[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 15] [Extensions of Remarks] [Pages 23418-23419] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]IN APPRECIATION OF MARY COLLEEN McCARTY ______ HON. ALAN B. MOLLOHAN of west virginia in the house of representatives Tuesday, December 21, 2010 Mr. MOLLOHAN. Madam Speaker, on January 2, 1974, a gallon of gas cost about 53 cents, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 855, and the top-selling 45 on Billboard's chart was Jim Croce's ``Time in a Bottle.'' That was also the day a recent college graduate, Mary Colleen McCarty, began her professional career, reporting to work in the personal office of Representative Robert H. Mollohan of West Virginia's first congressional district. On January 2, 2011, Colleen will bring that remarkable career to a close, retiring from my office as Chief of Staff. For the 37 years between those two January days--9 years spent working for my father and 28 in my office--Colleen built a record of service and accomplishment that few congressional staffers can match. All of us understand how important staff is to our work. It's been one of my privileges to work with many terrific staffers throughout my 28 years in Congress, men and women who have contributed to the first district in a wide variety of ways and whom I am proud to call friends today. But Colleen has always been the one constant. Few staffers survive, let alone thrive, for 37 years in what can be a stressful and demanding work environment. But what's behind that longevity? In Colleen's case, several things. First is a real commitment to public service. Colleen never lost sight of our purpose here. She came to work every day determined to help the residents of the first district. She began her career as a caseworker, helping somebody get the VA benefits he'd earned or qualify for black lung benefits after a career in the mines, or maybe making sure someone else was getting the right social security check or helping an American stranded overseas with a visa problem. There's nothing abstract about that work; you see the results immediately and tangibly, and that was a lesson that Colleen applied to all of her work in my office--what we do up here matters to people and for that reason alone all of us need to do our best. Another thing that Colleen brought to work every day was her honesty and the courage of that honesty. I learned early on not to ask Colleen's advice unless I were willing to hear something completely opposite of what I believed or hoped to hear. Colleen never hesitated to speak her mind to me, and, fortunately, she didn't always wait to be asked. I have always understood how important that quality is. Honesty is only one measure of Colleen's personal integrity. She also has strength and compassion in equal measures. That is true in her personal life as well as her professional one. I know, for example, how deeply her parents came to rely on Colleen as they negotiated the not uncommon challenges of aging. They knew, as I do, that you can always rely on Colleen. A Congressman's Chief of Staff generally has two major responsibilities. The first is to serve as principal adviser. I just touched on how important Colleen's counsel has been. The other role, of course, is building and managing a good staff, something at which Colleen has always excelled. She cares about people, supports them, and helps them grow, both professionally and personally. The culture of my office has always been a positive one, and that is thanks in large part to Colleen's leadership. I speak for myself as well as scores of staffers over the years in thanking Colleen for a thousand kindnesses, large and small, visible and hidden. In a very real way, Colleen retires with two bodies of work. The first is her sizable contributions to the congressional work of my father and me. And the second is the large network of staffers who have benefited from her support and mentoring over the years. In both bodies of work, Colleen enters retirement knowing that she made a difference in people's lives, that she left things better than she found them. And what more satisfaction could one ask of any career? I always dreaded the prospect of having to replace Colleen. She actually tried to retire once or twice but always made the mistake of asking me rather than telling me. My response never varied--``No, Colleen, I just don't think it's the right time.'' And it never was the right time, for me anyway. I simply relied on her too much. Well, Madam Speaker, now it is, finally, the right time. As I prepare to leave office, I take with me many wonderful things. But few mean as much to me as the support and the friendship of Mary Colleen McCarty. My wife, Barbara, and I offer Colleen our warmest wishes for a wonderful retirement. [[Page 23419]] ____________________