Energy Savings and Industrial Competitiveness Act of 2014

Floor Speech

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Madam President, this week we celebrate Public Service Recognition Week to honor public servants at all levels of government for their admirable patriotism and contributions to our country.

We often forget that these public servants at all levels of government go to work every day with the sole mission to make this country a better and safer place to live. Day by day, they go about their work, often receiving little recognition for the great work they do.

Since 2010, I have come to the Senate floor on occasions to honor exemplary Federal employees--a tradition that was begun by my friend Senator Ted Kaufman.

Amongst the list of Federal employees we have honored across the country are some who serve here on this Senate floor.

Today I want to celebrate Public Service Recognition Week by taking this opportunity to recognize three federally employed Virginians who are doing exemplary work behind the scenes to make our government more effective and keep our fellow citizens safe.

Normally, we would have their photos here in the Chamber, but since we have three, we are going to recognize them all with this single poster. Again, these are exemplary Federal employees.

The first is Heidi King, who served as the Director of the Patient Safety Program Office at the Department of Defense and currently leads the DOD's Partnership for Patients.

While at DOD, she helped develop a patient safety program which helps medical professionals eliminate preventable medical errors.

Breakdowns in communication between doctors, nurses, and special care providers are historically the cause of many tragic medical events such as surgical errors, prescription mistakes, and hospital-acquired infections.

To combat this, Heidi coordinated with the Department of Health and Human Services to bring together more than 100 independent experts in the medical field. These experts developed a comprehensive training program for medical professionals to learn about the factors within their control that commonly contribute to errors.

In 2008, DOD implemented Heidi's program in combat support units in Iraq. As a result, communication errors decreased 65 percent, medication and transfusion errors decreased 85 percent, and the rate of bloodstream infections from catheters also dropped dramatically. Heidi should be proud of her work, which is directly responsible for the health of many brave soldiers.

In an effort to spread these best practices, the safety program has established 11 training centers across the country, where more than 6,200 medical professionals have participated to become master trainers and instructors. They then return to their health care systems to lead implementation of the program.

This is the kind of commonsense, cost-effective, yet also lifesaving program that does not get much recognition but is an example of a Federal employee going above and beyond the call of duty to help her fellow Americans and actually help the bottom line.

I would also like to recognize two TSA employees for their heroic actions that helped save a passenger's life.

While posted at Washington National Airport last month, TSA employee Chuck Bolen was told that a passenger was in need of immediate assistance.

As soon as Bolen saw the passenger slumped in the chair, he knew he did not have a lot of time and was prepared to do whatever was necessary to keep the passenger alive.

As the man's condition declined rapidly, Bolen sprinted to grab the nearest AED machine. With help from his colleague Brian Stout, a marine infantry sergeant who did three combat tours in Iraq and now works for TSA, they worked together to apply the AED machine. After a single attempt, the machine advised to begin CPR. Bolen initiated chest compressions and continued administering the lifesaving action, even after first responders arrived on the scene.

Thankfully, their quick collaborative actions paid off. While in the ambulance on the way to the hospital, the man's heart started and stopped several times, but today he is alive and recovering from triple bypass surgery.

I hope my colleagues will join me in honoring Heidi King, Chuck Bolen, and Brian Stout--truly great Virginians but also great civil servants--and all those who serve at the Department of Defense and the TSA for their hard work and dedication to our Nation.

While today we have highlighted three, as I mentioned at the outset, over the last 5 years I have come many times and have highlighted folks from across Virginia and across the country. As I mentioned, as well, there are people serving right now on this Senate floor who have received this kind of attention for their quiet dedication to duty and making the Senate a more functioning institution.

As we constantly come to the floor and debate the challenges of our budget and other issues, I think it is very important--while we may differ about which programs we support and what functions our government should take on--we never underestimate the enormous value our Federal employees contribute on a regular basis to the safety, security, and, quite honestly, the function of our national government.

I hope all my colleagues will join me in recognizing the efforts of public servants across the country during Public Service Recognition Week and thank them for the very important work they do every day.

With that, I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.

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