[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 52 (Monday, April 13, 2015)]
[Senate]
[Page S2107]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    TRIBUTE TO COMMANDER ERIC BADER

 Mrs. SHAHEEN. Mr. President, the Homeland Security 
Appropriations Subcommittee will soon bid farewell to our congressional 
fellow, Coast Guard CDR Eric Bader, who has served the Committee on 
Appropriations for the past 2 years. Commander Bader will be returning 
to Massachusetts where he will be the executive officer of Coast Guard 
Air Station Cape Cod. While I know Commander Bader is looking forward 
to running the day-to-day operations of the air station and flying 
helicopters again, his departure is a great loss for the Committee on 
Appropriations as he is an invaluable asset to our team.
  Commander Bader has been detailed to the committee from the Coast 
Guard since June 2013 and is a key member of our professional staff. 
Mr. President, Commander Bader performed admirably in his role on the 
Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee. He did everything we 
asked of him, with pinpoint accuracy, and always beat the deadlines 
given to him. I would also add that he served the committee during 
interesting times, perhaps more interesting than he imagined when he 
accepted the job. He was here during sequestration, for the Federal 
Government shutdown in the fall of 2013, the dramatic increase of 
unaccompanied children crossing our southern border, our response to 
the Ebola crisis, numerous Presidentially declared disasters, and 
fence-jumping and drone incidents at the White House. Eric also helped 
the subcommittee manage the arrival of the fiscal year 2016 budget 
request for the Department of Homeland Security at the same time 
Congress was considering, and ultimately enacting, the fiscal year 2015 
appropriations bill for the Department of Homeland Security that had 
been delayed.
  The Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee has greatly 
benefited from the experience Commander Bader gained as a Coast Guard 
officer, in particular his insights into the operations of a complex 
military organization that is combined with a large domestic agency. He 
has superb analytical skills that have been critical in our review of a 
$39 billion budget request and in developing complex spreadsheets that 
synthesize funding issues into easily understood documents we have used 
in hearings, closed briefings, in full committee, and on the floor. On 
the subcommittee, he handled the portfolios for the Federal Law 
Enforcement Training Center and the Domestic Nuclear Detection Office, 
as well as assisted with the Customs and Border Protection and Secret 
Service portfolios. In this oversight role, Commander Bader was able to 
obtain timely information when undocumented families who had recently 
crossed the border during last summer's surge were temporarily provided 
shelter at the training facility in Artesia, NM. He also helped track 
the daily influx of undocumented children and families to assist the 
subcommittee in making the most up-to-date funding recommendations to 
address this unforeseen surge. While arguably not a traditional 
appropriations area, he also put together a subcommittee hearing on 
trade enforcement issues that showed how lax trade enforcement and 
current duty collection policies were unfairly hurting some American 
industries. The hearing highlighted the harm to domestic steel, 
crawfish, seafood, and honey producers of these illegally dumped goods 
and commodities on American jobs and the economy at large. Commander 
Bader made critical recommendations that were adopted to improve key 
components within the Department of Homeland Security, including the 
funding of nuclear detection equipment designed to keep our ports safe.
  Commander Bader is also an exceptional writer. We relied on his 
editorial skills to put the appropriate touches into opening 
statements, press releases, and analytical documents shared with all 
the subcommittee members. His ability to take dry statistics and create 
informational, easily understandable graphics and charts will be 
greatly missed. His unqualified professionalism, perception, superb 
analytic focus, and technical skills, combined with a keen sense of 
humor, a cool head, and a modesty rarely seen on Capitol Hill, have 
played an integral part in moving the homeland security appropriations 
process forward. His high standards of professionalism and thoroughness 
are beyond reproach and his contributions are highly valued.
  Through all of this, Eric maintained the decorum and professionalism 
that we have all come to expect from our military officer corps, and he 
has represented the Coast Guard with the highest integrity and 
competence. Commander Bader has served me, this subcommittee, and the 
Senate well. We are sorry to see him leave and will miss him as our 
colleague but are glad to count him as a friend. Each of us on the 
Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee wish Eric all the best as 
he moves forward in the next phase of his career, where he will be 
running the day-to-day operations of the Coast Guard Air Station in 
Cape Cod. We look forward to seeing him back in uniform because we 
anticipate great things from him in the coming years.
  I am grateful for his contributions.

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