[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 124 (Tuesday, July 26, 2022)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E779]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  CONGRATULATING DR. ROBERT J. DILGER

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. NYDIA M. VELAZQUEZ

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 26, 2022

  Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Madam Speaker, I rise to congratulate Congressional 
Research Service Senior Specialist, Dr. Robert Jay Dilger on his 
retirement, and to thank him for his years of outstanding and dedicated 
service to Congress. For more than a dozen years, Dr. Dilger has been 
CRS's expert on small business. During that time, he has provided the 
House Small Business Committee and its staff--and numerous other 
congressional offices--with an unparalleled level of information and 
independent research on federal policies that affect small businesses. 
His work at CRS is the gold standard for legislative support and policy 
analysis for Congress.
  Prior to CRS, Dr. Dilger had a distinguished career in academia. He 
became a recognized national authority on federalism, authoring nine 
books and numerous articles. Bob graduated from Johns Hopkins 
University with a bachelor's degree in political science and holds a 
Ph.D. from the Department of Politics at Brandeis University. Early in 
his career, he held positions with the National League of Cities, the 
U.S. Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations, and the 
Brookings Institution before joining the faculty at the University of 
Redlands in California. There he served as professor and chair of the 
Department of Political Science.
  He then moved to West Virginia University where he was the founding 
Director of the Institute for Public Affairs. In addition, Bob taught 
undergraduate and graduate courses and chaired graduate student M.A. 
and Ph.D. committees.
  Bob arrived at CRS in 2004 to manage the Government & Finance 
division. Since 2008, he has devoted himself to research and analysis, 
generating an impressive portfolio of carefully curated and maintained 
written products, and providing support to congressional offices on the 
Small Business Administration's programs and a broad range of issues 
and policies affecting small businesses.
  Through the caliber of his research, and the sheer volume of his 
consultations with congressional staff, Bob set a high bar for his CRS 
colleagues. He should be proud of his assistance on major legislation 
such as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the Small Business 
Jobs Act, and, more recently, the CARES Act and related COVID bills, 
but also the long-term professional and personal relationships he has 
built with staff on the Small Business Committees and in other 
congressional offices.
  Madam Speaker, this body and the Nation are all the wiser and better 
informed because of Dr. Dilger's public service both as an academic and 
as a CRS analyst. I hope my colleagues will join me in wishing Bob a 
long, healthy, and happy retirement with his wife, Gloria, and his 2 
children and 7 grandchildren, as he begins a new chapter of his life.

                          ____________________