October 1, 2008 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S10317 

ship and its discoveries will be connected to live audiences so they can see 

what lies beneath the waters and help 

inspire a new generation of 

‘‘aquanauts.’’ 

Under Admiral Lautenbacher’s leadership, the National Weather Service 

has improved its severe weather warnings. Seconds make a difference during 

flash floods, tornados, tsunami, and severe thunderstorms. With improved 

scientific knowledge, NOAA is providing storm-based warnings that give 

the public more geographically specific 

information about severe weather. 

These storm-specific warnings allow 

first responders and those in harm’s 

way to take the necessary actions to 

protect lives and property. 

An important part of NOAA’s mission is to understand and predict 

changes in the Earth’s environment. 

Admiral Lautenbacher has led U.S. efforts working with more than 60 countries and the European Commission to 

develop the Global Earth Observation 

System of Systems, GEOSS. Earth observations are critical to our understanding of complex climate and ocean 

systems. With improved data about the 

interconnectedness of Earth systems, 

we will be better equipped to help 

emergency managers make evacuation 

decisions, to aid State and local decisionmakers in protecting coastal communities and improving infrastructure 

development, and to more accurately 

predict weather and climate changes 

that affect our economy. 

Admiral Lautenbacher also worked 

closely with Senator STEVENS and me 

to reauthorize the Magnuson-Stevens 

Fishery Conservation and Management 

Act. This act marks a natural evolution in fisheries management because it recognizes not only the need to 

carefully manage fish populations, but 

the ocean ecosystems our fisheries occupy. 

Given the size of the U.S. Exclusive 

Economic Zone in the Pacific and the 

reliance of Hawaii and the Pacific Islands on the oceans, NOAA’s programs 

are of critical importance to the Pacific. More than lending technical assistance, Admiral Lautenbacher 

matched word to deed by growing 

NOAA’s capacity in the Pacific region—from establishing a new National 

Marine Fisheries Service regional office and lab, to breaking ground on a 

NOAA Pacific Regional Facility, to developing the data and environmental 

monitoring infrastructure needed to 

support science-based management. 

Admiral Lautenbacher has my gratitude and deserves our Nation’s gratitude for his dedication to public service. I wish him well as he moves into 

the next chapter of his life.

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∑ 

TRIBUTE TO BOB DEMERSSEMAN 

∑ Mr. JOHNSON. Mr. President, I rise 

today to recognize and congratulate 

Bob DeMersseman of Rapid City, SD, 

for over 22 years of service with the 

Rapid City Economic Development 

Partnership. 

Mr. DeMersseman is retiring this December after an impressive career of 

service with the Economic Development Partnership. For 19 of the 22 

years, Bob served as president of the 

organization. During his tenure, Bob 

and his staff and the city’s economic 

development groups have created and 

expanded two industrial parks, set up 

the low-interest Rapid Fund loan fund, 

developed the Western Research Alliance to promote a growing technology 

community and created the Black Hills 

Business Development Center, an incubator to help researchers, inventors 

and entrepreneurs turn their ideas into 

commercial ventures. 

Bob has been instrumental in forging 

vital and important relationships and 

partnerships with area Chambers of 

Commerce, economic development organizations, universities and community officials. There was a time when 

local communities didn’t foster such 

working relationships and with the 

guidance and advice of leaders like 

Bob, this improved tremendously. 

Today, when one Black Hills community attracts or expands a business, 

other communities realize that they 

also benefit. 

While developing partnerships and 

relationships between communities 

and their leaders, Bob has also realized 

that economic development and attracting businesses and industries to 

the local area has become increasingly 

competitive. Bob along with other 

Rapid City and Black Hills leaders 

have done a commendable job in creating and developing more tools for the 

tool box to promote Rapid City and the 

Black Hills to national and international prospects. He has helped to 

acquire and expand land tracts for 

business and industrial parks, worked 

hard to promote and market Rapid 

City and the Black Hills communities 

and provided valuable guidance on 

issues impacting the future promotion 

and growth of Rapid City and the 

Black Hills region. He has worked hard 

to expand Rapid City’s economic base. 

Here is what a few of Bob’s peers say 

about his impact on economic development in the Rapid City area. ‘‘In my 

opinion, Bob has been at the front end 

of developing a very diversified economic development program for Rapid 

City, and he will be remembered for 

putting a lot of great things in place,’’ 

said Mark Merchen, chairman of Black 

Hills Vision, a group working to create 

a regional technology corridor. 

‘‘Bob has been such a key part of our 

team effort to create economic development in Rapid City,’’ said Pat 

Burchill, chairman of the Rapid City 

Economic Development Foundation, 

the partnership’s real estate arm. ‘‘Our 

success has a lot to do with Bob’s efforts.’’ 

I commend Bob for his passionate 

dedication and tireless work to expand 

and enhance Rapid City’s economic potential as well as helping to develop 

and promote that same potential in the 

Black Hills region. I wish him all the 

best in his retirement and know that 

he will bring a high level of enthusiasm, energy, dedication and commitment to his retirement endeavors.

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∑ 

REMEMBERING MICHAEL PROCTOR 

SMITH 

∑ Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, today 

I wish to celebrate the life of Michael 

Proctor Smith, who passed away at his 

home in New Orleans on Friday, September 26, 2008. He was 71. Michael, a 

native of New Orleans, was an awardwinning professional freelance photographer who chronicled the music, culture, and folklife of New Orleans and 

the State of Louisiana for over 40 

years. 

Michael was well known for documenting New Orleans social club parades and jazz funerals, neighborhood 

traditions, Mardi Gras Indians, spiritual church ceremonies, and many of 

the city and State’s renowned jazz, 

blues, rhythm and blues, and gospel 

musicians. He was a fixture at every 

New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival 

since it began in 1970 until his retirement in 2005. His works are internationally recognized and are permanent collections at a number of museums including the Bibliothque National in Paris, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Smithsonian Institution, the Historic New Orleans Collection, the New Orleans Museum of Art, 

the Ogden Museum of Southern Art, 

and the Louisiana State Museum. 

In the last few years, Michael had 

been honored with numerous awards 

celebrating his work. He received a 

Lifetime Achievement Award from the 

Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities in 2002 and was named Music Photographer of the Year by Offbeat magazine. In 2004 he received a Mayor’s Arts 

Award from the Arts Council of New 

Orleans and a Clarence John Laughlin 

Lifetime Achievement Award from the 

New Orleans/Gulf South chapter of the 

American Society of Media Photographers. In 2005, he received the 

Delgado Society award from the New 

Orleans Museum of Art, the first photographer to be so honored. The recipient of two Photographer’s Fellowships 

from the National Endowment for the 

Arts, Michael’s prints have toured 

worldwide through the U.S. Information Agency. 

Michael’s photographs grace the covers of many CDs and record albums, illustrate numerous books and magazine 

articles published in America and Europe, and are a staple of documentary 

films on the rich cultural history of 

New Orleans and Louisiana. 

He was also an original owner and 

founder of Tipitina’s, an iconic music 

club located at the corner of Napoleon 

Avenue and Tchoupitoulas Street in 

uptown New Orleans. 

Michael is survived by his partner 

Karen Louise Snyder; his brother Joseph Byrd Hatchitt Smith; two daughters, Jan Lamberton Smith and Leslie 

Blackshear Smith; and three grandchildren, Chance King Doyle, Leslie 


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S10318 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE October 1, 2008 

Elizabeth Doyle, and Francis Brandon 

Arant.∑ 

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TRIBUTE TO LOUISIANA WWII 

VETERANS 

∑ Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, I am 

proud to honor a group of 88 World War 

II veterans from every region of Louisiana who are traveling to Washington, DC, this weekend to visit the 

various memorials and monuments 

that recognize the sacrifices of our Nation’s invaluable service members. 

Louisiana HonorAir, a group based in 

Lafayette, LA, is sponsoring this Saturday’s trip to the Nation’s Capital. 

The organization is honoring each surviving World War II Louisiana veteran 

by giving them an opportunity to see 

the memorials dedicated to their service. On this trip, the veterans will visit 

the World War II, Korea, Vietnam and 

Iwo Jima memorials. They will also 

travel to Arlington National Cemetery 

to lay a wreath on the Tomb of the Unknowns. 

This is the first of four flights Louisiana HonorAir will make to Washington, DC, this fall. 

World War II was one of America’s 

greatest triumphs, but was also a conflict rife with individual sacrifice and 

tragedy. More than 60 million people 

worldwide were killed, including 40 

million civilians, and more than 400,000 

American service members were slain 

during the long war. The ultimate victory over enemies in the Pacific and in 

Europe is a testament to the valor of 

American soldiers, sailors, airmen and 

marines. The years 1941 to 1945 also 

witnessed an unprecedented mobilization of domestic industry, which supplied our military on two distant 

fronts. 

In Louisiana, there remain today 

more than 33,000 living WWII veterans, 

and each one has a heroic tale of 

achieving the noble victory of freedom 

over tyranny. The oldest in this 

HonorAir group was born in 1913. Two 

of these veterans began their service in 

the Louisiana National Guard as early 

as 1936, and were activated for Federal 

service in 1941. 

This group served in every branch of 

the military, including 29 in the U.S. 

Army, 14 in the U.S. Army Air Corps, 

23 in the U.S. Navy, 8 in the U.S. Marine Corps, 2 in the U.S. Merchant Marines, one in the U.S. Coast Guard and 

one in the Women’s Reserve of the U.S. 

Naval Reserve. Our heroes served 

across the globe, participating in major 

invasions such as the Battle of the 

Bulge, the Battle of Huertgen Forest, 

and the battles of Tunisia, NaplesFoggia, Rome, Anzio, Po Valley and 

North Apennines. They served in Europe, North Africa and the Pacific Theater. One was wounded in Germany, 

and another was captured as a prisoner 

of war. 

Many of these veterans earned Purple 

Hearts, including one with three Battle 

Stars. One of our veterans went on to 

serve in both Korea and Vietnam, retiring in 1967. 

I ask the Senate to join me in honoring these 88 veterans, all Louisiana 

heroes, who we welcome to Washington 

this weekend and Louisiana HonorAir 

for making these trips a reality.

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∑ 

TRIBUTE TO ROBERT ROTH 

∑ Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, I 

wish to take a few moments to acknowledge the life and work of a very 

ordinary, yet extraordinary, American 

named Bob Roth of Bristow, VA. Bob 

died of cancer earlier this year, at the 

young age of 44, leaving behind a wife 

of 19 years and five young children. His 

was one of far too many vibrant young 

lives cut short by this terrible disease. 

As was his way in life, Bob fought cancer to the very end attacking the disease as ferociously as it attacked him. 

Recent developments in the FBI anthrax case had brought the case back 

into the media in the last month. I 

want to pause and recognize that the 

recent breaks in the case were built 

upon the hard work of Special Agent 

Roth and his team. Many of us remember what it was like on Capitol Hill in 

October of 2001 when an anthrax-laced 

letter appeared in Senator Daschle’s office and another in Senator LEAHY’s office. Spores were found at the U.S. Supreme Court, and postal workers who 

handled the letters died from inhalation. No one felt entirely safe from one 

of the most deadly germs known to 

man. 

The FBI was immediately on the 

case, and a September 2003 Washington 

Post article explained their approach 

in the following manner: 

To run the anthrax case day to day, Assistant FBI director Van Harp turned to veteran 

FBI agent Bob Roth whose meticulous style 

mirrored his own. Roth sometimes referred 

to himself as a cops-and-robbers kind of guy, 

best suited to pursuing the mobsters, 

embezzlers and kidnappers who had always 

been the FBI’s bread and butter. But this 

case posed an entirely new set of challenges, 

and Roth was willing to try almost anything 

to solve it . . . the FBI’s frustrations with 

the case were palpable. At one meeting at 

the Washington field office, agents talked 

candidly about the toll the long hours were 

exacting on their families. Roth vented, too, 

groaning to no one in particular, ‘‘Get me 

out of this.’’ 

But he never asked to get out. Long 

after the media lost interest, Agent 

Roth worked tirelessly. As the FBI 

slogged through one of the most complicated, high-profile cases it ever 

faced, Agent Bob Roth served his country as a pioneer in the efforts to fight 

domestic terrorism and weapons of 

mass destruction. He literally risked 

his life investigating scenes and evidence from the anthrax case. He was 

later honored by being promoted to Assistant Section Chief of the Bureau’s 

newly created Weapons of Mass Destruction Directorate. It was a role he 

had little time to address because he 

spent the last year of his life fighting 

against his own personal WMD: multiple myeloma, an aggressive bone cancer. 

Bob was an exemplary father, devoted husband, committed Christian, 

community leader, and Government 

servant. He served 16 years for the FBI 

and was highly commended and decorated for his exceptional life and unfailing integrity, for his leadership and 

excellence in his profession for his inspiring example as a devoted husband 

and loving father to five beautiful children for his character and long service 

to our country, and for his pioneering 

efforts in fighting against weapons of 

mass destruction. 

I ask that the CONGRESSIONAL

RECORD reflect the impressive contributions made by Special Agent Robert Roth to his country.

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∑ 

TRIBUTE TO MARY KEATING 

∑ Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, today 

I celebrate the life of Mary Keating, 

who, until she passed away last October, was a proud resident of the city 

and great State of New York for nearly 

78 years. Mary first came to America 

at the young age of 17, far from her 

home and her family in Derry, 

Kilshanny, County Clare, Ireland. Not 

long after she arrived, she met and 

married Martin Keating, who also 

hailed from County Clare. She and 

Martin shared many passions, most notably their love for their family, their 

friends, and their deep, abiding faith in 

God. While neither of them were musicians, they relished the Irish country 

sets of their native Clare and carried 

them with them to this country, eventually to meet and dance them on the 

Rockaway Beach boardwalks, which as 

far as they were concerned was simply 

the last parish in Clare. As one of her 

youngest grandchildren, Ronan, observed, if you visited their home you 

would find a layer of dust on the top of 

the knob on their radio because it had 

not been moved from its resting spot 

on the Irish music station in decades. 

Music was not the only way that 

Mary celebrated her Irish heritage. It 

also could be found in her love to entertain friends and family. It was well 

known in their neighborhood and beyond that there was always an extra 

spot at the dinner table in the Keating 

home. As Mary would say, ‘‘what is one 

extra potato in the pot?’’ One could 

never visit her home without enjoying 

at least a cup of tea and an assortment 

of food. Three generations of Keatings 

grew up savoring her specialties such 

Irish soda bread, turnips, and leg of 

lamb. Much to their chagrin, her 

daughters and granddaughters have 

never been able to make a soda bread 

half as delicious as Mary’s, simply because the ‘‘recipe’’ was all done by 

taste and memory. As her granddaughter Kristin noted, the only one of 

Mary’s dishes her grandchildren will 

not miss is her ‘‘lumpy’’ mashed potatoes, especially since Martin was a firm 

believer in the notion that children 

should finish everything they are 

served. 

Mary will be remembered by all who 

knew her as a strong and caring woman 


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