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[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1528]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
HONORING CAROLYN EDWARDS
______
HON. PETER A. DeFAZIO
of oregon
in the house of representatives
Tuesday, December 3, 2019
Mr. DeFAZIO. Madam Speaker, on behalf of myself and Mr. Graves of
Missouri, today I would like to recognize the outstanding career,
significant accomplishments, and invaluable contributions of Carolyn
Edwards, a dedicated civil servant who in January will retire after a
distinguished 46-year career with the U.S. Department of
Transportation--44 of these with the Federal Highway Administration.
Among her many exemplary accomplishments, Ms. Edwards has been
involved in every Federal surface transportation bill since TEA-21 in
1998. This has included support--through the technical assistance
process--for Congressional Committees, countless Members of Congress,
and their staff on legislative and highway policy issues.
This is the fourth time that a Congressional Committee Chair (or
Ranking Member) has publicly thanked Ms. Edwards, by name, for her
contributions. Prior instances include--
On July 29, 2005, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Environment
and Public Works (Senator Jim Inhofe) thanked her on the Senate floor
during floor consideration of the conference report for SAFETEA-LU;
On June 29, 2012, in the Congressional Record the Chairman of the
House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure (the Honorable
John Mica) thanked Ms. Edwards, among others, for her work on MAP-21;
and
On December 3, 2015, I thanked Ms. Edwards on the House floor for her
work on the FAST Act.
Ms. Edwards joined the Federal Highway Administration in 1973 as an
economist within the Agency's Office of Highway Planning. There, she
helped to establish FHWA's Highway Performance Monitoring System--a
system that 40 years later continues to provide national-level data on
the extent, condition, performance, use, and operating characteristics
of the nation's highways. Over the ensuing four-and-a-half decades, Ms.
Edwards has gone on to serve in a range of high-level analytical
positions at FHWA, including stints in FHWA's Office of Highway Policy
Information and in FHWA's Office of Legislative Affairs and Policy
Communications.
As one example, during the mid-1990s, Ms. Edwards served in FHWA's
Office of Highway Information Management. While there, she identified--
then helped to resolve--a $1.6 billion error in the Treasury
Department's calculation of Highway Trust Fund revenues, which impacted
the State-by-State distribution of Federal highway funding. Later, she
also worked in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Budget and
Programs, with a portfolio that covered Federal-aid highway programs
and the Highway Trust Fund.
Ms. Edwards is ending her career as a member--and former leader--of
FHWA's legislative analysis team. In this capacity, she serves as an
unparalleled national expert on a wide range of highway-related topics,
including Federal highway legislation, the Highway Trust Fund, and the
operations of the Federal-aid highway program. For years, she has been
a go-to reference on these topics for both agency and departmental
leaders. Furthermore, as testament to the quality of her work, over the
course of her career, Ms. Edwards has been recognized with multiple
FHWA Superior Achievement Awards, a Secretary's Team Award, and two
Secretarial Awards for Partnering for Excellence.
In closing, on behalf of myself, the Committee, my colleagues on both
sides of the aisle, and our staff, I would like to thank Ms. Edwards
for her steadfast public service, her support for the Congress, and her
immeasurable contributions to the Federal-aid highway program.
____________________