[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 21 (Thursday, February 4, 2016)]
[Senate]
[Page S664]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    TRIBUTE TO STEVEN M. DETTELBACH

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I would like to recognize U.S. Attorney 
Steven M. Dettelbach for his years of excellent public service as he 
begins a new chapter in his legal career. Steve has served as the U.S. 
attorney for the northern district of Ohio for nearly 7 years after the 
Senate unanimously confirmed him to this position in 2009. Steve is a 
former member of my Judiciary Committee staff, and I have known him for 
more than a decade. I am very proud of all that he has accomplished.
  Steve earned his undergraduate degree from Dartmouth College and his 
law degree from Harvard Law School. After law school, Steve clerked for 
Judge Stanley Sporkin of the U.S. District Court for the District of 
Columbia. He went on to serve in the Department of Justice's civil 
rights division from 1992 to 1997 and then in the U.S. attorney's 
office for the district of Maryland from 1997 to 2001.
  In 2001, Steve joined my Judiciary Committee staff. Steve impressed 
me with his sound judgment and his outstanding work with both 
Republican and Democratic offices. Steve worked on a broad range of 
issues, including drafting and negotiating key whistleblower and 
criminal fraud provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. He played a 
central role on our oversight team and helped draft an important 
bipartisan report on the implementation of FISA. The report, written 
with Senators Grassley and Specter, was the culmination of the 
committee's first comprehensive oversight effort of the FBI in nearly 
two decades. After his tenure with my office, Steve served as an 
assistant U.S. attorney in the northern district of Ohio. He then 
joined Baker & Hostetler as a partner before he was nominated to his 
current position.
  As the U.S. attorney for the northern district of Ohio, Steve has 
been at the forefront of enforcing civil rights laws, including 
bringing some of the first cases under the Matthew Shepard and James 
Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009. He has organized 
educational events on issues such as human trafficking, hate crimes, 
and police use of force, and formed the United Against Hate religious 
coalition in the wake of a racially motivated arson at a church in his 
district.
  As a member of the Attorney General's Advisory Committee, AGAC, Steve 
led the AGAC's civil rights subcommittee and worked to establish civil 
rights units in U.S. attorney's offices across the country. His work 
will ensure that civil rights remain a Department priority for years to 
come. Steve is a model public servant who approaches his job with 
integrity, tenacity, good humor, and sharp negotiating skills that I 
know will serve him well as he moves back to private practice.
  Ohio is a safer and better place because of Steve's tireless effort 
and dedication. I commend Steve for his years of service and wish him 
and his wonderful family the best in their future endeavors.

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