[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 5]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 6998-6999]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




    HONORING THE CAREER AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF CAPTAIN JAMES C. HOWE

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. HOWARD COBLE

                           of north carolina

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, April 24, 2008

  Mr. COBLE. Madam Speaker, I take this occasion to honor Captain James 
C. Howe for his service to the United States House of Representatives 
and for his 27 years of service to our country in the United States 
Coast Guard.
  Captain Howe was assigned as Chief of the Office of Coast Guard 
Congressional and Governmental Affairs in July 2005, and I am proud to 
have had the opportunity to work closely with him. In my leadership 
roles on the Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Subcommittee and 
in numerous other venues, my staff and I have often relied on Captain 
Howe's knowledge and understanding of the operational missions, the 
current day-to-day challenges, and the roles and responsibilities of 
the United States Coast Guard.
  During his career he spent 11 years at sea, conducted over 200 search 
and rescue cases, saved dozens of lives, interdicted nearly 1,000 
illegal migrants, and seized 16 drug-laden vessels carrying more than 
75 tons of marijuana and cocaine.
  Captain Howe began his career at the United States Coast Guard 
Academy in New London, CT, where he graduated in 1981. Ensign Howe was 
assigned to his first unit as a Deck Watch Officer aboard USCGC Active 
in New Castle, New Hampshire, conducting search and rescue and 
fisheries patrols in the North Atlantic. He then was assigned as 
Executive Officer of USCGC Petrel in Key West, Florida, which proved to 
be an extremely action-packed tour of duty. In one drug case, his crew 
seized three smuggling vessels simultaneously, and in another he 
embarked a seized go-fast vessel to hunt down a second go-fast, chasing 
it at speeds in excess of 40 knots; his crew also pulled 265 Haitian 
migrants off a small sailboat found mired in a coral reef in the 
Bahamas.
  Following these assignments at sea, then-Lieutenant Howe served from 
1985 to 1988 at the First Coast Guard District Operations Center in 
Boston, Massachusetts, as a search and rescue coordinator; at night, he 
earned a master's degree from Harvard University Extension School.
  Because of his genuine love of the sea and expertise in Coast Guard 
operations, he earned command of the newly-commissioned USCGC 
Metompkin, homeported in Charleston, South Carolina. On Metompkin's 
first patrol, the cutter sped 140 miles at top speed across 25-foot 
waves to rescue three fishermen whose boat had been swamped; later, his 
crew rescued several fishermen whose vessels were destroyed during the 
height of Hurricane Hugo.
  In 1991, he was assigned as Public Affairs Officer for the Seventh 
Coast Guard District in Miami, Florida, a position he held until 1995, 
and during which he acted as media spokesman for three mass migrations, 
two huge oil spills, a plethora of high-profile migrant and drug cases, 
and the Coast Guard response to

[[Page 6999]]

Hurricane Andrew. After leaving the Seventh District, then-Lieutenant 
Commander Howe was assigned as Executive Officer aboard USCGC 
Northland, homeported in Portsmouth, Virginia.
  Due to his in-depth understanding and mastery of naval operations, he 
was then detailed as the Coast Guard Liaison to the Naval Doctrine 
Command in Norfolk, Virginia, where he conceived and wrote from scratch 
the Coast Guard's first ever tactical manual for counter drug and 
migrant interdiction operations. Next, Commander Howe earned command of 
the 270-foot cutter Tampa, homeported in Portsmouth, Virginia, leading 
his crew to several notable drug seizures and receiving the highest 
readiness evaluation ever achieved for a like-sized cutter.
  Following command, Commander Howe was selected to attend the 
prestigious U.S. Marine Corps War College in Quantico, Virginia, where 
he earned a second master's degree and was named one of two 
Distinguished Graduates. He then served as the Deputy Chief of the 
Coast Guard Office of Congressional and Governmental Affairs from 2002 
until 2003.
  After this challenging assignment, Captain Howe was chosen to serve 
at the highest levels of government, working in the Office of the Vice 
President as a Special Advisor for homeland security, focusing on 
border and transportation issues. Finally, Captain Howe was assigned as 
the Chief of the Coast Guard's Office of Congressional and Governmental 
Affairs.
  Captain Howe has earned numerous military decorations during his 27 
years of active duty, including the Defense Superior Service Medal, 
four Meritorious Service Medals, five Coast Guard Commendation Medals, 
and 12 unit and team awards. He has also received a number of other 
honors, including the Harvard University Derek Bok Prize for public 
service, along with the Thomas Jefferson, Alex Haley, and Commander Jim 
Simpson Awards for excellence in media and public relations.
  This week, Captain Howe will leave his post and retire after 27 years 
of honorable service to the Coast Guard and the Nation. He will be 
missed in the United States House of Representatives. It has been my 
pleasure to work with Captain Howe. On behalf of all who have also been 
fortunate to work with him, we wish Captain Howe, his wife Shira, and 
his five wonderful children (Margaret, Marc, Mary, James, and Iris) the 
best in all of their future endeavors.

                          ____________________