Steny Hoyer: “All of us who serve in this House are deeply indebted to our hardworking staff who enable us to serve our constituents…”

“All of us who serve in this House are deeply indebted to our hardworking staff who enable us to serve our constituents and meet the rigorous demands of this job. In particular, all of us are grateful for our district directors, as we are for all of our staff. But our district directors are ``us'' for so many instances, for so many constituents, and for so many different events. They represent us when we cannot be there, when we are here in Washington. They are our eyes and ears on the ground when we are here. They are the angels on our shoulders who remind us that everything we do on a national level needs to benefit our constituents back home. For the past 30 years, I have been blessed--the Fifth Congressional District has been blessed--to be a colleague of Betsy Bossart. I love Betsy Bossart, and my constituents love Betsy Bossart. Before she served as my district director, she was my administrative assistant, the jack of all trades who made sure my office ran smoothly, and served as one of my chief advisers. Betsy joined my staff on March 3, 1989, 30 years ago, and until she retired--sadly, from my perspective--last month, she served me, the people of the Fifth District, and our country every day. With her departure, my office--and, indeed, this House--is diminished by the end of her extraordinary service. Betsy gave her time and energy selflessly for the people of the Fifth District, working many, many late nights, many weekends, and long days.…”