[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 17]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 23606-23607]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                     TRIBUTE TO ROGER F. HONBERGER

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. BOB FILNER

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, November 29, 2001

  Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, December 31, 2001, will mark the passing of 
an era, an era of accomplishment in the field of intergovernmental 
relations. On that day, a pioneer in Washington representation for 
California public policy and project development will retire from 
service.
  Roger F. Honberger comes from a humble upbringing of enterprising 
parents from the 1930s. His mother is a Native American, born into the 
Pechanga Band of California Mission Indians at the turn of the century, 
and is presently the oldest living Tribal member. Roger was the first 
member of his family to graduate from college, the result of extensive 
sacrifice by his parents. After beginning his career in the field of 
Urban Planning, he returned to graduate school, where he distinguished 
himself and received degrees from both the University of London, 
England and Harvard University.
  In his early career, he served as a professional planner with the 
County of Riverside, City of San Diego, National Capital Planning 
Commission, and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. 
His federal experience in writing legislation, budget preparation, and 
program management led him to the establishment of his own government 
relations consulting firm in 1970, Roger Honberger Associates, Inc. He 
pioneered a new industry of dedicated people working with the Congress 
and Federal Administrations on behalf of the intergovernmental needs of 
state and local governments. Today, this industry serves countless 
public agencies from all corners of the nation.
  Thirty years ago, Roger was selected from a field of 200 applicants 
by the County of San Diego to be their first Washington representative. 
At that time, the San Diego County Congressional Delegation consisted 
of Lionel Van Deertin, Bob Wilson, and Jimmy Utt. The only other state 
or local governments that had full time Washington offices when Roger 
began his work for San Diego County were the State of California, the 
County of Los Angeles, and the Cities of Los Angeles and San Diego. 
These were the only general-purpose governments from any other part of 
our great nation

[[Page 23607]]

in those days that maintained a full time presence in Washington, D.C.
  In his thirty years of representing San Diego County, Roger directly 
served 27 different elected members of the County's five person Board 
of Supervisors, and 8 different Chief Administrative Officers. The 
number of Congressional Districts in the County grew from 3 to 5 during 
the same period, and he worked closely with all 16 different Members of 
Congress elected from these districts since 1970. Five different 
Presidents recognized Roger for his work on public issues. He has also 
been recognized as Alumnus of the Year by the California State 
Polytechnic University, as well as by his High School Alunmi 
Association from Perris, California. He is the only career County 
representative that the National Association of Counties has officially 
honored for professional accomplishments. He has had a truly remarkable 
career of public service.
  A broad array of regional accomplishments in the County have 
benefited from Roger's efforts in Washington, D.C. These include: the 
establishment of the region's first alcohol detoxification center; 
development of the first solid waste recycling program; a countywide 
gasoline vapor recovery program; harbor cleanup; welfare reform; a 
multitude of flood control and highway projects; San Diego Trolley 
project construction; Sheriffs Department funding; lagoon preservation; 
drug addiction treatment; children's disease inoculation services; 
foster care program support; air quality program certification; and the 
prevention of off-shore oil drilling, just to name a few. The list is 
long and impressive.
  Five years ago, Roger invited his long-standing associate, Thomas 
Walters, to become his partner, and the firm's name was changed to 
Honberger and Walters, Inc. For the past three years, Tom has been the 
firm's chief executive officer and owner. The firm continues to manage 
San Diego County's Washington office. Their other clients include the 
San Diego Metropolitan Transit Development Board, North County Transit, 
San Diego Unified Port District, the Sweetwater Authority, the Counties 
of Riverside and Ventura, the Monterey-Salinas Transit District, the 
Calleguas Municipal Water District, and the Pechanga Band of Luiseno 
Indians.
  Roger has long been recognized as one of the leaders in his field and 
has lectured on intergovernmental relations and lobbying practice at 
San Diego State University, U.S. International University, University 
of Maryland, and the University of Arizona. He continues to be involved 
in a variety of American Indian issues and was one of the founders of 
the Harvard University Native American Alumni Association.
  Many of us in the Congress have worked with Roger Honberger during 
his distinguished career. We will miss his friendly disposition and his 
dedicated hard work on behalf of his public clients. Above all, we will 
miss his candor and honesty. His word has always been his bond, 
something we have all appreciated and have grown to expect, regardless 
of the circumstances. We are happy to see that his high professional 
standards and style are being continue by Tom Walters without missing a 
beat. For this we are grateful, and we are grateful for Roger's 
sustained friendship and support over the years. We wish him the very 
best as he moves on to other endeavors.

                          ____________________