[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 50 (Thursday, April 24, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E735-E736]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                HONORING 50 YEARS OF GOVERNMENT SERVICE

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. STENY H. HOYER

                              of maryland

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, April 24, 1997

  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I rise to pay tribute today honoring Mr. 
Robert E. Waxman, a career civilian with the Department of the Navy.
  Mr. Speaker, for the past 50 years, Bob Waxman has and continues to 
serve this Nation and the U.S. Navy with his unceasing commitment to 
excellence. Today, I pause to pay tribute to this great public servant 
because it is apparent that Bob Waxman has no intentions of slowing 
down any time in the near future. There are many measures to examine 
the life and labors of an individual. Some would point to aptitude, 
attitude, or the

[[Page E736]]

extent of achievements accumulated. However, although these are 
typically the norm, it has been said: ``The measure of a man is not 
intellect or natural talent, but what does it take to make a man 
quit.''
  Mr. Speaker, the individual I salute today is an extraordinary leader 
within our civil service. Robert E. Waxman grew up in Baltimore, MD, 
and began his illustrious career in the Army Air Corps during World War 
II, serving 24 months as a flight officer. Bob Waxman first arrived in 
southern Maryland in June 1949 as a student aid working at the Naval 
Air Test Center at Patuxent River, MD. After graduating from the 
University of Maryland in June 1950, he worked briefly for the Army 
Signal Depot in Baltimore as a laboratory electronics mechanic until 
accepting a full-time position on January 15, 1951, at the Patuxent 
River Naval Air Station as an electronic engineer.
  By the mid-1950's, Bob Waxman was the chief engineer for the Navy air 
navigation electronics project, a group of 57 personnel sharing a 
hangar at the Naval Air Test Center, Patuxent River, MD. In 1958, he 
was named as the technical director of this organization which grew to 
become a separate command at Webster Field, St. Inigoes, MD. 
Incredibly, he still is the head of the same basic organization which 
has undergone many reorganizations and grown tremendously under his 
leadership. Today, his entity encompasses 500,000 square feet of 
administrative and laboratory space on station and another 400,000 
square feet off station laboratory. At its peak in 1991 prior to the 
base realignment and closure process, this organization had 2,861 
personnel, of which 353 were civil servants, and the other 2,508 were 
support contractors. With less than 350 civil servants, his 
organization grew to a peak business base in fiscal year 1994 of $566 
million total obligational authority.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to bring this story to the attention of others 
because it is a tremendous success story of how entrepreneurial civil 
service managers can be in our Government. Long before U.S. managers in 
Government and the private sector began embracing the principles of Dr. 
Edwards Deming and other management gurus, Bob Waxman was applying 
those techniques touted today as necessary for success. Empowering 
employees is a technique that has been a hallmark of Bob Waxman's since 
he became a manager in the early 1950's driving decisionmaking to the 
lowest levels of the organization.
  His management philosophy drove his organization to grow its business 
base rapidly even during times when he could not hire additional civil 
servants, never exceeding 400 civil servants. Through partnering with 
the private sector, Mr. Waxman continued to accept new customers and 
new business while delivering excellent service to a very broad and 
diverse customer base. As a result of the innovative business 
approaches he has applied, this small Navy organization supports, they 
today have a long and diverse list of customers including many non-DoD 
agencies. Bob Waxman's management philosophy should serve as the model 
for any agency today when the Government is being asked to do more with 
less.
  Mr. Speaker, Bob Waxman is one of the Government's most productive 
managers. Even today, long after he could have retired and made much 
more money in the private sector, he continues to lead by example. It 
would be difficult to find a manager either in the Government or in the 
private sector who has more energy, enthusiasm, and drive than Bob 
Waxman. He has always sought to achieve and operate similar to a 
private business. He has maintained throughout his career that the only 
way to survive in a competitive environment is to ensure that the 
maximum amount of each dollar is spent delivering a product to the 
customer and not for covering unnecessary overhead expenses. As a 
result, his leadership has been identified as having one of the lowest 
overhead rates of any Government organization, averaging 20 to 22 
percent.
  Maintaining a lean operation has enabled Bob Waxman and the St. 
Inigoes organization to successfully compete against the private sector 
in the late 1970's for the communications equipment installation for 
all AEGIS class ships. since the successful bid, they have delivered 
over 50 ships without ever missing a cost or time schedule and without 
any claims against them. This outstanding record has resulted in 14 
consecutive AEGIS Excellence Awards.
  It is obvious that Mr. Waxman is an exemplary manager, but his 
personal style is also very distinguished. His philosophy has always 
been the open-door policy and his honest, forthright approach has been 
instrumental in implementing a practical equal employment opportunity 
environment with favorable working conditions for all. He has been a 
mentor to his employees and two of his former department heads became 
technical directors of other Navy Systems Command field activities.

  Mr. Speaker, I am honored to bring to the attention of my colleagues 
the outstanding achievements and dedication of one of our Government's 
finest. I have had the distinct honor to have worked with Bob Waxman 
very closely and have enjoyed his quick wit, tireless dedication, and 
persistence. I am a great admirer of the tremendous work he continues 
to do for our great Nation and I ask my colleagues to join me in 
saluting this truly outstanding public servant today as he celebrates 
50 years of service to the U.S. Government.
  His career has served as an inspiration to countless managers, both 
in the public and private sectors. His dedication and love for his job 
is a rarity today. Not many people can claim to have remained as the 
manager of an entity for as many years as he has, persevering through 
several challenging attempts to close it. Through all this, Bob Waxman 
has accrued over 4,400 hours of sick leave and lives by the motto: 
``putting in a full, day's work for a full day's pay''. Bob Waxman's 
leadership and loyalty remind us all that it truly is greater to give 
than receive. His ongoing service and sacrifice continues to renew and 
remind us all that the human spirit was never intended to be selfish 
but selfless.

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