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“TRIBUTE TO DON HARE, MICHIGAN DIRECTOR FOR RURAL DEVELOPMENT, ON THE OCCASION OF HIS RETIREMENT” mentioning the U.S. Dept of Agriculture was published in the Extensions of Remarks section on pages E2015-E2016 on Oct. 28, 2000.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
TRIBUTE TO DON HARE, MICHIGAN DIRECTOR FOR RURAL DEVELOPMENT, ON THE
OCCASION OF HIS RETIREMENT
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HON. BART STUPAK
of michigan
in the house of representatives
Saturday, October 28, 2000
Mr. STUPAK. Mr. Speaker, today I pay tribune to both a public program and a state administrator of that program, a man who has put a warm, human face on a grant process that has been of vast importance to my northern Michigan congressional district.
Donald Hare, Michigan Director for Rural Development, an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, was appointed to his post by President Clinton in 1993. Working out of Lansing, Don could well have focused his attention on Detroit and the other major metropolitan areas of the state. He understood from the outset, however, that the first word of the name of his agency, ``rural,'' meant that his focus should be on the many, many small communities that dot both the upper and lower peninsulas of Michigan.
Don Hare will be retiring at year's end. After almost a decade of working so closely with this dedicated public servant, I wanted to take a few minutes to tell you and our House colleagues about his work on behalf of the people of Michigan.
Let me give you a picture of my district, Mr. Speaker. Sprawling over roughly 24,000 square miles, it has many cities, towns and villages that organized and built their community infrastructure more than 100 years ago. Many of these communities built and still use water systems utilizing wooden piping! After 100 years, they must be re-built. These communities need financial assistance to renew these basic services, which maintain a community's quality of life and enable it to flourish and grow.
Prior to his Rural Development appointment, Don had served 18 years as chief of staff to Congressman Bob Traxler. He brought to the Rural Development job a clear understanding of the role of government in assisting people in basic yet profound ways. There is little glamour in providing grants to build a new sewer system, yet there is little future for a community that is unable to meet current standards in providing this service. Don understood this and has been of the greatest service to Michigan residents in meeting such challenges.
Don has always gone the extra mile to assist my constituents. In a figurative sense, he has always made himself available to me, my staff and community leaders to answer questions and resolve problems on grant issues. In a very literal sense, however, Don has often traveled many hours to come up to my northern Michigan district to take part in closing ceremonies and to make clear to grant recipients that the agency he has represented was more than a faceless bureaucracy.
In fiscal year 1999, Rural Development provided $95 million to my district in grants and loans for housing, community facilities, guaranteed loans for businesses, and water and sewer projects. For an area devastated economically by the closing of K.I. Sawyer Air Force Base and the shutdown of a major copper mine with the loss of 1,200 good-paying jobs, these grants and loans have been essential to build industrial parks, maintain fire services, upgrade housing and help pull up by the bootstraps our small business. Don Hare has recognized that this federal funding allows the communities of northern Michigan to help themselves to rebuild, recover and grow.
Don has built a great staff. I look forward to a continued positive working relationship with them after Don retires, but I and my own staff will certainly miss him and his great understanding of our concerns and needs in northern Michigan. I wish Don and his wife Rita all the best in the coming years.
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