E1386 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — Extensions of Remarks August 1, 2012 

his service, he was awarded his second Defense Commendation Medal. 

In December of 2009, Lieutenant Commander Westerlund became the Officer in 

Charge (OIC) of the 38 sailors of the Military 

Sealift Command Cargo Afloat Rigging Team 

III, Detachment C based out of Lemoore, California. While serving as OIC, he was deployed 

twice onboard the USNS Guadalupe (T–AO– 

200). 

Lieutenant Commander Westerlund is married to Dora Rivera of Mazatlan, Mexico. While 

deployed overseas in Operation Enduring 

Freedom, Lieutenant Commander Westerlund 

was reelected to the Fresno City Council, and 

his first child, Zoe, was born. Lieutenant Commander Westerlund and his wife recently welcomed their second child—a son named William. 

On August 11, 2012, Lieutenant Commander Westerlund will retire from the United 

States Navy after 20 years of honorable military service. Mr. Speaker, please join me in 

honoring Lieutenant Commander Lawrence E. 

Westerlund for his outstanding career. He is a 

true public servant. I congratulate him on his 

retirement, and wish him the best of success 

in his future endeavors. 

f 

IN HONOR OF ADMIRAL JAMES D. 

WATKINS 

HON. SAM FARR OF CALIFORNIA

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Wednesday, August 1, 2012 

Mr. FARR. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to 

honor the life and exemplary service of the 

late Admiral James D. Watkins. Chief of Naval 

Operations, Chairman of the Commission on 

AIDS, Secretary of Energy, and Chairman of 

the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy, he 

was called out of retirement on multiple occasions but left the service of our Nation and our 

world last Thursday night. He passed on from 

his home in Alexandria, VA at the age of 85. 

His presence will certainly be missed not just 

in Washington, but across the country and 

particularly in the ocean science community. 

A native of California and a graduate of the 

U.S. Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, 

Admiral Watkins served in the Navy for 37 

years where he rose to become the Chief of 

Naval Operations. An esteemed feat by itself, 

this position was just the starting point for 

what would become his most venerable legacy. After retirement from the Navy, Admiral 

Watkins was appointed Secretary of Energy 

during the Reagan administration. 

Accomplished through his ability to bring 

disparate groups together to understand and 

solve complex problems, he led two of the 

most important federal commissions to occur 

in the past 25 years—one on the AIDS pandemic and the other on the Congressionally 

directed Commission on Ocean Policy. Both 

commissions sought to improve the health and 

well-being of all through improved understanding of our least understood systems—the 

human immune system and the planetary 

ocean system. As a public servant and as a 

citizen, Admiral Watkins acted deliberately and 

thoughtfully to digest massive quantities of information and actors into specific challenges 

with clearly articulated steps to achieve 

agreed-upon outcomes. 

His 16-member Commission on Ocean Policy developed ‘‘An Ocean Blueprint for the 

21st Century’’ which offered comprehensive 

recommendations for a national ocean policy. 

When those recommendations were finalized 

and presented in 2004, he said, ‘‘With a clear 

mandate from the President, and strong, bipartisan support among Members of Congress, we can begin the difficult, but critical 

process of implementing a comprehensive national ocean policy.’’ He spent the last eight 

years of his life acting on implementing those 

recommendations. In his wake it will take 

many of us here in Congress, along with other 

nongovernmental actors to continue to steer 

and direct these efforts and contribute to the 

heavy lift of moving this important work forward. 

Mr. Speaker, I know I speak for the whole 

House in recognizing the contributions that 

Admiral Watkins made to make this world a 

better place. We offer our condolences to his 

family and friends, and particularly his six children and his wife, Janet. Those of us who had 

the good fortune to have known him are better 

people for the experience. 

f 

HONORING MONSIGNOR FELIX S. 

DIOMARTICH 

HON. JANICE HAHN OF CALIFORNIA

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Wednesday, August 1, 2012 

Ms. HAHN. Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor 

Monsignor Felix S. Diomartich, the oldest 

priest in the City of Los Angeles and the 

S ̆ ibenik region of Croatia, who is celebrating 

75 years of service in the priesthood. Monsignor Diomartich was born on November 2, 

1914, in Zlarin, Croatia. He began his life’s 

journey at the parish of Vodice as the Associate Pastor. Soon after, he was named Secretary to Bishop Mileta. He later earned two 

doctorate degrees in theology and church law 

at the Gregorian University in Rome, Italy. Before leaving for the United States, he obtained 

the title of the lawyer of the Sacra Romana 

Rota. 

After arriving in the United States, Monsignor Diomartich served at three parishes in 

the Archdiocese of New York before he was 

invited to serve at St. Anthony Croatian 

Church in Los Angeles. Monsignor Diomartich 

served for 36 years as an administrator and 

as a pastor. He supported such organizations 

as the St. Ann’s Altar Society for women and 

the Holy Name Society for men. He founded 

two new societies for American-born young 

adults called the Anthonians and the St. Anthony’s Women’s Guild. His other accomplishments at the parish include the St. Anthony’s 

Annual Picnic Festival, building of a new rectory, and remodeling and expanding the original parish hall. 

In 1978, Pope Paul VI awarded him the title 

of Monsignor. The Croatian National Association and Foundation awarded him with its Lifetime Achievement award in 2008. Though he 

has retired from its administration, Monsignor 

Diomartich continues to reside at the St. Anthony Croatian Church, helping with masses 

and confessions. Through his passion of 

spreading the word of God, he has inspired 

and guided the residents of Los Angeles and 

has brought unity and pride to the Croatian 

community. 

He has truly made a difference in the lives 

of so many people. It has been a privilege to 

call him a friend and to celebrate this significant milestone. 

f 

RED TAPE REDUCTION AND 

SMALL BUSINESS JOB CREATION 

ACT 

SPEECH OF

HON. MAZIE K. HIRONO OF HAWAII

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Wednesday, July 25, 2012 

The House in Committee of the Whole 

House on the state of the Union had under 

consideration the bill (H.R. 4078) to provide 

that no agency may take any significant regulatory action until the unemployment rate 

is equal to or less than 6.0 percent: 

Ms. HIRONO. Mr. Chair, last week the 

House considered H.R. 4078, the Regulatory 

Freeze for Jobs Act. Like the REINS Act and 

other similar legislation this chamber has considered—and I have opposed—the Regulatory 

Freeze for Jobs Act (H.R. 4078) would prevent 

federal agencies from developing and implementing regulations that protect public health, 

consumers, and our environment. 

One of the majority’s primary arguments for 

this bill is that regulations kill jobs by making 

it hard for businesses to do what they need to 

do to succeed. In the current economy, this 

sounds plausible. Unfortunately, the facts and 

data do not support this claim. 

Since 2007 the Bureau of Labor Statistics 

(BLS) has asked businesses that have laid off 

large numbers of workers what caused them 

to make such layoffs. According to the BLS’s 

survey data government regulations contributed to only 0.2 percent of layoffs in 2009, 

2010 and through the first half of 2011. 

Instead, the BLS found that the number one 

reason companies made mass layoffs was because of reduced demand for their products or 

services from consumers. 

Surveys conducted by the American Sustainable Business Council, the Main Street Alliance, and the Small Business Majority also 

found that lack of demand is the primary challenge facing businesses today—not regulations. 

One of the other arguments the majority has 

advanced to support their claim that regulations hurt the economy is that there will be 

‘‘unintended consequences.’’ Again, this 

sounds plausible given the state of our economy. But again, this assertion does not hold 

up against the facts. 

Take, for example, the Clean Air Act and 

the regulations that resulted from the law. In 

1990, Congress passed the Clean Air Act 

Amendments on a strong bipartisan basis. Despite concerns raised by industry over the cost 

of the rules mandated by the law, the decade 

following its enactment was a great time U.S. 

businesses. The economy created 21 million 

jobs, and we had the longest period of sustained economic growth in national history. 

In fact, since passage of the initial Clean Air 

Act over 40 years ago, our economy has 

grown by over 200 percent. At the same time, 

we have improved the nation’s air quality and 

the health of the American people by reducing 

toxic and health threatening air pollutants by 

60 percent. The estimated economic benefits 


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