John Rice Carter: “I thank the gentleman for yielding. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Ms. Patricia ``Trish'' DePriest, who will be…”

“I thank the gentleman for yielding. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Ms. Patricia ``Trish'' DePriest, who will be retiring this week as a casework manager after 34 years of working for the First Congressional District of Georgia. Ms. DePriest has been referred to as the dame of Savannah's political scene but is, frankly, so much more than that. She has worked for three consecutive Members of Congress from Georgia's First Congressional District. She started working in 1983 for Congressman Lindsey Thomas. After that, she worked for Congressman Jack Kingston. Now she works for me. One of the first questions that I got when I was elected to this office came from a lot of constituents who said, ``Are you going to keep Trish?'' And I would just think to myself, ``A better question is: Is Trish going to keep me?'' Well, fortunately, she did, and I am glad she did. Throughout the First Congressional District of Georgia, if you say Trish's name, nearly everyone you speak to will have either a story about how she helped them or at least know someone whom she had helped. She has pushed passport applications. She is a passport expert. No one knows the passport system better than Trish DePriest, I assure you. She has passed through passport applications with lightning speed.…”