The Administrator’s Award is the highest honorary award that can be bestowed on an employee by the Administrator for rare and distinguished contributions of major significance to the Federal Railroad Administration.

In the usual suspenseful manner, I will not immediately reveal who is the recipient of this year’s award, although, in the usual suspenseful manner, within one sentence or so, you will know who it is.

The individual we honor today is an extraordinary person who embodies the very best of public service and of public servants. From my observations, he is the most revered of all FRA employees. He is a person of unquestioned integrity. He shows respect for all of those he works with, and in turn, is held in highest respect and regard. He is an excellent manager and an inspired leader. He can carry enormous workloads without ever complaining, and his work is of the very highest professional of standards. Always prepared, always able to get the job done. He has made an indelible mark on rail safety in this country.

As to his stats:

He graduated magna cum laude from Oklahoma Baptist University in 1968, spent time in Vietnam as a member of the US Army, and worked in the US Senate before joining the FRA in the fall of 1973. Little did he know how much that combat training—both military and senatorial-- was to come in handy over the next 32 years.

He started as a Research Assistant in the Office of Chief Counsel and found time to earn a law degree from Georgetown University Law School in 1975. From there it was a steady rise to positions of greater responsibility and authority. He served as a Law Clerk for one year and then became an FRA attorney from 1976 to 1991. He became the Associate Administrator for Safety in 1991 and has remained a leader in the Office of Safety ever since.

His accomplishments during his years at FRA are many. To name just a few, he –

· Served as the FRA key representative for development of the Rail Safety Reauthorization Act of 1994 and virtually all other pieces of rail safety legislation in recent years. Combining a political astuteness with his vast knowledge of rail safety issues, he has provided invaluable input and guidance to Congressional representatives during the formulative stages of all of this legislation;

He --
· Established and managed the Railroad Safety Advisory Committee;

· Delivered a web-based tracking system of all accidents and fatalities for improved distribution of data to the industry;

· Managed the successful development and implementation of the first federal standards for railroad passenger equipment;

· Managed the successful development and implementation of a new generation of federal track rules, which included the first-ever standards for high-speed passenger rail service;

· Served as the chief architect of the FRA train horn rule, an innovative, risk-based solution to the problem of how to provide ‘quiet zones’ for local communities while not losing the safety benefit that comes with the sounding of train horns at highway-rail grade crossings;

· Helped bring together the Secretary’s 2004 Action Plan for Grade Crossing and Trespass Prevention on behalf of DOT surface modes providing the roadmap for the next decade to further reduce the number of crashes, injuries, and fatalities;

· Directed efforts to focus inspection and regulatory activities on achievement of strategic goals, resulting in a significant reduction in accidents. Comparing statistics for 2004 to 2001, total accident rates are down 22 percent; and

· Developed a training program with the Job Corps that is used as a conduit for minority students to work into the Railroad Inspector Trainee program.

In addition to all that, during 2004, he has successfully performed two extremely demanding jobs, and he has continuously provided me valuable and comprehensive advice on numerous safety issues facing the agency. As Deputy Associate Administrator for Safety and as Acting Associate Administrator for Safety, he has served admirably during challenging times and he has raised a standard to which we can all aspire.

It is a pleasure and privilege to bestow the 2004 Administrator’s Award on Grady Cothen. Grady, on behalf of all of FRA, we thank you and we honor you for a job well done.