[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 90 (Tuesday, June 3, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1124]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




HONORING THE SERVICE OF COMMANDER CLAYTON DIAMOND OF THE UNITED STATES 
                              COAST GUARD

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. FRANK A. LoBIONDO

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 3, 2008

  Mr. LoBIONDO. Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize Commander 
Clayton Diamond for his service to the United States House of 
Representatives and for his twenty four years of service to our country 
in the United States Coast Guard. CDR Diamond was assigned as 
Legislative Counsel in the Office of Coast Guard Congressional and 
Governmental Affairs in May 2006. As Legislative Counsel, he worked 
directly with the Coast Guard's congressional authorizing committees 
and was responsible for coordinating the service's advocacy efforts, 
resulting in enactment of the Coast Guard Authorization Act and other 
Coast Guard legislative priorities. In my roles on the Coast Guard and 
Maritime Transportation Subcommittee and in numerous other venues, my 
staff and I have often relied on CDR Diamond's knowledge and 
understanding of domestic and international legal matters, as well as 
operational missions, and roles and responsibilities of the United 
States Coast Guard.
  CDR Diamond enlisted in the Coast Guard in 1984 to attend the Naval 
Academy Preparatory School in Newport, RI, from which he graduated in 
1985. He received his commission from the United States Coast Guard 
Academy in 1989, where he earned his Bachelor of Science Degree in 
Management. He also earned his Master of Science Degree in Management 
from Rennsaelar Polytechnic Institute in 1995, and his Juris Doctor 
Degree from Case Western Reserve University School of Law in 2000. He 
served as a 2006-2007 Seminar XXI Fellow for the prestigious 
Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Center for International 
Studies.
  CDR Diamond's afloat assignments include Commanding Officer, USCGC 
BAINBRIDGE ISLAND, homeported in Sandy Hook, NJ, and tours as a deck 
watch officer aboard the High Endurance Cutters SHERMAN and GALLATIN, 
homeported in Alameda, CA and Governor's Island, NY, respectively. 
During these afloat tours of duty, CDR Diamond conducted operations in 
the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, and the Bering and Caribbean Seas. As 
Commanding Officer of BAINBRIDGE ISLAND, CDR Diamond was On-Scene 
Commander during the early hours of the 1996 crash of Trans World 
Airlines Flight 800. His other operational assignment included serving 
as Deputy Incident Commander (for Operations) for the Coast Guard 
Atlantic Area Incident Management Assist Team. During these operational 
assignments, Commander Diamond participated in the seizure of over $300 
million in illegal drugs, the interdiction of hundreds of illegal 
migrants in the Caribbean, the execution of numerous heavy weather 
search and rescue cases, and the boarding of numerous foreign fishing 
vessels in Alaska.
  His previous assignments ashore include Coast Guard Liaison Officer 
to the U.S. State Department (where he served on the U.S. Delegation to 
the United Nation's International Maritime Organization, and negotiated 
key security and environmental protection instruments), Principal 
Assistant District Legal Officer for the Ninth Coast Guard District, 
Aide to the Superintendent of the Coast Guard Academy and instructor in 
the Academy's Professional Studies Department.
  CDR Diamond is admitted to practice law by the Ohio Bar and, in 2002, 
was the first Coast Guard lawyer selected to support the Department of 
Defense's military commissions, where he assisted in preparing 
prosecution cases for some of the most significant terror suspects in 
U.S. custody. He has also served as an adjunct faculty member at the 
Defense Institute for International Legal Studies since 2000 and has 
conducted numerous maritime safety, security, and law enforcement 
executive seminars to senior foreign government and military officials 
throughout Asia, Africa, and Europe. CDR Diamond was appointed and 
served as a Special Assistant United States Attorney for the Nor-them 
District of Ohio (2002-2004). In 2002, CDR Diamond was chosen by the 
American Bar Association as the ``Outstanding Young Military Lawyer''. 
In addition to being formally recognized by the Department of Defense's 
General Counsel for his work on military commissions, he has also 
earned several State Department ``Superior Honor Awards'' for his work 
on the interagency teams that developed the President's National 
Strategy for Maritime Security (NSMS) and the Secretary of State's 
International Outreach Strategy for the NSMS, as well as for diplomatic 
efforts relating to international maritime security. The National 
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration also awarded him the ``General 
Counsel's Award'' for his work on international environmental 
protection agreements. His personal military awards include two 
Meritorious Service Medals, two Coast Guard Commendation Medals, the 
Joint Service Achievement Medal, and the Coast Guard Achievement Medal.
  This week, CDR Diamond will leave his post and retire after 24 years 
of honorable service to the Coast Guard and the Nation. It has been my 
pleasure to work with CDR Diamond, and on behalf of all who have also 
been fortunate to work with him, he will certainly be missed. We wish 
CDR Diamond, his wife Sharon, and his two children, Katelyn and 
Alexander, the best in all of their future endeavors.

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