[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 86 (Friday, June 26, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1249-E1250]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       TRIBUTE TO LIEUTENANT COLONEL DAPHNE D. SAHLIN, U.S. ARMY

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. AMO HOUGHTON

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, June 25, 1998

  Mr. HOUGHTON. Mr. Speaker, I rise to pay tribute today to an 
outstanding American at the close of her career as an officer in the 
U.S. Army.
  On June 30, 1998, Lieutenant Colonel Daphne D. Sahlin retires after 
completing over 20 years of service to her nation and the U.S. Army. 
Daphne hails from Louisiana, and was graduated from Rice University 
with a degree in history. She came to the Army's officer corps from the 
ROTC program there. She later completed a master's degree in 
management.

[[Page E1250]]

Daphne's service includes tours of duty in Korea and Germany, as well 
as various stateside posts.
  Throughout her career, Daphne has been a continuing inspiration to 
her superiors, peers and subordinates. She has typified and personified 
the dedication ethic that our Armed Forces aspire to attain. Daphne has 
stood as a role model of courage, competence and candor, leading both 
her soldiers and the Army into a new age. She has not only watched, but 
she has been in the midst of the change in the Army that allowed the 
role of women to expand and take on significant new meaning in today's 
force. Perhaps no other officer is better qualified to comment on the 
gender issues that are under discussion still today than Daphne Sahlin.
  Her perspective is that of one who has made the ultimate 
contribution, having taken on a career in the Army when the climate was 
challenging and an expanded role for women was only a goal in the mind 
of the forward thinkers. But throughout over two decades, Daphne 
relentlessly pursued those very goals that legions of others could only 
hope to achieve later on. She held an impressive series of key jobs in 
the field Army, from platoon level up to the staff of the Secretary of 
the Army.
  Daphne took on the tough jobs, serving in key military intelligence 
units of the Army, to include the famed XVIIIth Airborne Corps at Fort 
Bragg, North Carolina where she was required to participate in 
parachute operations. But this was no challenge for an officer of her 
caliber and stamina. She later went on to serve in the Pentagon in the 
top operations office in the most fast paced and demanding job in the 
Army. There, Daphne was a principal assistant to the Deputy Chief of 
Staff for Operations. Every item of interest and each piece of 
correspondence that was routed to the Army leadership for decision came 
across her desk. Her role was essential and she once again subordinated 
personal interests to those of the Army. After her noteworthy service 
in the Pentagon, she came to Capitol Hill to begin her service to the 
U.S. House of Representatives.
  Many of my colleagues and their spouses and staff know Daphne well in 
her role in the Army's Liaison Office. From that posting, she has 
indeed made a difference and touched all our lives. Daphne has traveled 
across the globe with Congressional delegations in support of the House 
International Relations Committee, the Permanent Select Committee on 
Intelligence, and the National Security Committee, and most importantly 
to me, the U.S.-Canada Interparliamentary Group. Daphne has been to the 
most remote regions of the world. Whether the destination was Beijing, 
Pyongyang, Damascus or Sydney, Nova Scotia, Daphne provided the Members 
of this body the same superb assistance each and every time. She 
organized, planned and executed these flawless trips, despite any 
logistical challenges, and allowed each delegation to focus on the 
business at hand.
  Mr. Speaker, Daphne really established the standard for all of her 
successors and we are grateful to her for such honorable service under 
such often difficult circumstances. As we honor her, we note that this 
institution and our country is better off for the major contributions 
she has made over a sustained period. We wish her all the best in her 
future endeavors as she enters civilian life.

                          ____________________