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“TRIBUTE TO JAMES C. HALL, OAK RIDGE OPERATIONS MANAGER” mentioning the U.S. Dept. of Energy was published in the House of Representatives section on pages H5048 on June 29, 1999.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
TRIBUTE TO JAMES C. HALL, OAK RIDGE OPERATIONS MANAGER
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Sununu). Under a previous order of the House, the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Wamp) is recognized for 5 minutes.
Mr. WAMP. Mr. Speaker, on July 2, James C. ``Jim'' Hall will retire as manager of Oak Ridge Operations for the U.S. Department of Energy. His departure will mark the end of a 31-year career in government that stands out as a bright and shining example of dedicated service to the United States Department of Energy and the people of the United States.
Beginning in 1968 as an intern for the Atomic Energy Commission, one of the agencies that was eventually folded into the Energy Department, Jim Hall rose steadily through the ranks until he was promoted to his present position in 1995.
Perhaps Jim Hall's greatest achievement in Oak Ridge is his commitment to the reindustrialization program which is an innovative
``swords to plowshares'' effort that stands out as a model for the whole Nation. Facilities such as the old K-25 gaseous diffusion plant at the Oak Ridge complex are being cleaned up and made available for use by the private sector. The plant, now called the East Tennessee Technology Park, is already generating the kind of jobs the east Tennessee region needs for the 21st century. This effort saves the government and the taxpayers $800 million in maintenance and other costs. More importantly, the program is attracting to Oak Ridge exactly the kinds of family wage jobs east Tennessee will need as we begin the 21st century. In May of 1998, Mr. Hall received a Presidential Meritorious Rank Award for his efforts to develop the environmental cleanup and reindustrialization program.
Jim Hall has brought extraordinary energy, ability and vision to his work at the Oak Ridge operations office, and we in the Third District of Tennessee and at the Department of Energy in Oak Ridge can count ourselves extremely fortunate that we benefited from his public service.
He is the type of executive who makes the term ``government official'' sound like the noble and honorable calling it should be. During the years I have known Jim, he has shown himself to be a risk taker who is willing to push the envelope for needed reforms. He is also not in the least bit afraid to challenge the status quo and to stand up to the bureaucracy when the need arises.
Jim Hall's pioneering work on reindustrialization is typical of his career. Many managers at Jim's stage in their careers would have been content to just run out the clock and just do what they had to as their retirement neared. But as a skilled manager and dedicated resident of east Tennessee, Jim was determined that the great reservoir of human and technological capital assembled in Oak Ridge to help us win World War II and the Cold War should be parlayed into economic opportunity for generations to come. So he pioneered the reindustrialization program and skillfully managed the national security and scientific missions of the Department of Energy in a way that makes me proud as the representative of the Oak Ridge and east Tennessee region.
On behalf of the thousands of citizens that Jim Hall served so well, I thank him for his service to his community and to his Nation and we wish him happiness and success as he begins a new chapter in his life.
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