Tom Harkin: “at the end of this week Robert E. Sturm will retire following a long and distinguished career of exemplary service to…”

“at the end of this week Robert E. Sturm will retire following a long and distinguished career of exemplary service to the U.S. Senate, most recently as chief clerk of the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry. We could not have had a more capable, conscientious and dedicated chief clerk for these many years. More important, though, we will miss Bob's friendly helpfulness to each member of our committee, to all of the staff who work on and with our committee and to the many members of the public who follow the work of our committee. Bob Sturm began his service to the Senate 33 years ago in 1974, shortly after graduating from college, as a mail room clerk for Senator Birch Bayh of Bob's home State of Indiana. He served as mailroom clerk and mailroom manager for Senators Dick Clark of Iowa, Donald Stewart of Alabama, and Russell B. Long of Louisiana. For 2 years he was an office systems consultant for the Senate Computer Center where he assisted 14 Senate offices and helped lay the groundwork for today's Senate-wide computer network. Bob served as Senator Patrick Leahy's office manager before he became the financial clerk and systems administrator for the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry in 1987, when Senator Leahy became chairman. Bob was promoted to chief clerk for the committee under Chairman Dick Lugar in 1995 and has held the position under several succeeding chairmen.”