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[Pages S2482-S2483]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
TRIBUTE TO MIKE DiSILVESTRO
Mr. McCONNELL. Now, Madam President, on another matter, it is my
honor to help bid farewell to a distinguished staff leader, who has
himself handled sensitive security matters with great care and
dedication.
For more than 30 years, this body has functioned more safely and
smoothly because Mike DiSilvestro was on the clock as Director of the
Office of Senate Security. Mike D.'s job is tough to describe. That is
partially because long tenured all-stars like Mike have a way of
carving out their own niche, but it is mostly because his work is
literally classified. Mike has been in charge of the Office of Senate
Security almost as long as I have been in the Senate.
He came on board as Acting Director in 1987. He took over a brandnew
office with incredibly important and sensitive functions. The details
are not for public consumption, but let's say there were two main
missions.
First, Mike has managed, modernized, and expanded the secure
facilities and systems that provide classified information in the
Capitol to Senators and committees as we govern the country. He has
simultaneously been a diplomatic liaison to the executive branch and
has advocated for the Senate's prerogative, and he has been a skillful
manager of people and logistics, who has made sure our secrets stay
secret once they arrive here.
Second, Mike has been one of our top leaders on the security of the
Senate itself. He helps to plan for contingencies and guard every facet
of our institution, its people, and its systems from outside actors
with bad intentions.
These are tall orders--even for a fellow graduate of the University
of Louisville. Consider how much has changed in the 37 years since Mike
first came to the Senate and in the 32 years he has held this job:
major wars, terrorist strikes on the homeland, anthrax in the Hart
Building, countless technological advances that have made his task
radically more complex. Imagine guarding some of the Nation's most
closely held secrets, planning for possible attacks on the institution,
and still being unanimously described by your colleagues as calm, cool,
and even-keeled.
Mike is no cheap people pleaser. His duties don't permit it. When you
see
[[Page S2483]]
Mike outside his secure facility and heading our way, it does not mean
a social call--it means bad news--and you had better believe this stoic
sentinel has had to say no a lot more than yes. Just doing the job half
as reliably and reassuringly as Mike is a herculean task by itself, but
then factor in the fact that he is also one of the most personally
well-liked and respected colleagues among the circle of folks with whom
he has worked.
Mike D.'s reputation extends far outside the Senate. I have it on
good authority that, when Secretary of Defense Esper--who served as
national security adviser to a former majority leader--comes to Senate
Security to brief us Members, he doesn't consider his visit complete
until he has stopped in Mike D.'s office to check on his old colleague.
Yet, ironically, outside a select circle, most people in the Senate
itself probably could not pick Mike D. out of a lineup. I guess, when
everything you work on is strictly ``need to know,'' you wind up on a
need-to-know basis yourself. Even Mike's own teammates describe his
approach as somewhat ``stealth-like.''
In short, even to his beloved Senate, Mike has remained somewhat
mysterious. It is definitely a good sign for all of us that he has
never become a household name, but some careful intelligence work on
our own has turned up clues about Mike D.'s next assignment. His well-
earned retirement will bring more hikes, more long runs, a lot more
golf, and more time with the family he treasures. He may miss his
colleagues and the importance of his job, but I don't think tears will
be shed for the end of those heroically long commutes on I-95 which
took place at all hours, day and night, whenever duty called.
I can't offer Mike any higher praise than to repeat what he actually
already knows.
The Senate has been safe and secure for more than a generation
because of you. Decades of Senators have gotten the information we need
because of you. Some people spend their whole careers wondering if they
have made a difference. You have not needed to ask that for almost 40
years, and you will never need to ask it again.
Mike, we are going to miss you, but old habits die hard, and we
simply aren't willing to sever all ties.
So, this morning, the Senate will officially designate Mike as Senate
Security's Director Emeritus. The Office's first-ever Director will
become its first-ever Director Emeritus.
But don't worry, Mike. Your new job description will just be a little
bit lighter. I hope the biggest mystery you have to tackle for a while
will be whether to play 9 holes on Saturday or fit in 18. The Senate
and your country thanks you for everything you have done.
____________________
