[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 9]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 12569]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


                      TRIBUTE TO C. DIXON OSBURN-

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. MARTIN T. MEEHAN

                            of massachusetts

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, May 15, 2007

  Mr. MEEHAN. Madam Speaker, today I pay tribute to C. Dixon Osburn, 
co-founder and executive director of Servicemembers Legal Defense 
Network for 13 years. Dixon recently left the helm of Servicemembers 
Legal Defense Network, and today I recognize and commend him for the 
contributions he has made to our nation's Armed Forces and to our 
nation's enduring goal of freedom and equality under the law for all 
Americans.
  Servicemembers Legal Defense Network is a non-profit legal aid and 
advocacy organization founded in 1993 to assist service members living 
under the discriminatory ``Don't Ask, Don't Tell'' statute that became 
the law in my first months of serving in the United States Congress. 
Under Dixon's leadership, the organization has responded to more than 
8,000 requests for assistance, and continues today to be a leader of 
the national movement to repeal ``Don't Ask, Don't Tell.''
  I am proud to have worked with Dixon Osburn toward the goal of 
repealing ``Don't Ask, Don't Tell.'' This law has resulted in the 
discharge of more than 11,000 service members from our Armed Forces, at 
a cost of hundreds of millions of dollars. It is an affront to the 
patriotism and talent of the over one million lesbian, gay and bisexual 
Americans estimated to have served in our nation's Armed Forces to 
date.
  I am proud to serve as the sponsor of legislation to repeal ``Don't 
Ask, Don't Tell,'' and I commend Dixon Osburn for all he has done to 
help lay the ground work for the passage of this important legislation.

                          ____________________