Katie Porter: “I want to tell the House how much we are all going to miss Mike Stephens. Mike served on the Labor-HHS Appropriations…”

“I want to tell the House how much we are all going to miss Mike Stephens. Mike served on the Labor-HHS Appropriations Subcommittee for over 20 years, 5 as clerk, and was enormously helpful to all members of the subcommittee, including those of us in the minority, throughout that time. I want to personally thank him for his honesty and professionalism in dealing with me during the 15 years I served in the minority on the subcommittee. He served with great skill under three chairmen--the flamboyant Dan Flood, the gentleman's gentleman Bill Natcher, and the doggedly determined Neal Smith. And he served all three with equal expertise and sensitivity. We sometimes felt he was an extension of the chairman himself. But he remained the consummate staffer at all times--quietly in the background, building consensus and brokering compromises, indispensable to the smooth functioning of the subcommittee. His dedication to the subcommittee, his devotion to the Congress as an institution, and his commitment to serving its Members and the public set the standard for those who follow him. Mike's retirement from the House is a great loss to our subcommittee and to the Congress. We wish him nothing but the best in his new ventures.”