A Tribute to Bob Ball

Last Friday, I had the honor to deliver remarks at the dedication of the Robert M. Ball Federal Building in Baltimore. Bob Ball and I first met when, as a young staffer for House Speaker Thomas P. O'Neill, Jr., I was assigned to work on the bipartisan effort to reform and strengthen Social Security that culminated in the 1983 Social Security Reforms. He was the object lesson of how one person - dedicated to learning as much as he could and working as hard as he can - can make a difference, not just in the lives of millions of people, but in the life of the country. For his entire career, across six decades, Bob Ball gave so much of himself -- deep into his own retirement - in order to make sure that millions of Americans could have a dignified retirement.

My full remarks are here and I hope they reflect my great respect for this examplar of public service who represented the best of both career and political leadership in government.

Jack Lew is the Director of the Office of Management and Budget.