoing her plans and instead continue serving the 
public by becoming part of my original district office staff in January 
2015. Lorie graciously agreed to set aside her own plans, and to the 
greater benefit of the three quarters of a million Texans in this 
district, has selflessly served these past three years as an invaluable 
member of my congressional staff.
  Now, after a full 20 years of service to the public in Rockwall and 
surrounding communities, Lorie is ready to enjoy the next chapter in 
her life. Together, we have accomplished much these past three years 
for our communities and constituents. I will be forever grateful for 
her service in my office and to our constituents and communities, and 
for the lives we have been able to touch and change along the way. I am 
particularly grateful for her help in building and leading our process 
for identifying and selecting deserving students to receive nominations 
to our nation's service academies. During the three years under her 
leadership, I am proud to say that we have been able to offer more than 
75 nominations to incredible young women and men across the 4th 
District of Texas. As a result of Lorie's dedication to this mission, I 
know that our country will be better served by the many outstanding 
future leaders who have accepted appointments to our nation's service 
academies.
  Again, I express my sincere gratitude to Lorie Grinnan and to her 
family for the sacrifices they have made over these past two decades to 
support her dedicated career of public service. Godspeed to Lorie 
Grinnan and her family as they look forward to the next chapter of 
God's plan for her blessed life.

                          ____________________