[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 36 (Thursday, March 10, 2011)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E455-E456]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   HONORING THE LATE JUDGE DOUG LUNA

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. JIM McDERMOTT

                             of washington

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 10, 2011

  Mr. McDERMOTT. Mr. Speaker, today I rise to pay special tribute to my 
friend, the late Judge Douglas Luna. Judge Luna was born in 1944 in 
Seattle, Washington, where he grew up in the Central District.
  Doug Luna served honorably with the United States Air Force during 
the Vietnam War, assigned to Da Nang until the late 1960s. After 
returning from his distinguished military service, he completed law 
school and served as the Deputy Corporate Administrator for The Boeing 
Company's Small and Minority Business Program. Doug loved the law; he 
became an administrative law judge for the Washington State Department 
of Employment Security, and also served as a review judge for the 
Department of Social and Health Services.
  Among Doug Luna's many lasting achievements is the judicial structure 
he helped to create for Alaska's Tlingit-Haida Tribe. The Tribe was 
part of his heritage, and he was proud to serve as an elected judge on 
the Tribal Court for nearly twenty years. Judge

[[Page E456]]

Luna later served on the Washington State Minority and Justice 
Commission, an agency charged with determining if racial or ethnic bias 
exists in the courts of the State of Washington. He was a Eucharistic 
minister at Immaculate Conception Church and also was active with Saint 
Matthew's Church.
  Throughout his life, Doug Luna was deeply involved in the Native 
American and Asian communities--in addition to his Tlingit heritage, 
Doug also shared Filipino heritage. He was a founding member of the 
Asian American Bar Association, and volunteered with the Seattle Indian 
Center, the InterIm Community Development Association, the 
International District Housing Alliance, and the Filipino American 
National Historical Society. Doug was the volunteer every organization 
dreams of: he was smart, dedicated, absolutely reliable, and a pleasure 
to be with.
  Doug Luna championed the poor and the underrepresented throughout his 
life. His efforts to better his community were limitless, and he 
brought to his work a gentle spirit that touched hundreds of lives. 
Doug will be long remembered for his kindness, his generosity, and his 
unwavering integrity. He was a proud and loving father to his daughter, 
Mercedes, and I join her and so many others in mourning the loss of 
this extraordinary friend. It was a privilege to know Doug Luna.

                          ____________________