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“TRIBUTE TO PAT RAYMOND” mentioning the U.S. Dept of Agriculture was published in the Senate section on pages S11797 on Nov. 20, 2004.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
TRIBUTE TO PAT RAYMOND
Mr. BENNETT. Mr. President, Pat Raymond prefers to be the person behind the person. She prefers to work behind the scenes, and as I can attest, late at nights, weekends, and holidays. For 30 years she has served the Senate faithfully, professionally, tirelessly, and as a stalwart advocate. But today I would like to put Pat front and center and thank her for her service to me and to the Senate.
For the past 2 years, Pat has worked as the clerk of the agriculture appropriations subcommittee that I chair. I have benefited from her institutional knowledge, her counsel, and her judgment. Because of consecutive reductions in the budget of the United States Department of Agriculture the last 2 years have been very challenging, but Pat has been up to the task. In 2003, even though the allocation to the subcommittee was nearly $1 billion below the prior years enacted level, we produced a bill that the Senate approved with only one dissenting vote. Pat has developed strong working relationships not only with the staff of Senator Kohl, the subcommittee ranking member, but also with the staffs of Representatives Bonilla and Kaptur, the House agriculture appropriations chairman and ranking member. These relationships have enabled the agriculture appropriations subcommittees of both chambers to work together and overcome the challenges posed by being required to do more with less.
After 30 years of service Pat will retire at the end of this Congress. I thank her for her dedication, for her hard work, and for a job well done. More than that, I wish her well, as she travels to Florida for a well deserved rest. But I know that ``rest'' won't last long--Pat is too young, too vigorous, and has too much to contribute not to get involved in something important right from the start.
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