[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 118 (Friday, August 3, 2012)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1443]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              GRATITUDE FOR THE SERVICE OF BENJAMIN STAUB

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. JOHN CONYERS, JR.

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, August 2, 2012

  Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I would like to take this opportunity to 
thank one of the most dedicated and productive members of the Judiciary 
Committee staff for his service to the House, Benjamin Staub. For six 
years Ben has worked ably and diligently for the Judiciary Committee, 
and I would like to commend him on his achievements.
  After growing up in Greeley and Silverthorne, Colorado, and being 
named a Boettcher Scholar, Ben graduated cum laude from Yale 
University. During his time at Yale, Ben worked for the Undergraduate 
Admissions Office, taught health in New Haven high schools with the 
Community Health Educators, worked at the Blake Street Head Start and 
Calvin Hill Day Care, volunteered in the welfare-to-work early 
childhood educator program at All Our Kin, and served as a Freshman 
Counselor for Davenport College. He served as the Executive Co-
Coordinator and on the Board of Directors of Dwight Hall at Yale--the 
student-run nonprofit for community service and social justice with 
more than 3,000 annual undergraduate volunteers. He interned at the 
Paris branch office of the UN Office of the High Commissioner on 
Refugees (UNHCR) and wrote and recorded a year-long radio column for 
Colorado Public Radio about his senior year in college. He earned 
Yale's John C. Schroeder Prize for social service and the Davenport 
College Prize for Citizenship.
  Ben came to Washington following graduation to work for the political 
television advertising firm of Murphy Putnam Shorr and Partners, and 
following the 2006 election, came to work for the House Judiciary 
Committee.
  During his time with the Committee, Ben has worked on a host of 
issues of national significance--principally in intellectual property 
policy, antitrust law, and civil liberties. He distinguished himself as 
an excellent writer and was instrumental in the Committee's work on 
performance rights legislation and protecting intellectual property 
from digital theft. He authored large portions and supervised the 
editing and publishing of the Committee staff's report Reigning in the 
Imperial Presidency: Lessons and Recommendations Relating to the 
Presidency of George W. Bush, and always stood ready to work on a host 
of issues at a moment's notice, including voting rights, health care, 
civil rights, immigration policies, and Executive Branch oversight.
  Finally, Ben is well known among his peers as a dedicated athlete and 
began a trend in our office to use stability balls as desk chairs.
  On behalf of the Judiciary Committee, its staff, and this 
distinguished body, I would like to thank Ben for his exemplary work, 
generosity, sense of humor, and loyalty. He will be sorely missed as a 
colleague, advisor, and friend. We wish him the best of luck and extend 
to him our deepest gratitude.

                          ____________________