Now, a ceremony to honor members of congress and their staffs for their actions off the floor of congress and services for constituents. Hosted by the Congressional Management Foundation, this is just over one hour. Brad hello and welcome everyone to the sixth annual democracy awards. My name is brad fitch, i am so happy to welcome you here on such a beautiful morning. It is so exciting to be here for another one of our awards ceremonies to recognize the best in congress. I am grateful for the founder of the democracy awards, the Bridge Alliance. They are a Diverse Coalition of organizations committed to revitalizing Democratic Practice in america. It is kind of like a trade association for democracy reform. You will hear more about it when debbie lynn comes to the stage. The vision for the democracy awards are simple and based on the Congressional Management Foundations 47 year history of working with u. S. Congress. This award actually goes to the office and the members. Because we recognize that the members have to be great leaders and need great teams to support them in their mission. The second reason we wanted to create the democracy awards is to offer examples of best practices for members of congress. Offering them roadmaps for how they can improve their operations and their constituent services. The third reason we want to create the awards is we hope it will increase public understanding of congress. We know that congress is not held in high esteem. The congress that you see and that we see is made up of dedicated Public Servants trying to do the best they can for their constituents. We hope that if we can shine a light on these Public Servants, even for a moment, maybe we can chip away a little bit at the cynicism in america. Those are the goals, let me explain how the winners were selected. To select the finalists, we asked Congressional Offices to self nominate online. A review committee of cmf staff vetted materials and interviewed Congressional Offices. For selecting the winners we turned to real experts. Because of our network, we know the best and brightest former senior staff who made up the Selection Committee. The committee was broken into subcommittees by category and they reached a consensus. Most of you will recognize the names on this Selection Committee as individuals committed to excellence and the institution of congress. I would like the members of the Selection Committee to stand and be recognized. [applause] any event of this kind is the work of dedicated staff, volunteers, and we could not have the awards without you, our sponsors and friends. You are noted in the program, but i would like to have the representatives to stand right now and be recognized. [applause] now onto the main event. The first category of winners we would like to commend are the winners in the constituent service category. The investment a Congressional Office makes towards constituent Services Operations is remarkable. Those operations have been tested more than any other time in congressional history. There is not a lot of political benefit from investing in answering the mail and doing casework. But both of those endeavors only reached a small percentage of the electorate. We all know the rewards in that investment is found in the souls who you help, the lives you lighten, and the changes you make. To present the democracy awards, please welcome to the stage dave kerry with cms energy. [applause] thank you, brad. I am happy to announce the winners of the award. [no audio] just as our elected officials are entrusted with meeting the needs of the constituents, we are entrusted with the wellbeing of our customers. Both require a profound commitment to service and a deep sense of responsibility. From announcing our industry zero goal, our electric business, to being coal free by 2025, to partnering with communities to build solar power. We know what it means to put our customers and the overall prosperity for the state of michigan over every choice we make. Two remarkable individuals have exemplified putting their constituents at the heart of everything they do. Our first winner is representative Lauren Underwood. She began as a nurse and her passion for helping others has only grown stronger. While in congress she has had remarkable impacts. In under four years her office has closed over 5000 constituent cases and recovered close to 25 million on behalf of her constituents. Her dedication to the people of illinois 14th district is a testament of selflessness that all should celebrate. Our second winner is congressman dusty johnson. His tireless efforts to listen to his constituents, understand the concerns and act on their behalf has set a standard for Public Service. During covid his office created drive through town halls where constituents would drive through and talk to him in a parking lot for as long as they needed. His office prides themselves on customer service. Most constituents said they had a positive experience with his office. At the core of every elected official, republican or democrat. This years winners have gone above and beyond the call to serve, and the people of south dakota and illinois should be incredibly proud. I am honored to present the winners, representative Lauren Underwood and congressman dusty johnson. [applause] good morning. Representative underwood could not be here, i am her Communications Director. She conveys her sincere gratitude and passes along these sentiments. We have an ethos in our office of service to community first. On the first page of our team handbook, the first thing that a new team member sees, is the values that the congresswoman expects us to uphold. Accessibility, accountability, transparency, and kindness. All of us takes this seriously, but no one exemplifies them day in and day out more than our caseworkers and constituent service team. They make a tangible inference in the lives of our families, friends and neighbors back home. They do not do it for the awards, they do it because they care about our community and congresswoman underwood believes that it was what we were sent to do. On behalf of them, and all of team underwood, thank you to the Congressional Management Foundation for this award, and congratulations to all of the award winners. It is an honor to be in the room with the very best in congress. Thank you. [applause] thank you again for this award, sincere apologies for dusty not being able to make it. He places an emphasis on serving constituents and serving them with compassion and empathy. A lot of times they come to our office and it is the last resort. Sometimes they are in tears, or angry, sometimes it is very emotional and it is an emotionally exhaustive job. But our whole Team District staff, we do casework from the top down. This week i trained our staff assistant how to handle intake on casework. This is something our office takes a huge importance and major emphasis on. We train it is an ongoing situation, not just the process of casework but the emotions of casework. We do casework and to send out casework reviews to get metrics of how our office is doing. From those metrics we were able to i will share two different quotes. Thank you for a speedy response, it feels good to have a representative who genuinely cares for his constituents and follows up to make sure their issue is resolved. You are invaluable. Your office has always exceeded expectations and your staff are always kind and considerate. Dusty keeps these quotes at his desk. They are printed out and he keeps them to see every day. When the hustle and bustle in d. C. Is going on, he knows that he is making a difference, our team is making a difference in south dakota. I know it can be very emotionally exhausting, and with every different role we place, it is a very thankless job. However it is important to know that the things we do matter. We get the opportunity to change peoples lives and help people. Thank you again for this honor and we appreciate it. [applause] the next category of winners is the category of constituent accountability and accessibility. There must be a level of accountability between the citizens and their government and the government must be accessible to their constituents in every available form. Taken to the extreme, the practices of accountability can be manipulated by politicians or outside groups seeking to influence the political process. This is why when designing the criteria for this award, we took great care to emphasize accountability and accessibility to create trust in our democracy. Accessibility to bring understanding of the policy implications for citizens. Not accountability as a slogan but practices that demonstrate the member and their staff appreciate their and they are ultimately accountable to their constituents. The winners possess these qualities and deserve recognition and praise. To present the winners of this award, please welcome to the stage with National Journal. [applause] good morning everyone, thank you for being here. I am excited to join you on behalf of National Journal membership to recognize two Public Servants dedicated to constituent accountability and accessibility. I am excited about this category because we know that accessibility and accountability are cornerstones when it comes to service. Many of you know National Journal for journalism, but a lot of the staff is in the service capacity. Services are at the core of what we do and the winners in this category exemplify that in their work representing their constituents. A little bit about the awardees, representative john curtis of utah, he always aims to reply within 15 business days. At the end of each week the office compiles a weekly report, sent to the entire staff which included response times, keeping everyone accountable. Representative curtis calls constituents each week and engages with them. Since 2017 his office has organized over 300 events and shares Success Stories on social media. Representative Mark Desaulnier shares through town halls. To increase transparency and accountability. Not just setting the metrics but actually sharing them out. He has hosted over 180 town halls, taking live questions and ensuring every constituent gets a response. He holds virtual and mobile District Office hours and encourages diverse viewpoints. Since 2015 his office has responded to nearly 790,000 inquiries and over 9000 constituents. We are inspired by this commitment to service and that the offices have demonstrated. We share their drive to make every constituent feel heard. I am proud to present the winners of the democracy award for constituent accountability and accessibility, representative Mark Desaulnier and john curtis, please join me on stage. [applause] it is a delight to be with you this morning. This award, more than anything else that we receive in congress, is a reflection of my team. And the staff that i have. I am here today to give them the biggest shout out i can possibly do. They are an Amazing Group of men and women. They are not content with anything other than the very best in reaching out to our constituents. When i first won, they would arrange five town Hall Meetings when we would come home on a thursday. At some point i said, i will never do another one of these again. So we sat down and revamped the town hall format as a team. When you go to a curtis town hall, every Single Person that comes gets an opportunity to speak with me in person to discuss their issues. It is an amazing format. They walk away happy because they were heard. A shout out to my team, the best in the country. I do not know there is a staff for this, that i am sure we have close to the lowest turnover of all of the staffs in washington. They are an Amazing Group of people. This is an honor, i appreciate being here with you, thank you very much. [applause] thank you very much, this is a delight and honor. The board, thank you. It is really wonderful to look around and see the other people who have been recognized here as a reflection. It is a very positive reflection. John and i discovered we have similar backgrounds. I was a republican in the bay area when i started in politics. I wont mention john. [laughter] he was the other party at utah. So we had a lot to talk about. I could have you talked to my therapist maybe. Like john, i want to recognize my wonderful staff. The one taking the picture of me. See . We are already using this in real time. Our Communications Director wrote the application. I came to politics through the Restaurant Business in San Francisco. I will give you two things that stayed with me in politics. I had an apparently famous San Francisco restauranteur who passed away and he said the secret to management was hiring people who did not need to be managed. That is what i have had the good grace to have in my office. That is why we have done as well as we done. He also said to a reporter once, how much do you spend on average . You have been so successful. He says i dont spend anything. I keep that as all politics is local, just do your job well. Hopefully it will reflect on the institution and you. I dont know why im getting this award to a certain degree. When i get depressed, i told my staff i need a town hall within 48 hours at home. So thank you so much. [applause] our next category is innovation and modernization. Someone is probably joking right now that innovation in congress is an oxymoron, and yet innovation is vital to any business that cannot add resources to support its mission. As many of you know the fulltime staff in a house office is set at 18 fulltime people and that number was set by law in 1974. For any office, innovation is necessary to create a more efficient and Effective Services system. This is what cmf saw in the winters for innovation and modernization. I want to take a sidetrack and add some remarks about congressman kilmer and congressman timmons. I have been working in congress for 37 years now on and off. I have to tell you that personally the most rewarding experience i had in my three decades of working with congress has been on the modernization effort and working with these two. With a have done to infuse in the u. S. Congress a concept of renewal and innovation is unprecedented in the history of an institution that is two centuries old. When we were looking for the winners for innovation and modernization, we did not have to look very far to identify two people who were the epitome of what we are looking for in democracy award winners. To present the award for innovation and modernization, please welcome to the stage marcella with verizon communications. [applause] good morning. Wow, look at this place. First of all, before i say anything, how grateful i am to cmf and to all of you to be here today. Look at the sweater and who we are surrounded by. I am so grateful for it. Verizon is proud to support cmf. I am honored to present the innovation and modernization award to congressman kilmer and timmons. As cochairs of the House Select Committee on modernization they worked collaboratively to create and implement initiatives that successfully brought greater transparency, efficiency and structural improvements to the essential work of congress. I cant wait to hear them talk about all theyve done because i know im aware of some of it and the changes it has made and the transparency and how much easier it is to get information. I am looking forward to hearing from you. They exemplify what it means to be leaders. This vast spirit of innovation that drives verizon as we build the networks that bring Transformative Solutions to our country, and im not just referring to our physical infrastructure and wires, im also talking about the networks of relationships with the communities we serve. Its these connections that help us understand the challenges we must solve and the innovations and partnerships we must create. Its with our networks we are working to close the Digital Divide and bring connectivity to the people that need it most. We are building 5g labs and Stem Education in schools and have engineered the most resilient infrastructure to meet the demands of our world. With that, i am honored to present the award to congressman kilmer and congressman timmons. [applause] [laughter] good morning. Thank you so much for doing this. You have been such an integral part of our efforts to modernize congress over the last four years. I want to thank all the sponsors for this. My team is so important. Heather on my chief of staff, and derek is still leading the fight to implement all of our recommendations. It has been such an honor to serve on the select committee for the modernization of congress. I came into congress 4. 5 years ago. My Campaign Slogan was washington is broken. To be tasked with trying to heal the institution, to try to modernize the institution, was a dream come true. When i started out i did not know what to expect. Then the vice chair and chair kilmer, they set the tone for the committee. Uniquely six republicans, six democrats. We had to Work Together. We had to build trust and relationships with our colleagues across the aisle. We got so much done. We passed 202 recommendations. 60 ish have been implement it. Clearly we have a lot of work left to do. I do have an enormous amount of hope. The recommendations implemented will not take effect and they will not change things immediately, but as time goes, members of congress will hopefully be able to spend time with their colleagues to build the necessary relationships to actually Work Together to solve the problems facing this country. That gives me hope and thats whatll keep working on. Thank you so much. [applause] i want to start with just three cool things. One, i want to thank the sponsors and in particular verizon for agreeing to fix one of the cell towers near my neighborhood. [laughter] thank you. This is already worth it. Second and most importantly, i share this honor with my team and staff of the committee and members of the committee. I think the headline out of this is True Partnership is possible in our Nations Capital. I am a big believer that the boat moves best when all oars are in the water rowing in the same direction. Too often in washington the oars are out of the water, beating people over the head. In this committee, i felt blessed to have partners in tom graves and William Timmons who were truly partners. We collaborated, we worked together, and we were able to step forward on the work of this committee in a True Partnership. I am great over that. The other thing i will tell you is when i started the work of this committee, someone gave me a graduation speech from former secretary john gardner that he gave at cornell where he talked about the importance of being a steward of an institution, of being a loving critic. He spoke to the peril of being an uncritical lover. He preys on an institution but fails to improve its performance. There is a whole group of stakeholders and conditional management who are actively engaged in trying to improve and enhance the work of congress. Secretary gardner also talked about the importance of the peril of being an unloving critic. Someone who takes an institution and treats it like the pinata at a party. We know members of congress can find great popularity by dispatching the institution. I think one of the great things about the work of our committee, one of the great things about the Congressional Management Foundation, is they are stewards, they are actively trying to be loving critics of the institution. That work is not done. William and i will keep working on this. I have hope that we will continue to improve the institution. Thank you for this honor. [applause] the final categories of winners for the office is workplace environment, the life in congress award. Most americans dont realize that congress is comprised of underage of small businesses, each with a lot of flexibility in how they treat their employees. The best offices recognize that their best assets go down the elevator every day at 6 00, or if it is a typical day and congress, 9 00 or 11 00. Those offices implement workplace policies that value staff as professionals and human beings. To present the winners of the democracy award for the life in congress, please welcome to the stage emily dickens, corporate secretary for the society of Human Resource management. [applause] good morning. This is a beautiful view. I hope some of you saw our office right there at the corner. That is rdc satellite office. It is always an honor to be here. This is one of my favorite events. For those of you who dont know what we do, we create better workplaces for a better world. 325,000 members across the country who work on hr issues and think about work every day. This award was so important to us because not only do we think and advocate about work every day, we also do research with the people and organizations like the Congressional Management Foundation on this critical issue. Because all we are talking about today is work. Where do we work, who do we work with, are we in a Work Environment that works for us . No two states can be more different than california and alabama. Yet we have found the commonality here in leadership, in flexibility, and creating workplaces that are working for them and for those employees that truly enjoy working with each of those gentlemen. Today i have the honor of presenting this life in Congress Workplace environment award so we recognize the workplaces that enhance worklife integration. And foster professional development, two major priorities for our members. Todays honorees know that workplace leaders must proactively focus on maintaining and strengthening office culture. I proudly joined the Congressional Management Foundation in presenting the winners of the life in Congress Workplace environmental award. Congressman ro khanna and congressman barry moore. Congrats, congressmen. Would you please join me on the stage . [applause] it is certainly an honor. I dont know how i got here, to be honest. My staff led me. Reagan always said hire good people and dont micromanage them. I was blessed early on. A lot of times in this circle in d. C. , we actually lose the Public Servant part of the job. To be able to truly be Public Servants, my wife sat out to hire people. We hired a good team. Just the technology. I am a garbageman. The transition from garbage to politics is pretty easy to make. Coming up and saying we have this covid thing coming and we have to shut everything down and take care of people. They started acquiring technology. These young people that run d. C. All understood that technology. So many things we were able to do. To do mobile office hours with technology, where the veterans in 12 cities and communities can meet our team and we can address those problems. We got second in constituent services. We got runner up there, then got the workplace environment. That to me is about making it enjoyable for your people. They throw birthday parties every time there is a birthday in the office. We do a hall party. All the offices in the hall tables out and we have fooda and we have tailgate theme. Hey, we are eagles, who said that . I will see you at the tailgate. My wife is such a good cook, so the food always runs out. We have a member that is from mcdonalds so we get stacks of hamburgers down the hall. Try to make it. Enjoyable this is a tough job. After afghanistan i had one member that spoke arabic. That poor girl worked hours after hours to get families out of there. Hire people, make it fun. This is a stressful job. Every 15 minutes you have to be somewhere. It is just a good honor. It is a good thing to have that workplace environment. The bad thing is your young people get so good they move on. Thank you for this honor. It is amazing and humbling. Thank you, my friends. [applause] thank you, brad, emily, barry. Great to be here. A real honor. I think one of the common themes you see from every member of congress is we all recognize it is really our teams and the next generation of leaders that are doing the hard work. I am really honored i have my chief of staff and my Communications Director. They really have set the tone for our office to recognize the extraordinary professionals and contributions people have. I often say there are only 435 people who get to serve in congress. There are only about 6000 people in the country who get to serve on capitol hill. It is an edible honor in the country of 330 million. These are people who turn down Silicon Valley jobs, stock options, wall street jobs, making money. At a time where so many young people dont want to go into Public Service, i just think we are lucky to have young people coming here and we should recognize their talent, recognize all they have to contribute. I have been really proud of my team for recognizing that talent. We pay our staff at least 71,000 because its expensive to live in d. C. And in the bay area. It is really humbling to have this great team and we are lucky to have young people serve this country. [applause] every year the Congressional Management Foundation selects two members of congress for an award for Lifetime Achievement. This year, that task was easy. The two members of congress, a democrat and republican, both with extraordinary records of Public Service, both with unwavering support and friendship from both sides of the aisle. To give this very special award, please will come to the stage our friend, the president and ceo of Bridge Alliance. [applause] thanks, everyone. So good to be here. This i think is my third year in doing this. It is great to be live. Im trying to pull up my notes on the phone. In a world full of soundbites and flash in the pan activities which seem to dominate our mainstream narrative, it is nice to think about accomplishments over time. And there is no rookie award here. It may be another category for another day. When brad first conceived of this award ceremony, we at Bridge Alliance recognized it as a longterm plan to recognize and provide positive incentives for members of congress. As part of the Bridge Alliance, 600 orgs strong, which Congressional Management Foundation is one, cmf works tirelessly for members of congress to help them serve the public and the constituents we are here about. Other organizations serve the state and local level offices or they serve the citizenry in Civic Engagement themselves, media, and policymaking. We are honored to get recognized senator capito, the other senator from West Virginia, and after serving 40 years, representative katy, thank you. I just blinked on the name. Representative kaptur of ohio. You have done so much. Particularly from my background, i started in this career about 20 years ago. I ran for a local elected office myself. I had this immense idealism that politics could be healthy in our country. That is not a vision i continue to hold today. A future vision and a longterm plan that these women have represented to bring us to this point, where we could actually have a better and Brighter Future if we plan for it and make the decisions to make that our choice. With that, i welcome you to the stage to receive your awards, because you deserve it. Representing senator capito. Thank you. [applause] thank you so very much. They dont treat members of Congress Like this. We dont get to sit down, right . Our dining habits are not very good. I think in the senate you actually have a dining room. Fancy over there. Its wall street up here. First of all i want to thank all of you for coming and for helping us move our republic, our democratic way of life forward. For me it has been a 41 year journey. As a woman, it has been kind of a double journey. I actually didnt run because i was a woman, i ran because my district had 19 unemployment. I was doing Something Else for a living for many years as a city and regional planner. I see the need for that in our country huge, more than even in the past. The most important teachers i have are every single citizen i represent and those that i met along the way and the beautiful staff that have served us honorably. Throughout these four decades. Two are here this morning joining me, one the most senior members of my staff who has been with us for three and one half decades. Susan, stand up. [applause] she never takes any credit. 3. 5 decades. Here in washington, a woman who worked for congressman mark pocan before coming from wisconsin. What do i call you, a navigator, a pilot . Captain. Shes captain of her ship. She lives on the waterfront. She has two boats now. And margaret, who served us for about five years. About a decade of service in the congress right now and part of the great lakes community. There are great lakes in the middle part of the country. She does a beautiful job. A team builder. The message i have will be very brief. In about a week i will go down to the world war ii memorial and be there with some people from the executive branch. We will launch our coin sale to the public to raise the money to repair some of what needs to be done at the world war ii memorial. That was one of my first bills in the first decade of my service. I thought i could get that passed in a year, because it is something the American People wanted. Boy did i learn something. The first decade is one of inoculation. [laughter] with acid. It took three president s. That is a whole lecture about what happened. That is when i really understood america and how long it took to do something great. 95 Million People have now gone to that place. The compelling stories, the appreciation of the sacrifice of those who make it possible for us to be here today is a very deep, moving story, and one that our own people have to better understand. So as we conduct ceremonies soon to launch the second coin sale the first was 37 years ago i think back to my first trip after college. I worked my way through. I earned enough money to go back to see where our grandparents had come from, to try to figure out what actually happened. I was the first person in my family to graduate from high school. I come from workingclass america. I was able to get into with our mother soviet occupied ukraine. I was not in congress then. That seared me. Maybe a little over a decade later, having seen the face of tyranny upfront, i wanted to do more. We continue on. Lets remember why we are here and why our instruments of governance are so critical. When i take a foreign elected official who wants to help their country be a better place, and i will end with this little story, i take them back to my district. There is an awakening, an enlightenment that you will see happen, because many run on the party ticket if they are trying to run in a country that has not had any open governance. And they really cant accommodate how we actually have districts, and there are people there that we listen to. It is a foreign thought. They cant imagine that this raw clay of america could produce the greatest country in the world. They dont know what to do with it. They dont know how to build around it. They are perplexed. You can see it in their faces. They go back and then they face real resistance. Some lose their lives. I have had the privilege in my life of walking alongside Freedom Fighters and freedom builders. That is what we see in ukraine today. The skirmish line for liberty on the european continent where over 200,000 of our own people lie in graves. That never leaves me in my service. When i came to congress, bob michael was the republican leader and tip oneil was the democratic leader. I can contrast then compared to today. They would at the holidays call the president and sing together to the president of the united states. That is the america i want. Its the one that we do not have in congress now. All of those who have made possible this morning, keep working on the Human Potential of the congress and those who serve. One where you could help, help us get to know one another. There is a dividing line now that did not used to be there. I will say this to my republican colleagues, it may not be true in the senate, but in the house, there is fear that in fact if you do go to the other side of the aisle you will be penalized. We have to get rid of that. That only comes through personal friendship. I encourage you in your efforts this morning, this is a time for healing and partnership. Your organization can really help us do that. For those who have given their lives, our job is easy. Just move this republic forward. We have so much potential that we are not meeting today because we do not have that singing spirit when i first came to congress. Stop the division. Help us build the partnerships. I am here to award you my own applause for the great job you are doing here today to heal the country. Thank you. [applause] good morning, everybody. Senator capito sends her regrets for not being able to be here but shes honored to receive this award and appreciative of the work yall do every day. Senator capito has truly dedicated her life to the betterment of the people of West Virginia and our country as well through her pragmatic leadership, her bipartisan collaboration. The senator has championed vital issues, but not just issues that are easy, but the ones most important to West Virginians and americans. I have worked for the senator for quite some time now. I am a native West Virginian. She comes to work every day with the desire to help people. That is certainly something she has done. If you travel across West Virginia, you can clearly see the impact senator capito has made. Im confident her efforts both in congress, here in the senate will continue to benefit the people of our state and country well into the future. Thank you. [applause] selecting the winners of the staff Lifetime Achievement for a democracy award is consistently the most difficult decision we have to make every year. Everyone in this room knows staffers who are worthy of recognition, someone new has toiled for years in the service of congress and the nation and really recognized for the Public Service. The purpose of this category is to single out a few of those people, tell their story and honor them. The two people we selected today are the epitome of patriots serving under the dome. Please will come to the stage the two winners of the democracy award for Lifetime Achievement. [applause] congratulations. I want to thank brad and the Congressional Management Foundation for this incredible award. It is truly an honor to be selected from so many dedicated staffers in the senate. Capitol hill is full of young staffers. When i learned i was getting a Lifetime Achievement award i was like, oh wow, im really getting old. [laughter] i guess when you start working for congress at the age of 16 my you dont have to be old to have a lifetime on capitol hill. My first job in congress was as a page. Like Many High School students, i came to d. C. On a school trip. I was excited to see our Nations Capital and government up close. I was amazed by this beautiful city, the history, and seeing our government. It was on that trip that i first learned about the Congressional Page Program and decided to apply. As luck would have it, a congressman selected me, my hometown congressman, to be his first congressional page in 1992. The five weeks i spent in washington that summer and sent me on a path of Public Service ive never looked back. During that time as a page i was fascinated by the issues debated on the house floor and learning how the institution worked. From delivering packages to watching Boris Yeltsin address a joint session of congress, it was an incredible expanse. After graduating from college i wanted to work on capitol hill, however my first job on capitol hill was not for congress, it was for the Vice President in his correspondence office. Later i worked for him and his legislative Affairs Office off the senate floor. That was an amazing opportunity to learn about our government and unique role of the Vice President as president of the senate. Witnessing the counting of the Electoral College votes by Vice President gore, i learned about our electoral process. After i left my job because of the 2000 election i was hired by my hometown congressman to be his legislative aide, handling transportation issues. I spent the next six years working for the people of oregons fourth congressional district. It was with the cumbersome and i learned a love of transportation and the importance of our nations infrastructure. I was able to take what i learned from him to the senate, where i had the privilege of working on transportation policy on the environment for public works committee. I learned what it means to be a fierce advocate for your constituents and the policies you believe in. I also learned the art of compromise and bipartisanship, which i continue to learn from my current boss, rick larsen. Six years after leaving congressmans office, he gave me the honor of making me the first female staffer of the tni committee when he became ranking member. I was honored to serve as a staff director for eight years and when congressman rick larsen took over as the senior democrat and asked me to say, it was an easy decision. We often say there are no republican roads or democratic bridges. Everyone needs access to reliable transportation. I am in my ninth year as a democratic staff director of the committee. It is the ability to work across the aisle that keeps me coming back. Working on capitol hill is a privilege and honor. Theres nothing like coming to work each day and knowing what you do can have a positive impact on so many lives. Because i work for the transportation committee, this impact is tangible at times. I have seen Infrastructure Projects built around the country thanks to the federal funding provided by the bills i helped draft. This work is hard but rewarding. I appreciate the Congressional Management Foundation for recognizing the work we do. I want to thank my parents back home in oregon. They encouraged me to come to d. C. , although i know they wanted me to go back to oregon. Im still here. Because its a great place to be also my husband, who also worked on capitol hill, who understands the craziness of our schedules, and makes sure i always eat when i get home from long days. I want to thank each of the members i worked for, including congressman fazio. But also maybe more importantly the coworkers i worked with along the way. Eileen on them each day to make sure we are doing the best we can to serve the tni committee, the house, and American People. So thank you very much. [applause] good morning. First i would like to thank the Congressional Management Foundation for this award. I would also like to acknowledge the incredible work that cmf has done over the last 45 years plus, not only in its support for the members of congress and advocacy groups, but especially for the work they have done in support of congressional staff. When i received the call informing me of the Lifetime Achievement award, to say the least it took me by complete surprise and i did not even know what to say. I dedicated my entire career of 28 years of Public Service within the senate, where recognition isnt the primary motivation for work, making this recognition even more humbling. My journey to capitol hill and the senate was not something i had planned, it just kind of happened. It was in december of 94 when i was set to graduate from new mexico state with a degree in animal science. And at the beginning of that semester, the dean of the college called me to his office and asked if i would consider coming to d. C. And work for the colleges lobby and the university would pay my salary for the first year. However shortly before graduation the same lobbyist called me, said he had found an opportunity for me to work, but the university would still keep the same arrangement and see where it took me from there. In 95 i embarked upon this journey without even speaking to anyone in the Senators Office and not even knowing what i was going to do when i got there. Not surprising, i started where most staff do when they get their foot in the door, and that was at the front desk answering telephones. I initially believed my path would lead me to focus on agriculture policy, so i started down that route, however it didnt take long for me to realize that writing letters and policy were not my true calling. Within two years i went from being a staff assistant to becoming the assistant to the chief of staff, then the systems administrator, followed by the administrative director, and ultimately his deputy chief of staff for his last 10 years of his time in the senate. I take a step back to 1997, where i had my first interaction with the Congressional Management Foundation, where we hired them to conduct the study on the organization and the productivity of our state offices. Implementing the recommendation became my responsibility. Leading me to discover my career path of managing both the d. C. And state office staff and operations. Basically everything that was not legislative or press. This role opened up the doors to some unique opportunities, including being on the forefront of implementing new technology. Specifically handling the increased volume of constituent electronic mail, where most offices were discarding them because they either thought they were not legit or just too hard to deal with. I would say another one of the highlights would always be summer interns who came to capitol hill, and over my career i actually hired a little over 500 of them. The excitement that they would always bring when they showed up reminded me what a really cool place that i got to work. In 2004, i missed the debate in 2004, i missed the debate around the federal marriage amendment. An outing campaign of staff resulted in some being fired because they were gay or lesbian. I had come out to the senator very early on in my career. It was always made clear that it was not an issue. Because of this, i was not a target. It made me the perfect person to publicly stand up for staff and provide awareness for what happened. I was not actually sure how the senator was going to respond, so one night as i was hanging out in their kitchen i nervously asked him if he would consider letting me be a cofounder of what would become the gay, lesbian and Allies Senate staff caucus, knowing full well there would be a lot of press and his name would be tied to the cause in the media. He didnt even pause. He responded, you know, nancy and i love you. If this is something you feel you need to do, we really support you. The caucus was formed and is still thriving today, promoting an inclusive environment, Networking Opportunities and professional development of staff. As my time with the senator came to an end with his retirement, i was asked to apply for the chief Clerk Position at the Senate Committee on rules and administration. This is the perfect opportunity for me as i had grown to love the senate as an institution. I was able to be a contributor to the institution, working on modernization projects and oversight of various entities in the senate. It also provided me an opportunity to be part of the inaugural staff of both obamas inaugurations. The next step in my career, i was recruited by the Deputy Sergeant and arms at that time to create what is now the communications and Technology Department under the office of the cio. With the aim to Health Offices enhance business processes through Technology Implementation and to be a conduit to identify challenges and work collaboratively toward effective solutions. Today i am honored to serve as the first deputy chief information officer, where i oversee a dedicated team of over 300 staff who innovate, support, and protect the senate against Cyber Attacks day in and day out, behind the scenes. Which means we are supporting a little over 8000 people in about 457 offices across the united states. This position has shown me that i am just one of the many people who dedicated their careers to Public Service and i am fortunate to be one of them. Before i conclude, i want to express some deep gratitude to the three individuals who have joined here with me today. The first is a staff director of the rules committee when i was working there. We both shared the love and respect of the institution, and her commitment to democracy is none to other than i have ever witnessed. After leaving the senate, she continued this work at the schuler foundation. The second person is kelly, who like me began her career in a personal office, later becoming a chief clerk, and then when i moved over to be the chief clerk of the rules committee, kind of helped me learn what that actually really meant. She has been an invaluable mentor, guiding me through those roles throughout my career. Our paths came together at the rules committee a few years later, where we collaborated on numerous projects, lots of late nights, but also a lot of fun. I would say one of the significant highlights when i was able to be her deputy whenever she was the inaugural coordinator. Fast forward to this congress, kelly was appointed to be the Deputy Sergeant at arms and now is my boss. But beyond the professional ties, what truly matters is the genuine friendship we share. Kelly is not just a respected colleague, she is also a cherished friend. Lastly and definitely not least, my partner noah who offers me unwavering support, who keeps me grounded, and is a constant reminder that life isnt solely about work. Once again i want to express my profound gratitude for this incredible honor and my gratitude for brad for the opportunity to collaborate with cmf. The dedication to supporting staff through their careers and to improving the dialogue between constituents and their representatives has had a tremendous impact on our democracy. I am very grateful to have been part of this journey. Thank you. [applause] before i conclude, there is one group of people i have not thanked, the staff of the Congressional Management Foundation. This remarkable team of people have worked tirelessly for this program and making this event possible. I would ask them to stand but they are already standing because they have been working the event, so please stand and be recognized. [applause] if i may end on a bit of a serious note, this years awards come at a precipitous time for american democracy. Its impossible not to think about our democracy today without feeling concerned about the unprecedented attack on some of the fundamental values and systems this nation was built upon, whether its election workers leaving their jobs because of constant harassment or staff in a Congressional Office feeling yet another death threat. The radical fringes are attacking some of her basic constitutional principles and are even sanctioned by some people who swore to defend that same constitution. This means for those who believe in the congress, the institutionalists who work there, we cannot be passive observers, we must be stewards of the democracy awards just as we must all be stewards for american democracy. The stories we hear today, the examples of outstanding Public Service, is evidence where our democracy is really working. It is working because of the hardworking members of staff who serve here and strive to implement our common Democratic Values and practices. Perhaps the best way we can combat those who attack our democracy is to prove it actually works. There are people that still believe in excellence in Public Servants, that demonstrate that patriotic commitment every day. They are the best, current and future winners of the Congressional Management Foundation democracy awards. So perhaps when you encounter a naysayer who believes government is broken, who, are losing hope in american democracy tell them a different story. Tell them you saw examples of excellence, of patriots serving under the dome. Thank you everyone for coming. We look forward to seeing you next year at the 2024 democracy awards. [applause] [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2023] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org]