Joseph T. Burns: “as the chairman of the Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee, I wish to speak for a few moments…”

“as the chairman of the Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee, I wish to speak for a few moments about the coming retirement of one of the most dedicated public servants I have had the pleasure of knowing. Shortly after the first of the year, John Trezise will be leaving the Department of the Interior after 35 productive years.. Since 1998, John has served as the Director of the Interior Department's Office of Budget and for the 5 years before that as the Chief of the Office's Division of Budget. In short, John has been ``running the numbers'' at the Interior Department for the past 13 years. And I can vouch for the fact that during those years, no one has known more about the Department's budget than John. He is, to put it bluntly, a walking ledger. John first got his start with the Department in 1971 when he hired on as a young attorney in the Office of the Solicitor. For a number of years, he was Assistant Solicitor for administrative law and General Legal Services, specializing in appropriations law issues. It is this legal background that has made John such an important asset to those of us on the Appropriations Committee. The guidance and counsel John has been able to offer our Members and our staff has been invaluable. It is no exaggeration to say that without his help, we would have been, if not lost, at least temporarily delayed in getting our appropriations bill done each year on time and within our budget.”