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“TRIBUTE TO FRANK MULVEY” mentioning the U.S. Dept. of Transportation was published in the Extensions of Remarks section on pages E1093 on June 14, 2004.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
TRIBUTE TO FRANK MULVEY
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HON. JAMES L. OBERSTAR
of minnesota
in the house of representatives
Monday, June 14, 2004
Mr. OBERSTAR. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the outstanding contribution which Frank Mulvey has made to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. Frank has been the Democratic Staff Director of our Railroad Subcommittee for the past four years. He is leaving to become a Member of the Surface Transportation Board.
When Frank came to the Committee in the year 2000, he had already achieved great distinction as a transportation economist. We on the Committee first became familiar with Frank's work in the mid-1980s, when he served as an Assistant Director for Transportation Issues in the General Accounting Office. In this capacity, Frank conducted a number of studies for the Aviation Subcommittee, which I chaired, and appeared as a witness before the Committee on several occasions. The studies were thorough and objective, and Frank was an excellent witness. His studies were extremely valuable in helping us deal with issues of airline competition and the financial difficulties of the industry. Frank's work at GAO also produced similar high quality studies of Amtrak and the freight rail industry.
Throughout all the years that I have known Frank Mulvey, it has been clear to me that his breadth of transportation knowledge would enable him to serve with distinction in many positions with the Transportation Committee. When the Railroad Subcommittee position became available in 2000, Frank was a natural and obvious choice.
In his four years with our Railroad Subcommittee, Frank has not only met, but exceeded the high expectations we had for him. He has played a major role in all railroad issues before the Committee, including Railroad Retirement Reform, the many difficult issues involving Amtrak, the rail loan program, and efforts to develop a federal program to assist the development of high-speed passenger rail.
Frank Mulvey is a Ph.D. Economist and, during his distinguished career, which has included positions at the Department of Transportation Inspector General's Office, the GAO, the National Academy of Science and the American Bus Association, has frequently held part-time teaching positions. For the past twelve years, he has taught courses in managerial economics and public policy in the MBA program at the University of Maryland. Frank's love of teaching has led him to actively seek out interns for his Subcommittee, and then to mentor them and educate them on all aspects of the Subcommittee's work. Many of his interns have continued a career in public service. A noteworthy example is Steve Gardner, who has served in several important Congressional staff positions and most recently was selected to deal with rail issues for the Democratic Professional staff of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. Another of Frank's interns Amy Scarton, went on to become a Senior Legislative Assistant to Congressman Earl Blumenauer.
Although Frank's official position with the Committee was with our Rail Subcommittee, we frequently took advantage of his broad knowledge and experience as an economist to counsel us in other disciplines. He was our resident expert on issues such as the economic impacts and job creation effects of our infrastructure programs, and the economic theory governing competition in the transportation industries under the Committee's jurisdiction.
Frank has been a pleasure to work with. He is open and friendly, able to communicate difficult economic concepts in non-technical terms, and quick to immerse himself in the details of a complex issue. We on the Committee will miss him personally and professionally, but we are confident that he will make important contributions to the Nation's transportation system in his new role.
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