{"database": "openregs", "table": "congressional_record", "rows": [["CREC-2022-12-23-pt1-PgE1350-2", "2022-12-23", 117, 2, null, null, "RECOGNIZING NICOLE DAMASCO FOR HER DISTINGUISHED PUBLIC SERVICE", "HOUSE", "EXTENSIONS", "RECOGNIZING", "E1350", "E1351", "[{\"name\": \"Jerry McNerney\", \"role\": \"speaking\"}]", null, "168 Cong. Rec. E1350", "Congressional Record, Volume 168 Issue 201 (Friday, December 23, 2022)\n\n[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 201 (Friday, December 23, 2022)]\n[Extensions of Remarks]\n[Pages E1350-E1351]\nFrom the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]\n\n    RECOGNIZING NICOLE DAMASCO FOR HER DISTINGUISHED PUBLIC SERVICE\n\n                                 ______\n\n                          HON. JERRY McNERNEY\n\n                             of california\n\n                    in the house of representatives\n\n                       Friday, December 23, 2022\n\n  Mr. McNERNEY. Madam Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in\nrecognizing my Chief of Staff, Nicole Damasco, for her outstanding\ncommitment and dedication to serving California's 9th Congressional\nDistrict, the former\n\n[[Page E1351]]\n\n11th Congressional District of California, the great state of\nCalifornia, and our country. Nicole is one of the most exceptional\nstaff members, leaders, and public servants that I have had the\npleasure of working with, and it has been an honor to have had her\nleading my staff for the past 16 years during my time in Congress.\n  Nicole was born in Las Vegas, Nevada, and grew up wanting to make\npositive change in her country and the world. Her father and\nstepmother, Jude and Julia Damasco, instilled in her a strong work\nethic and the importance of serving the community and those in need,\nand she credits her grandmother, Maria Damasco, for being an\ninspiration in her life and always being there for her. Throughout high\nschool, she spent time registering voters in San Francisco and the Bay\nArea and volunteering for the San Francisco Democratic Party. Although\nshe is a talented artist and studied architecture in Italy during\ncollege, she felt the best way to make a difference in her community\nwas to pursue a career in public service. She transferred to University\nof California, Santa Cruz to pursue a degree in Politics. While there,\nshe interned for the Santa Cruz County Women's Commission for 2 years\nand participated in the University of California, Washington DC (UCDC)\nprogram, interning in Senator Barbara Boxer's Washington, DC office.\n  After graduating from University of California, Santa Cruz in 2002,\nNicole was hired as a Constituent Representative in Senator Barbara\nBoxer's office in San Francisco. She proved to be a skilled and\ndedicated employee and was soon promoted to Assistant to the Director\nof Constituent Services. In 2004, she became a Legislative\nCorrespondent in Senator Boxer's Los Angeles office and was part of a\nteam that changed how legislative correspondence was handled by\ntransitioning to a centralized, digitized, state-based constituent\ncorrespondence system. It was an innovative approach that allowed the\nSenator to quickly receive and send constituent responses. Nicole did\nnot know it at the time, but her team helped lay the groundwork for how\nstate and district-based constituent correspondence is now handled in\nmany congressional offices.\n  In 2006, Nicole returned to the Bay Area and continued to work in\nSenator Boxer's San Francisco office. During that time, she volunteered\nfor my Congressional campaign because she felt that I could truly help\nimprove the lives of people in our community. Thanks to the hard work\nby many excellent staff and volunteers like Nicole, I was elected to\nCongress that same year, and I asked Nicole to join my team as my\nDirector of Constituent Services and Field Representative. Nicole went\nto work right away, laying the foundation for and building my casework,\nfield outreach, and constituent services programs from the ground up.\nShe made it her mission to make sure that everyone who reached out to\nmy office for assistance would receive the best service possible. She\nensured that quality constituent service was engrained in the culture\nof my office. Thanks in large part to her tireless efforts, I am proud\nto say that my office has helped many thousands of individuals over the\nyears.\n  It was clear that Nicole was a natural leader when I hired her, and I\npromoted her to District Director in less than a year of her being on\nmy staff. She took over, leading my entire District team at a time when\npeople in the country and my district were hurting the most. During the\nsubprime mortgage crisis in 2008, people were losing their jobs, homes,\nand lifesavings. Continuing to lead with a constituent-focused approach\nto her work, Nicole put together a team that would be laser focused on\nserving the people of California's 11th and 9th Congressional Districts\nthroughout those difficult times. She immediately acted to help\norganize the first-of-its-kind housing and mortgage assistance events\nin the country with the purpose of keeping people in their homes. She\nalso helped organize job fairs and events that connected thousands of\npeople with jobs, and made sure struggling veterans and seniors were\ninformed of and received the services available to them. I know without\na doubt that because of Nicole's perseverance and tenacity, we made an\nimpact on many people and were there for them during some of the\ndarkest periods of their lives.\n  Nicole stood tall and helped lead my team, all while facing great\nadversity herself. At the beginning of her career with my office, she\nprovided care for her half-sister, Jessica, who ended up tragically\ntaking her life in 2009. Nicole's stepfather and grandfather had also\ntaken their lives shortly before, all of which took a toll on her\nmother and made it clear that Nicole needed to step up and help care\nfor her other half-sister, Alaina. Throughout all this tragedy, Nicole\nkept a brave face, continuing to work hard and lead my office while\nalso becoming Alaina's legal guardian and providing a stable home for\nher sister. Unfortunately, Nicole's mother also ended up taking her\nlife, but thanks in part to Nicole's support, her sister has thrived,\ngraduating from high school and with highest honors from University of\nCalifornia, Berkeley, studying and traveling around the world, and\nstarting a successful career of her own. Nicole is very proud of her\nsister's accomplishments and is grateful for the special bond they\nshare.\n  After serving as my District Director during some of the greatest\nchallenges in our nation's history and following some very hard-fought\ncampaigns, I asked Nicole to move across the country and become my\nChief of Staff. She didn't hesitate and since 2013, she has led my team\nas Chief of Staff with great dedication and conviction. Due largely to\nNicole's efforts, my office has had one of the highest retention rates\nand one of the most diverse staffs in Congress. Throughout her time as\nChief of Staff, she has greatly contributed to my success in Congress,\nhelping move forward my legislative priorities and those of my district\n  As a strong leader and with her creative, out-of-the-box thinking,\nNicole empowered and motivated my staff to take every opportunity to\nserve my district and lead on important issues that make a difference\nin people's lives. This was especially evident during the COVID-19\npandemic, at which time Nicole immediately transitioned my staff to\nremote work and successfully kept my office operating at full capacity\nto continue serving our constituents and bring them the most up-to-date\ninformation without knowing what the days, weeks, and months ahead had\nin store.\n  Throughout my time in office, Nicole has helped pave the way for my\nmajor accomplishments, from the long-awaited construction of a\nveterans' clinic in French Camp, to helping improve our water,\ntechnology, energy, and environmental policy. Nicole made sure that my\nconstituents and my district always came first and that bringing\nservices and resources to our community always remained the priority.\n  I would be remiss if I didn't mention that Nicole's dedication to\nserving others not only extends to humans but to animals, too. Over the\nyears, she has opened her home to over 15 animals--including rabbits,\ncats, dogs, a hamster, and even an iguana. Nicole has also personally\nrescued over 25 stray and injured animals from the streets of my\ndistrict. She took them in, rehabilitated, and rehomed them, and with\nthe invaluable and generous help of Harvest Home Animal Sanctuary in\nStockton, ensured that the animals that crossed her path found good,\nloving homes. Her heart knows no bounds, and she continuously\ndemonstrates the true meaning ofselflessness.\n  Nicole's colleagues describe her as compassionate, understanding, and\nalways there for them when they need her, no matter how big or small\nthe issue. She does everything possible to see that staff have the\ntools and support they need to see the job through. Beyond being a boss\nand supervisor, Nicole is a friend and mentor to many and is there for\nthe team when they need advice and support.\n  Nicole Damasco is an outstanding employee, boss, colleague, friend,\nmentor, and leader. Her commitment, focus, kindness, and compassion are\nunrivaled. She has dedicated over 20 years of her life to public\nservice and is the embodiment of what a public servant should be.\nThroughout my career in Congress, she has supported me and my team and\nhas made a lasting impact on the lives of my constituents. With great\nappreciation and admiration for her, I ask my colleagues to join me in\nrecognizing Nicole Damasco for her distinguished and invaluable\nservice.\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-2022-12-23-pt1-PgE1350-2"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 2.0492020121309906, "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"}