The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“TRIBUTE TO RACHEL CARR” mentioning the U.S. Dept. of Transportation was published in the Extensions of Remarks section on pages E1641 on Dec. 8, 2016.
The Department handles nearly all infrastructure crisscrossing the country. Downsizing the Federal Government, a project aimed at lowering taxes and boosting federal efficiency, said the Department should be privatized to save money, reduce congestion and spur innovation.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
TRIBUTE TO RACHEL CARR
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HON. PETER A. DeFAZIO
of oregon
in the house of representatives
Thursday, December 8, 2016
Mr. DeFAZIO. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Rachel Carr, who has served as Counsel for the Subcommittee on Aviation for the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, U.S. House of Representatives, since I became Ranking Member in 2013. As a long-time Member of the Committee, I have had the pleasure of working with Rachel on numerous transportation issues, from railroads, pipelines, and hazardous materials safety to unmanned aircraft systems and efforts to defeat faulty legislative proposals to privatize the Air Traffic Control system. Her hard work and wise counsel have been invaluable to me and to many Members of the Committee, and I look forward to continuing to work with her as she embarks on a new endeavor.
Rachel is a long-time aviation lover. In a recent Congressional Quarterly article which featured key staff on Capitol Hill, Rachel reminisced about how she went to air shows as a child, and then studied engineering thinking she would get into a technical aspect of the industry, but after an internship at an airport, Rachel became intrigued with the policy side of transportation and, in particular, aviation. Indeed, Rachel began her career on Capitol Hill serving as Staff Assistant for the Full Committee in 1999 and, just a short time later, the Subcommittees on Aviation and Railroads, a foreshadowing of her accomplishments to come.
Rachel went on to serve as Manager of Legislative Affairs for the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association; an attorney at Coddington, Hicks & Danforth in Redwood City, California; and then, in 2009, Counsel for the Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials for the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. In that role, she helped lead efforts to investigate the Office of Hazardous Materials Safety of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, which resulted in numerous improvements to the Department of Transportation's hazardous materials safety program. She also played a key role in defeating Republican efforts to privatize Amtrak, our national passenger rail system before landing on the Aviation Subcommittee.
Rachel's understanding of complex transportation safety issues has been an asset to the Committee for over a decade. Rachel was instrumental in drafting significant pieces of legislation including H.R. 4441, the ``Aviation Innovation, Reform, and Reauthorization Act of 2016''; An Act to allow the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration to enter into reimbursable agreements for certain airport projects (P.L. 114- ); and the FAA Extension, Safety, and Security Act of 2016 (P.L. 114-190). The latter legislation includes provisions that will substantially improve aviation safety and accommodate an emerging group of new airspace users who operate unmanned aircraft.
Last month, Rachel was appointed Federal Policy Advisor for the Denver International Airport. Her expertise and counsel will be truly missed.
I join my colleagues on the Transportation Committee in wishing Rachel and her dog, Sasha, all the best in her new endeavor.
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