>GRATITUDE FOR INTEGRITY, EXPERTISE AND PROFESSIONALISM

(Senate - March 28, 2006)

   Mr. CRAPO. Mr. President, at the end of March, I will be losing a valuable member of my legislative team as she returns to her host agency, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. Since early 2005, Larisa Collado has served as a legislative fellow in my Washington, DC, office. Her extensive expertise on technical financial intricacies, coupled with her diligence, enthusiasm and professionalism has made her an invaluable, albeit temporary, member of my staff.

   As chairman of the Senate Banking Subcommittee on International Trade and Finance and the designated Senate lead for regulatory relief matters, I am actively engaged in a wide portfolio of financial issues. During her service, Larisa has been critical to advancing my legislative agenda by meeting with stakeholders and analyzing and recommending legislative initiatives. She has effectively utilized her firsthand experiences as a regulator when working on a number of controversial issues. Without her able assistance, my efforts to promote financial services regulatory restructuring would have been seriously undermined. Larisa has demonstrated time and again the willingness to revisit detailed regulatory provisions without losing patience or drive. When others would have turned to other projects, she stayed committed to this long-overdue but sorely overlooked facet of the financial services sector.

   Larisa has also demonstrated keen perceptivity and integrity with regard to the proper balance of personal privacy protection and legitimate law enforcement--a necessary component of congressional oversight and reform of our Nation's financial markets. Idahoans and Americans across the country are becoming increasingly aware of the vulnerability of their personal financial information. I looked to her for guidance and analysis of the proper ways to ensure that financial information remains private. At the same time, Larisa has also been a key component of my efforts to work with Idaho Hispanics to educate those who need help with financial literacy and understanding the benefits of the financial services community.

���   Larisa has proven herself a highly effective professional and I have no doubt she will continue to excel at the FDIC in a career already marked by superior performance and achievement. I thank her for her commitment to public service and to Idaho these past months, and wish her well.