The publication is reproduced in full below:
IN HONOR OF MICHAEL JOSEPH REED
______
HON. SANFORD D. BISHOP, JR.
of georgia
in the house of representatives
Wednesday, July 28, 2021
Mr. BISHOP of Georgia. Madam Speaker, it is with deep gratitude and great admiration that I rise today to honor and commend an extraordinary public servant, husband, and friend of long standing, Mr. Michael Joseph Reed. Michael, my Chief of Staff and Senior Policy Advisor, will be retiring from federal public service effective August 3, 2021. He will leave behind a stellar career and a void in my office that will be hard to fill. A retirement reception will be held for him at 5:00 p.m. on July 28, 2021 in Washington, D.C., attended by numerous friends, family, colleagues, and others with whom his life and career have intersected.
Michael Joseph Reed is a native of Buffalo, N.Y. He earned his Bachelor's degree in Business Administration from Oakwood College in Huntsville, Alabama. He also earned a Master's degree in Urban and Regional Planning from Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee.
Michael's career in public service began as a Presidential Management Intern (PMI) at the U.S. Department of Transportation, Office of Budget Policy. This experience led him to his first Capitol Hill position as an intern for former Congressman Louis Stokes of Ohio, who was a member of the House Appropriations Committee. After leaving Congressman Stokes, he joined the staff of Congressman William Gray, Chairman of the House Budget Committee and a member of the Appropriations Committee, as Legislative Director.
After leaving Congressman Gray's office, he was Vice-President for Marketing at the United Negro College Fund. He was also the Director of Regional Card Marketing and Vice-President for Government Affairs for the American Express Company.
In 2003, when I was selected to serve on the House Appropriations Committee and was searching for a seasoned Appropriations Specialist and Legislative Policy Advisor, I was blessed to hire Michael as my Special Assistant for the Appropriations Committee. He served in that capacity for twelve (12) years until he was appointed Deputy Chief of Staff in 2011 and Chief of Staff in 2015.
For eighteen (18) years, I have been matriculating in ``The Michael Reed School of Budgetary Policy.'' He has been a master teacher of the process and its nuances. While he initially had no working knowledge of agriculture issues, he worked hard to learn these issues and used his skills to help my growth and effectiveness in the Agriculture Subcommittee of Appropriations and facilitate my securing the Chairmanship. Michael drove the Congressional response in the form of agriculture disaster relief over the past three (3) years to include typhoons, volcanic eruptions, wildfires, hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, droughts, and other exigencies. Georgia and American Agriculture were able to get relief because of his significant work. Georgia agriculture producers and rural communities benefited mightily from his efforts. Michael led my staff with great aplomb. He never told me only what I wanted to hear but always told me what I needed to hear. Because of him, we have been able to serve the people better.
Former Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm once said, ``Service is the rent we pay for the space we occupy on this earth.'' Michael has paid his rent and paid it well.
Having served in the public sector, corporate sector, and the nonprofit sector, he has truly made a difference. But none of this would have been possible without the grace of God, the love and support of his loving wife, Attorney Diane Fields Reed, his father-in-law, Judge Richard Fields, and their beloved dog, Alexandra.
Madam Speaker, I ask my colleagues here in the House of Representatives, to join my wife, Vivian and me, along with our entire Congressional staff, past and present, and the 730,000 residents of the Second Congressional District of Georgia in honoring and commending Mr. Michael Joseph Reed on his outstanding career and upon the occasion of his retirement. We wish him well as he begins a new chapter in his life.
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SOURCE: Congressional Record Vol. 167, No. 132
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