{"database": "openregs", "table": "congressional_record", "rows": [["CREC-2002-11-22-pt1-PgE2124-3", "2002-11-22", 107, 2, null, null, "THANKING MY CONGRESSIONAL STAFF", "HOUSE", "EXTENSIONS", "ALLOTHER", "E2124", "E2125", "[{\"name\": \"George W. Gekas\", \"role\": \"speaking\"}]", null, "148 Cong. Rec. E2124", "Congressional Record, Volume 148 Issue 152 (Friday, November 22, 2002)\n\n[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 152 (Friday, November 22, 2002)]\n[Extensions of Remarks]\n[Pages E2124-E2125]\nFrom the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]\n\n                    THANKING MY CONGRESSIONAL STAFF\n\n                                 ______\n\n                          HON. GEORGE W. GEKAS\n\n                            of pennsylvania\n\n                    in the house of representatives\n\n                       Friday, November 22, 2002\n\n  Mr. GEKAS. Mr. Speaker, the end of a congressional career brings\nabout many emotions. Over the last twenty years I have happily spent\nrepresenting the fine people of the 17th Congressional District of\nPennsylvania I have had the pleasure of working with thousands of\nconstituents, local, state and federal officials, and many former and\ncurrent distinguished members of the U.S. House of Representatives and\nthe U.S. Senate. To all of them I say, thanks for working with me\ntowards a better America.\n  And, of course, every Member of Congress works with many, many\ncompetent staff, from the staff in their own personal offices to the\nCommittee and Subcommittee staff and the leadership and floor staff. It\nhas often been said that without staff where would this institution be?\nAnd I concur with that statement, for without the many fine staff with\nwhom I have had good fortune to work, I and other Members of Congress\nof the United States would be far worse off. While I cannot mention all\nthe fine staff who have worked with me over the years, let me at least\nmention the current personal and subcommittee staffers who have\nendeavored to achieve our common goals and to whom I give my hearty\nthanks and wish them well in their future careers.\n  In my Harrisburg district office, Arlene Eckels, my long-time\npersonal secretary who has worked for me since the early days in the\nPennsylvania State Senate and to whom I wish a happy and much deserved\nretirement; Tom Templeton, my hardworking district director, who so\nably kept my entire district staff working smoothly; Suzanne Stoll, and\nold friend and superb caseworker; Paul Giannaris, whose ability to\nhandle INS problems has made him invaluable; and Tim Vollrath, a\nrecently returned former employee whose military and veterans help has\nbeen superb. In our Lebanon Office, Reg Nyman has been the voice of\nLehbanon for these many years, and his excellent knowledge and service\nwill be missed. And in our Elizabethtown office, Susan Melendez has\nkept out Lancaster County constituents well served by her kind and\nefficient manner. Over the last twenty years my district office staff\nhas handled hundreds of thousands of phone calls and constituent\ncasework requests. A superb record by a superb staff.\n  My Washington office staff have proven themselves time and time\nagain, regularly going beyond the call of duty. (The tally of my\nhundreds of legislative measures, nearly 30 Public Laws, thousands of\noffice meetings and countless committee and other initiatives over\n\n[[Page E2125]]\n\nthe years speaks truth to that assertion.) First, on my personal staff,\nPatrick Sheehan, my Counsel and Legislative Director, has been a\ndynamic and intelligent thinker and leader, who offered sage advice on\nimmigration, military and veterans affairs; Greg Helman, my Senior\nLegislative Counsel kept pace with my many Judiciary and legislative\ndemands, especially bankruptcy reform and appropriations (as I would\nexpect from a Palmyra, PA native); Becky Smith, my office manager and\nhealth legislative assistant, kept my schedule and personal affairs\nhumming along smoothly and ably managed my most favorite of projects,\nthe Congressional Biomedical Research Caucus of which I was founder and\nCo-Chairman; David Greineder, who did a multitude of duties as my\ntalented systems manager, legislative correspondent and Legislative\nAssistant covering education and labor issues; Bill Tighe, another LC\nand Legislative Assistant whose insights into the Agriculture and\nNatural Resources needs of Pennsylvania and the district were more than\ninvaluable, they were accurate; Mike Shields, my recent press secretary\nextraordinaire, who did an excellent job under difficult situations;\nand, of course, Allan Cagnoli, my long time Chief of Staff from\nHershey, PA, a superb leader of the office and jack-of-all-trades who\nkept the office running and productive no mater what the crisis.\n  My Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security and Claims,\nof which I was Chairman, was ably staffed by George Fishman, Lora Ries,\nArt Arthur, Cynthia Blackston and Emily Sanders, as well as Brian\nZimmer of the full Committee staff. They handled the extremely\nimportant legislation necessitated by the new domestic and\ninternational threats we now face. Their assistance to me during the\nchallenges of this year is impossible to measure. The House of\nRepresentatives has much to look forward to with their continued work.\n  And last but not least, is the Subcommittee on Commercial and\nAdministrative Law, of which I was a member this last Congress but on\nwhich I served as Chairman from 1994-2000. On this subcommittee we\ndealt with the hundreds of regulator reform issues developed by the\nRepublican Majority through the Contract With America and following\ninitiatives. My major Bankruptcy Reform measure began with me in this\nsubcommittee; Administrative Law Judges; Legal Services Reform; the\nFederal Agency Compliance Act; The Regulatory Fair Warning Act;\nExecutive Orders; Internet Tax reform; the Federal Arbitration Act;\nInterstate Compacts; the Independent Counsel Act; and many, many other\ntopics. While bankruptcy reform took center stage, there was no end to\nthe amount of topics and work my staff and I pursued. For this I thank\nthem, the current and former staffers of the subcommittee, for all\ntheir exceptional work: Chief Counsel Ray Smietanka, who has worked\nwith me as my chief committee counsel since I came to the 98th Congress\nin 1983; Susan-Jensen Conklin, whose superb work on bankruptcy reform\ngot us where we are today; Rob Tracci, formerly of the Subcommittee,\nwas an invaluable source of assistance; and all the other members of\nthe CAL staff who have helped this Member of Congress over the many\nproductive years. I thank them all for their work to the Nation and me.\n  To all I have mentioned, and those who I have regrettably not, please\naccept my sincere thanks for making my tenure in the United States\nHouse of Representatives a productive and pleasant one. Any current\nMember of Congress or Committee would be well served by the high-\nquality staff with whom it has been my pleasure to work over these many\nyears.\n\n                          ____________________"]], "columns": ["granule_id", "date", "congress", "session", "volume", "issue", "title", "chamber", "granule_class", "sub_granule_class", "page_start", "page_end", "speakers", "bills", "citation", "full_text"], "primary_keys": ["granule_id"], "primary_key_values": ["CREC-2002-11-22-pt1-PgE2124-3"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 13.723065960220993, "source": "Federal Register API & Regulations.gov API", "source_url": "https://www.federalregister.gov/developers/api/v1", "license": "Public Domain (U.S. Government data)", "license_url": "https://www.regulations.gov/faq"}