[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 4 (Tuesday, January 21, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E104]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       TRIBUTE TO JON A. KASTRUP

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, January 21, 1997

  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I would like to recognize the personal 
achievement of one of our community's most talented and dedicated young 
men, Mr. Jon A. Kastrup. Jon's own success is sweeter than most, as he 
not only had to overcome the regular stresses of daily living but, also 
had to accomplish this while being profoundly deaf.
  Many people like Jon would surrender to their condition, but Jon, 
never questioning his resolve, earned dual degrees in the fields of 
mechanical engineering and law and now holds the distinction of being 
one of only four functionally deaf attorneys in the United States. 
After his graduation from the Brigham Young University's J. Reuben 
Clark School of Law, Jon served as a legal intern for the U.S. Court of 
Federal Claims in Washington, DC. Previously, Jon lent his valuable 
services to the California Center for the Law and Deaf in Oakland, CA 
where he served as a legal assistant and law clerk, and in the State of 
Utah as a court appointed special advocate for the Guardian Ad Litem 
Program.
  Jon has also served in several notable capacities for private and 
public sector institutions, including the Department of Human 
Development at the Rochester Institute of Technology, where he served 
as a student development assistant. He was also an engineering aide for 
the U.S. Navy and previously served as an engineer drafter for the 
Unidynamic Corp. of St. Louis, MO. Jon has excelled in everything he 
has set out to accomplish. Despite his physical limitations, he never 
once relented in his ambition to succeed. Jon has proven that through 
steadfast dedication and a deep belief in oneself, ``if you can dream 
it, you can do it.''

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