Ralph Regula

Madam Speaker, as you know, I will be retiring from this House at the conclusion of this Congress, but today I rise to pay tribute to a member of my staff, Diana Hart, who will also be retiring from service in this House.

A native of New Orleans, Diana lived in Germany for many years but decided to make the Washington area her home in the 1980s. Diana holds an associates degree in paralegal studies and joined my staff in 1986. As our office manager, Diana is also usually the first person a visitor to my office meets or a caller speaks with. Over these nearly 22 years of serving constituents and assisting guests, Diana has provided a warm welcome and a helpful demeanor with a continued focus on our office motto of ``Constituents First.''

Over the years, we have come to know Diana as a cat lover who is extremely devoted to her two cats. However, recently a new passion has inched its way into Diana's heart. That passion is her new grandson and her soon-to-arrive granddaughter. In her retirement, Diana is looking forward to being able to spend more time with both her grandchildren

and her cats, and we all wish her well as she will have more time to pursue these passions. We are grateful to Diana for her service.

Madam Speaker, as you know, I will be retiring from this House at the

conclusion of this Congress, but today I rise to pay tribute to a member of my staff, Sylvia Snyder, who will also be retiring from service in this House.

Sylvia was born in Grenada, Mississippi but moved to Canton, Ohio, when she was 10. She attended school in Canton and graduated from Timken High School. After raising her family Sylvia went back to school and obtained an associate degree in applied business with an executive secretarial major from Stark State College of Technology, one of our outstanding institutions in Stark County.

It was on completion of her degree at Stark State that I interviewed Sylvia for the scheduler position in my office. I had contacted the school to let them know I was interested in interviewing their students for this position and told them I wanted the best they had. Sylvia became my scheduler in June 1980, and over these more than 28 years, she has indeed proven to be one of the best. I know that my colleagues will agree that one of the most challenging and stressful positions on Capitol Hill is that of scheduler, and with her terrific organizational skills and professional demeanor, Sylvia excelled at this position. During my tenure as chairman of two different Appropriations Subcommittees, the number of requests that Sylvia received for meetings with me would have nearly overwhelmed most people, but Sylvia methodically and efficiently organized and scheduled them in order for us to carry out our mission of constituent service every day.

On behalf of our entire staff, I would like to thank Sylvia for her service to Ohio's 16th Congressional District and to this House and wish her much health and happiness in her retirement. I know that she is very much looking forward to traveling and also taking in the wonderful cultural resources in our Nation's Capital. We wish her all the best.

I thank the gentlelady for yielding. It's certainly with pleasure that I rise today as the dean of the Ohio delegation to welcome our newest Member, the Honorable Marcia Fudge, of the 11th District. We will all sadly recall our delegation and this House unexpectedly lost our friend and colleague, the Honorable Stephanie Tubbs Jones, this past August. While we all miss Stephanie's warmth and friendship, today we welcome Congresswoman Fudge to this body.

As my colleague from Toledo has said, she has an outstanding record of achievements, and I know she will be a very strong contributing Member to this body. Of course, she has the great experience of serving as the Mayor of Warrensville Heights. Any of you that have experienced local government, particularly as a mayor or a council person, you know that you have to learn to accommodate, compromise, reach across the aisle, and do a lot of things that will make for success in this body.

Also, she is a product of Ohio's fine schools. She has a bachelor's degree in Business Administration from the Ohio State University. Go Bucks. She has a law degree from the Cleveland Marshall College of Law at Cleveland State University.

Madam Speaker, on behalf of my colleagues on my side of the aisle, and colleagues generally, we are happy to welcome Ms. Fudge as one of our Members and wish her a long and successful career as a Member of this body. It's a great honor to serve in the United States Congress. I think all of us can attest to that.

I thank the gentlelady for yielding.