[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E986]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          VICKI GOTTLICH; A TRUE ADVOCATE FOR SENIOR CITIZENS

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. JANICE D. SCHAKOWSKY

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 26, 2011

  Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to thank Vicki Gottlich for 
her more than three decades of advocacy on behalf of senior citizens 
and their families. She has been a treasured resource for all of us 
concerned about protecting and strengthening Medicare and Medicaid and 
improving the wellbeing of older Americans. Along the way, she has also 
worked on issues that affect persons with disabilities and working 
families.
  Vicki is leaving the Center for Medicare Advocacy, where she has 
served as Senior Policy Attorney since January 2000. Before that, she 
worked as staff attorney for the National Senior Citizens Law Center, 
the managing attorney for the Prince George's County Senior Citizens 
Law Project, and the associate director of the National Law Center's 
Institute of Law and Aging at George Washington University.
  In each of those roles, Vicki demonstrated her absolute commitment to 
improving the lives of senior citizens. In my work as co-chair of the 
Seniors Task Force and a member of the House Energy and Commerce's 
Subcommittee on Health, I am able to work with many skilled policy 
analysts. Vicki is certainly one of the very best. She has provided my 
office with in-depth and cogent analyses of legislative proposals and 
regulations for years. We have come to rely heavily on Vicky's 
knowledge and experience and she has always been available to answer 
questions, provide recommendations or undertake research.
  Vicki, though, brings more than policy astuteness to her work. She 
always keeps her eye on the real-life impacts that policies have on our 
constituents and their families. A typical conversation with Vicki will 
include plenty of discussion about legal points and policy precedents, 
but it will also include numerous examples of the specific problems 
facing actual people and how solutions can be crafted to solve those 
problems.
  I want to thank Vicki for sharing her wisdom and skills over the past 
years. I wish her well in her new role at the Center for Consumer 
Information and Insurance Oversight at CMS, where she will continue to 
work to improve access to affordable health care for all Americans.

                          ____________________