July 30, 2020 - Issue: Vol. 166, No. 135 — Daily Edition116th Congress (2019 - 2020) - 2nd Session

[Pages H3985-H3986]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 THANKING DEB DETMERS FANSLER, STEVE TOMASZEWSKI, AND RODNEY DAVIS FOR 
                             THEIR SERVICE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Illinois (Mr. Shimkus) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. SHIMKUS. Mr. Speaker, Deb Detmers Fansler, Steve Tomaszewski, and 
Rodney Davis were all with me politically and governmentally for 24 
years. It is now my time to thank them.
  All three have been great public servants. All three are political 
addicts.
  Deb is another Western Illinois grad with a political science degree. 
A farm girl from Petersburg, she rapidly moved up in Illinois 
Republican circles. After I got elected in 1996, I asked her to run my 
district office.
  In the Army, the commander is responsible for all their unit does or 
fails to do. This was Deb's job: running the district office. I have 
represented the 20th Congressional District, the 19th Congressional 
District, and the 15th Congressional District. In total, I have 
represented 52 of the State's 102 counties.
  I have had district offices in Collinsville, Maryville, Springfield, 
Danville, Effingham, Centralia, Olney, and Harrisburg. Deb was 
responsible for all of them.
  District offices permit drop-by access to constituents. For me, the 
district staff also handles all the casework. They are the jumping-off 
sites for congressional stops throughout the year. I will cover the 
incredible success story of my caseworkers in the future. Someone has 
to lead, encourage, and support the caseworkers, and Deb has done that.
  Deb also has had the difficult task of organizing my schedule back in 
the district. Getting from point A to point B on time is difficult. 
Getting from A to B to C to D to E in the same day and on time is 
nearly impossible, but we did it almost always. We shocked people with 
our punctuality and sometimes even arriving early.
  Deb was also my mother, confessor and counselor. No one knows the 
playing field better than Deb, and she quickly and briefly and 
succinctly got me up to speed. She knows everything from the courthouse 
to the statehouse. She was given the tough individual cases to handle. 
You really didn't want to tangle with her.
  Steve worked on my 1996 campaign and was my press secretary and then 
joined as my congressional press secretary.
  Steve graduated from the University of Illinois, majoring in 
journalism. His parents owned and operated the local Nashville, 
Illinois, newspaper.
  Steve was the perfect guy in the early days because, at that time in 
rural America, local print was still king. Steve understood that. Steve 
helped us adjust to the changing media dynamics. As local media started 
to decline, the St. Louis media became more important.
  With the advent of social media, the turnaround time had to be 
instantaneous if you were going to respond at all. I believe much of my 
early reelection success was the extra tender loving care that Steve 
provided to the media outlets, both big and small. Steve then moved to 
the economic development role once Rodney left.
  As my districts became larger, traveling with me consumed a lot of 
time. Deb's planning made this travel efficient but still long. I was 
only comfortable traveling with Deb and Steve. I trusted them to get me 
where I needed to go and keep me on time.
  These long car rides allowed me to talk to them about everything. 
They would hear me on phone calls, and I could debrief them on what was 
on my mind. They could also use the time to see what was on my mind. 
Being captured in the car, they had to listen to my ranting and raving.
  My drive-through meal is a McDonald's number 1. They always had Diet 
Cokes and chocolates strategically placed in the car for when we did 
not have time for lunch, or I needed chocolate for my mental health.
  One day, Rodney will finish his own story, so I will not end it here. 
A Taylorville boy, Rodney was my Christian County coordinator in 1992. 
We were both candidates in 1996. I won, and Rodney lost his race for 
State representative.
  He joined our team as our economic development coordinator. He rode 
that

[[Page H3986]]

success into a successful run for Congress. I am extremely proud of 
him.
  Deb, Steve, and Rodney gave their blood, sweat, and tears to me for 
24 years. Some say that they still do. I want to thank them here today.

                          ____________________