[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 108 (Thursday, July 25, 2013)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1142]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    IN RECOGNITION OF BOBBY VASSAR AND HIS CAREER IN PUBLIC SERVICE

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. BOB GOODLATTE

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 25, 2013

  Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, I, along with House Judiciary Committee 
Ranking Member John Conyers, Jr. and Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, 
Homeland Security and Investigations Ranking Member Robert C. ``Bobby'' 
Scott, would like to take this opportunity to thank Bobby Vassar for 
his work with the House Committee on the Judiciary and Congressman 
Scott's Congressional office for the past 19 and \1/2\ years.
  Bobby came to Representative Scott's Congressional office on February 
1, 1994 to serve as Senior Counsel and Legislative Director. He joined 
the staff of the Crime Subcommittee of the House Committee on the 
Judiciary in March of 1999 as Minority Chief Counsel. From January 2007 
to January 2012, Bobby served as Majority Chief Counsel for the 
Subcommittee.
  Prior to joining Representative Scott's office in 1994, he worked for 
three Virginia governors, starting as Chairman of the Virginia Parole 
Board in 1982 and ending as Acting Secretary of Health and Human 
Resources in 1994. Prior to 1982, he worked as Executive Director of 
the Peninsula Legal Aid Center in Hampton, Virginia, for which 
Congressman Scott served as Chairman of the Board. He also held 
positions previously as Assistant Vice Chancellor for Administration at 
the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, as a staff attorney 
with the Laborer's Pre-paid Legal Services Plan of Washington, D.C. and 
Vicinity, and as a Reginald Heber Smith Community Lawyer Fellow at the 
Roanoke Virginia legal Aid Society. Bobby is a graduate of Norfolk 
State University and the University of Virginia School of Law.
  Bobby's ability to work well with his colleagues, especially across 
the aisle and across the Capitol, made him a valuable staff asset to 
passing many key pieces of legislation. He had the lead staff 
responsibility in the House for several significant bipartisan bills 
that were enacted into law including the Mentally Ill Offender 
Treatment, and Crime Reduction Act of 2008 (Public Law 110-416); the 
Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 (Public Law 111-220); the Deaths in Custody 
Reporting Act of 2000 (Public Law 106-297); the Juvenile Accountability 
Block Grant Program (Public Law 107-273); the Second Chance Act of 2007 
(Public Law 110-199); along with dozens of other bills enacted into law 
over the years. He also led the development of the Youth Prison 
Reduction through Opportunities, Mentoring, Intervention, Support and 
Education (PROMISE) Act which was introduced in the 110th Congress and 
has been reintroduced every subsequent Congress; H.R. 1695, the Justice 
Safety Valve Act of 2013; H.R. 2656, the Public Safety Enhancement Act 
of 2013; and many promising bipartisan bills pending in the House and 
Senate.
  We are deeply appreciative of the service and contributions Bobby has 
provided the Crime Subcommittee, the Judiciary Committee and the 
Congress over the past two decades. Throughout that time, many people 
both on and off Capitol Hill have been fortunate to call him a 
colleague and friend. He will be missed. We wish him the best of 
fortunes and fulfillment in his future endeavors.

                          ____________________