A message from Danny Werfel, Controller, Office of Management and Budget, on the passing of Ken Carfine.

It is with great sadness that I share with you the passing of Ken Carfine, Fiscal Assistant Secretary, Department of the Treasury. For those of you who had the honor of knowing and working with Ken, you understand the immense loss the Federal Financial Management community feels today. Ken devoted nearly 40 years of his life to public service. He was a tireless advocate for better financial management, blending the unique combination of knowledge, strategic vision, and great personal warmth to always get the job done.

Highlights of Ken’s distinguished career (as read on the Senate floor by Senator Ted Kaufman last summer) are provided below. On a personal note, I wanted to share the special place that Ken will always have in my heart. Ken served as a mentor to me at a critical time in my career as I was growing into a leader. I learned many things by emulating Ken’s professional traits, but it was his personal traits that will have the most lasting impression on me. His kindness and strength of character were unparalleled, and I hope that we can each carry that kindness and character forward as we work to complete so many of the objectives for which Ken dedicated his professional life.

He will be missed by us all.

Statement by Senator Kaufman, July 2009

For 35 years Kenneth E. Carfine has served the Department of the Treasury and the American people with distinction, integrity and dedication. As the Fiscal Assistant Secretary, and the Department’s most senior career professional, Mr. Carfine has served as principal advisor to senior Treasury officials during a time of great fiscal challenges.

For the past several years, Mr. Carfine has been essential to many Treasury initiatives including implementation of a fiscal stimulus and the Agency Mortgage Backed Securities Purchase Program. In 2009, Mr. Carfine served as Treasury’s Senior Accountable Official as the Department assumed significant responsibilities related to The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Under Mr. Carfine’s leadership, Treasury established two new and innovative Recovery Act programs aimed at increasing economic development. One of the Recovery Act programs provides funding for the development or renovation of qualified affordable housing for families across the country. The second program, which Treasury announced just this month, will provide funding for the development of renewable energy projects.

Mr. Carfine has distinguished himself as a leader in the effort to modernize Treasury’s cash and debt management infrastructure. He guided efforts to introduce a national debit card to deliver benefits to Social Security recipients, deployed a new state-of-the-art auction system for Treasury securities, led the effort to broaden Treasury’s authority to invest operating cash, and developed new government-wide systems to produce the annual Financial Report of the United States.

I am reading this citation today in recognition of Mr. Carfine’s accomplishments, his exemplary leadership, and his outstanding contributions throughout his long career at the Department of the Treasury. Mr. Carfine is currently on extended medical leave from the Department of the Treasury.