Speech of Honorable Eleanor Holmes Norton - Honoring Maria Harrison

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to ask the House of Representatives to join me in honoring Maria Harrison, an outstanding public servant who retired after over 41 years of dedicated service to the federal government.

On Monday, June 18, 1973, Maria Harrison began her career in government with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). She was one of many who benefited from Mayor Marion Barry's jobs program he so famously created. On January 3, 2015 Maria retired from the United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) after 41 years and 6 months of service to our country as a federal employee. Except for 10 months at the Small Business Administration, her career was spent in the transportation field. Her exact sequence of service follows:

Department of Transportation/FAA 06/18/1973-07/30/1977.
Small Business Administration 07/31/1977-05/20/1978.
Department of Transportation/Office of the Secretary (OST) 05/21/1978-04/03/1982.
Department of Transportation/MARAD (Maritime) 04/04/1982-12/24/1983.
Department of Transportation/FAA 12/25/1983-06/04/1988.
Department of Transportation/Federal Railroad Administration 6/05/1988-11/03/2001.
Department of Transportation/OST 11/04/2001-Present.

Maria retired from the Office of Governmental Affairs at USDOT where she has been of assistance to my office and constituents numerous times. I can say with certainty that every office in the U.S. Senate and countless offices in the U.S. House of Representatives have benefited directly from her good work. As much as her colleagues at USDOT will miss her, she has earned the right to spend more time with her friends and family, especially her granddaughter whose pictures adorn the desk of her office. Maria has also earned the deepest gratitude from those of us in the U.S. Congress. Above all else she has earned the thanks of the country she has so unselfishly served for over 41 years. Thank you, Ms. Harrison.

Mr. Speaker, I ask the House to join me in honoring Maria Harrison for her more than four decades of service to the federal government in the transportation field.

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