September 14, 2012 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — Extensions of Remarks E1531 

what it means to uncover the truth of God’s 

Word and apply it to life. 

Although Mr. Dillon has already dedicated 

four decades to ministry, from those early 

days on the sidewalks of Humboldt Park, to 

his current mission in Cicero, I am confident 

that the first 40 years are only the beginning, 

and that his work is not done yet! 

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GOVERNMENT SPENDING 

ACCOUNTABILITY ACT OF 2012 

SPEECH OF

HON. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON OF TEXAS

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Tuesday, September 11, 2012 

Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas. 

Mr. Speaker, I think we can all agree that federal agencies need to be wise and judicious in 

their use of travel funds, and that past abuses, 

while very much the exception, were a wakeup call for us to exercise stricter oversight of 

taxpayer dollars. The Administration itself, 

through the Office of Management and Budget, OMB, has also sought to curb these 

abuses by instituting new travel caps and new 

reporting requirements on all agency travel 

and I applaud them for taking this seriously. 

On the face of it, OMB’s directives seem 

reasonable to most of us, although there is 

room for debate even here. The scientific 

community, which includes tens of thousands 

of federal scientists at agencies such as the 

Department of Energy and NASA, depend on 

face-to-face interaction through conferences 

and workshops to foster innovation and launch 

new scientific directions. The community, 

therefore, is rightfully concerned about the unintended consequences of these restrictions 

stifling innovation and stunting economic 

growth by preventing federal scientists from 

participating fully in scientific exchanges with 

their fellow scientists and engineers from 

across the country and the world. So I hope 

OMB follows closely the impact of their own 

rules as they are implemented. 

Today, however, I speak to the shockingly 

onerous requirements in H.R. 4631. While 

OMB’s new directives have a $100,000 trigger 

for reporting on any given conference, in this 

bill, there is no trigger for the excessive laundry list of reporting requirements. And to be 

sure we understand each other, a conference 

is defined in this bill as ‘‘a meeting, retreat, 

seminar, symposium, or event to which an 

employee travels 25 miles or more to attend, 

that is held for consultation, education, discussion, or training; and is not held entirely at a 

Government facility.’’ Imagine, then, the very 

real and very common situation in which a 

USGS scientist in Reston travels by personal 

vehicle to a meeting about earthquakes with 

other agency and non-federal scientists at a 

non-governmental site such as the American 

Geophysical Union headquarters in DC. That 

USGS scientist is entitled to reimbursement 

for fuel mileage for that trip. Are we really 

going to pay that scientist and other agency 

staff to do a complete cost-benefit analysis 

and meet all of the other reporting requirements in this bill over a $30 expense? It 

seems to me that the additional bureaucratic 

resources necessary to meet this requirement 

will require far more than a $30 reimbursement for gas. 

Colleagues, I cannot imagine a more inefficient, bureaucratic, wasteful system than the 

one set up in this bill. If the goal is to make 

it so hard for any agency scientist to travel 

anywhere, anytime, for any purpose, then mission accomplished. But let us not underestimate the consequences this will have on the 

free and open exchange of scientific and technical knowledge and understanding between 

federal and non-federal scientists and for the 

innovation and economic benefits that follow. 

Nor let us underestimate the consequences 

this has for the ability of science agencies 

such as the National Science Foundation to 

conduct proper oversight of the several billion 

dollars in grants it awards to university scientists and engineers, because this bill also 

applies to program managers. 

I urge my colleagues on the Committee on 

Oversight and Government Reform to address 

these concerns as the bill moves forward. 

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IN RECOGNITION OF THE FRIENDS 

OF THE ISRAEL DEFENSE FORCES 

HON. DENNIS J. KUCINICH OF OHIO

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Friday, September 14, 2012 

Mr. KUCINICH. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in 

recognition of the Friends of the Israel Defense Forces (FIDF). 

Established in 1981 by a group of Holocaust 

survivors, FIDF is committed to providing for 

the wellbeing of those who serve in the Israel 

Defense Forces. It initiates and helps support 

educational, social, cultural and recreational 

programs and facilities for the young men and 

women soldiers of Israel, as well as the families of fallen soldiers. FIDF’s headquarters is 

located in New York City, but also has 14 regional offices in the United States and one office in Panama. 

The Ohio Chapter of FIDF was established 

in 1995 and is led by co-chairs, Richard Sodof 

and Elie Weiss. On September 11, 2012, the 

Ohio Chapter of FIDF honored Mr. Robert 

Goldberg at its Gala Dinner. 

Mr. Goldberg is currently the Chairman of 

the Cleveland American Israel Public Affairs 

Committee. He is an active member of his 

Israeli and Cleveland communities. Due to his 

dedication to the Jewish community, Mr. Goldberg has been the recipient of several awards 

including the Tree of Life Award, Jewish Community Federation Leadership Award, 

Eisenmann Award and Young Leadership 

Award. 

Mr. Speaker and colleagues, please join me 

in recognizing Mr. Robert Goldberg and the 

Ohio Chapter of the Friends of the Israel Defense Forces. 

f 

HONORING COLONEL JOHN R. 

BOULE ́ II 

HON. TIMOTHY H. BISHOP OF NEW YORK

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Friday, September 14, 2012 

Mr. BISHOP of New York. Mr. Speaker, it is 

with great appreciation for his service to the 

people of my district that I thank and recognize Colonel John R. Boule ́ II, commander of 

the New York district of the U.S. Army Corps 

of Engineers. I have known Colonel Boule ́

since he assumed command of the New York 

District in 2009 and have been proud to work 

with him on Long Island to improve navigation 

and protect our shores, which have a direct effect on the local economy. 

Covering not only Long Island, the New 

York district is responsible for the Corps’ water 

resource development, navigation and regulatory activities in northeastern New Jersey, 

eastern and south-central New York State, 

and parts of Vermont, Massachusetts and 

Connecticut. The district is also responsible for 

design and construction at Army and Air Force 

installations in New Jersey, New York and 

overseas in Greenland. Colonel Boule ́ also 

holds the title of Supervisor of New York Harbor. 

Under Colonel Boule ́’s leadership, my district has directly benefited from maintenance 

dredging of Shinnecock Inlet, Lake Montauk 

Harbor and the Long Island Intracoastal Waterway. We have also benefited from the completion of the Orient Harbor (Route 25) emergency shoreline stabilization and the execution 

of the feasibility cost share agreement with the 

Town of Brookhaven for the Forge River ecosystem restoration study. Furthermore, we 

successfully completed an agreement with the 

U.S. Department of Interior on a tentative federally supported plan for the Fire Island to 

Montauk Point reformulation study. 

Colonel Boule ́ is originally from Plattsburgh, 

New York and graduated in 1986 from the 

U.S. Military Academy at West Point with a 

Bachelors of Science in Civil Engineering. 

After earning two masters of science degrees 

from Stanford University and his professional 

engineer certification, he taught hydrology in 

the Department of Civil and Mechanical Engineering at the United States Military Academy. 

Colonel Boule ́ served in a variety of operational, command and staff assignments in the 

U.S. and overseas. His most recent assignment was Assistant Director of Civil Works at 

the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ headquarters in Washington, D.C. where he performed numerous duties until attending senior 

service college at the Industrial College of the 

Armed Forces (ICAF) where he earned a masters of science in national resource strategy as 

a distinguished graduate in June, 2009. 

Colonel Boule ́’s previous assignments include serving with the 16th Engineer Battalion, 

1st Armored Division in Furth, Germany. As a 

captain, he volunteered for service in Operation Desert Storm with the 27th Engineer 

Battalion. He then served as a staff officer and 

company commander with the 41st Engineer 

Battalion, 10th Mountain Division, deploying 

his unit to south Florida and Somalia in support of Operation Hurricane Andrew Relief and 

Operation Restore Hope. After company command, Colonel Boule ́ performed duties as a division plans officer. As a major, he served as 

the battalion executive officer of the 1st Battalion, 1st Infantry Regiment. 

Upon graduating with distinction from the 

Naval Command and Staff College, Colonel 

Boule ́ relocated to Korea, serving as a battalion executive officer for the 2nd Engineer 

Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division. Following this 

tour, he was assigned to the Pentagon on 

Army staff, serving in the G–8, with specific 

duties managing current force modernization 

and setting the force operations. In June, 

2004, Colonel Boule ́ assumed command of 


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