[Congressional Record: June 9, 2010 (Senate)]
[Page S4741-S4742]
TRIBUTE TO DONALD C. STONE
Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, today I wish to recognize Donald C.
Stone, who is one of the most experienced members on the staff of the
Senate Select Committee on Intelligence who has brought unique skills
to the committee during his tenure. Friday, June 11 will mark Don's
last day in government.
After 27 years, Don will be leaving the public sector and taking on
new challenges. He has had an extraordinary career, mostly in the
secret world of secured offices while he served his country well
overseeing our Nation's intelligence agencies.
Don comes from this area. He grew up in Maryland and received a
bachelor of arts in business administration and a master's in business
administration from Loyola College in Baltimore. He now lives in Falls
Church, VA, with his wife Dana and their two sons Robert and Andrew.
Don did not waste any time getting into the national security world.
Right out of graduate school he went to work at the Central
Intelligence Agency with the inspector general's audit staff. He worked
there for 11 years on very sensitive classified projects both here and
abroad, sometimes under very trying circumstances. While working with
the CIA inspector general, Don had a rotational assignment with the
National Reconnaissance Office's inspector general audit staff from
1993 to 1995, where he worked to make sure our Nation's spy satellite
programs were run well and that the tax dollars spent in the secret
world of spy agencies would pass muster if exposed to the light of
review.
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Don first came to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence in June
1995 to serve as an auditor on the committee's audit team. The
committee had created the audit staff in 1988 to provide `` a credible
independent arm for Committee review of covert action programs and
other specific Intelligence Community functions and issues.'' Don's
aptitude for this work quickly led to his being named the committee's
chief of the audit staff in September 1998. Mr. Stone then crossed the
Capitol to work on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence
in March 2005 as the deputy staff director of the Subcommittee on
Oversight. We were fortunate enough to bring Don back to the SSCI in
January 2007 as our director of Audit and Evaluations.
During his time on the committee, Don has completed many reviews and
audits to assure us that our intelligence agencies spent our tax money
appropriately and legally, and that they managed their programs
effectively within the law.
Over the years, Don has conducted audits of major acquisition
systems, major espionage cases and their related damage assessments,
the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, budget and personnel growth,
and information sharing. He has led the committee's review of financial
statements of nominees for key intelligence positions, for keeping up
with what the inspectors general of the intelligence community agencies
were investigating, and for reviewing dozens of whistleblower and other
complaint cases. Don has been properly persistent in reminding
intelligence agencies of their need to do better.
He is also largely responsible for the effort, underway for the past
several years, to push intelligence agencies to improve their financial
auditability. A notable example of this was last year when the
committee expressed concern and displeasure over the lack of progress
that one intelligence agency was making toward being able to produce an
auditable financial statement. I received a call from the agency's
director, who was not very pleased about the committee's critical view.
The committee staff and the agency staff met, and due in large part to
Don's thorough research, the agency came away with a clearer picture of
what steps it needed to take and, I hope, appreciative of the
constructive role the committee was playing.
As this body of work reflects, Don has the talents required to
conduct congressional oversight. He is able to see both the forest and
the trees, and when necessary he can examine the individual leaves and
roots. He has an extraordinary ability to focus on the details without
losing knowledge of how they fit within a larger context. We have
benefitted as a nation when he has cast his gaze on the workings of our
national security apparatus.
At home he practices his attention to detail on his model car
collection and taking up the hammer and paint brush to do the home
improvement work he truly enjoys.
I would be remiss without noting Don's passion for the local sports
teams. Don lives and breathes the burgundy and gold of his hometown
Washington Redskins and his residence is covered in red, white and blue
not just because he's a true patriot, but also because he's an avid fan
of the Washington Capitals hockey team.
Don's love of hockey has rubbed off on his two sons who now play on
the ice and led him to take active roles in organizing and managing a
local hockey league. This year, he is serving as the president of that
league and we can be certain the games are starting on time, the kids
are playing hard and having fun, and the league's finances are in
order.
Even with his retirement from government service, Don will be putting
his skills and expertise to use in the private sector, but still
working in the intelligence arena.
Donald Stone has worked in the shadows both in the clandestine world
of our Nation's spy agencies and out of the public limelight. It is my
pleasure that now, as he leaves public service, we can openly
acknowledge and praise the admirable work he has done to keep our
Nation safe.
Mr. Stone, on behalf of myself and all the members of the Senate
Select Committee on Intelligence during your years of service, I am
pleased to say on the Senate floor how greatly we appreciate your fine
work and your exemplary career. We will miss your insights and your
professionalism. And I wish you all the best as you move on to the next
stage of your life.
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