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“TRIBUTE TO MARK KEENUM” mentioning the U.S. Dept of Agriculture was published in the Senate section on pages S11485-S11486 on Dec. 7, 2006.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
TRIBUTE TO MARK KEENUM
Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, I am pleased to bring to the attention of the Senate that my long-time staff member and current chief of staff, Mark Keenum, who has served my office and the Senate so well for the past 17 years in a manner which reflects great credit on the Senate, has been nominated by President Bush to be Under Secretary of Agriculture for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services.
His confirmation by the Senate will give him an opportunity for continued public service that will benefit all Americans. I do not know of another person who would bring any better qualifications to this job than Mark Keenum. He has an agriculture economics undergraduate degree from Mississippi State University and also received graduate degrees from that university, including a Ph.D. After completing his studies, Mark served on the faculty at Mississippi State as an instructor and was actively engaged in research in emerging agriculture and aquaculture areas of interest in our State.
In 1989 Mark joined my staff here in Washington as a specialist in agriculture and agriculture economics. He has been an outstanding member of my staff, both in helping to develop policy initiatives and in monitoring all the legislation affecting the Department of Agriculture. In my duties as a member and later Chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee, he provided very valuable advice and assistance in shaping policy there. He was actively engaged in the successful completion of several farm bills. Mark worked to craft the language, negotiate, and iron out differences in conference with the House. He has communicated closely with the administration over the years, all in a very professional and thoughtful way.
Mark and his wife Rhonda are close friends of mine. Mark's personal qualities are impeccable. He is courteous and intelligent; he works hard, has a strong sense of responsibility, and has good judgment. I appreciate the way he has helped manage the administrative and legislative functions of my office, as well as the counsel he has provided me for the past 17 years.
I am confident that Mark will do an excellent job in helping develop options for the next farm bill. He will be a great resource for the administration, as well as for the Congress.
We will miss him here in the Senate. I am pleased to congratulate him on his nomination and extend my thanks to him for the great job he has done in the Senate.
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