The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“TRIBUTE TO LEE J. LOFTHUS” mentioning the U.S. Dept. of Justice was published in the in the Senate section section on pages S2747-S2748 on May 26.
The Department is one of the oldest in the US, focused primarily on law enforcement and the federal prison system. Downsizing the Federal Government, a project aimed at lowering taxes and boosting federal efficiency, detailed wasteful expenses such as $16 muffins at conferences and board meetings.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
TRIBUTE TO LEE J. LOFTHUS
Mr. MORAN. Mr. President, I rise today to express my appreciation for a dedicated public servant, Mr. Lee J. Lofthus of Maryland, who is retiring after nearly 40 years of public service at the U.S. Department of Justice.
Lee received his MBA from American University in 1982 and joined the Department shortly thereafter. Since then, he has served in a number of positions, including the last 16 years as its Assistant Attorney General for Administration, the highest ranking career position at the Department of Justice. In this role, he has been responsible for many duties, including serving as the Department's chief financial officer, leading its financial reporting, annual financial statement, budget formulation and execution, accounting operations, asset forfeiture fund support and debt management support. As Assistant Attorney General, he has also been the Department's chief ethics official while also overseeing its facilities, procurement, human resources, and planning. Lee also served as the Department of Justice career Agency Transition Director for every Presidential transition since 2008. His leadership has been essential to the Department's operations.
I know Lee from his role as the top Department of Justice liaison with the House and Senate Appropriations Committees. In my time as both chairman and ranking member of the Senate Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Subcommittee, I have seen firsthand Lee's deft understanding and management of the congressional appropriations process. He has been an asset to both the Department and the Appropriations Committees and will be missed by all of those who have worked with and for him.
Lee has many interests outside of his work, and he will now have the opportunity to focus more time on those interests, foremost among those his wife Dawn and his sons Mike and Austin. I also expect Lee will dedicate more time to caring for animals, including his affinity for dachshunds and his occasional adoption of a wayward bird. Lee may even find some time to indulge his devotion to Bob Dylan.
The one activity to which I am certain Lee will be devoting his time is enhancing his status as one of the Nation's leading numismatists. Lee's role as the Department of Justice's CFO makes even more sense once you learn that he has long been a nationally recognized, published, and award-winning expert on U.S. paper currency. Lee's particular emphasis is on National Bank Notes, which were effectively a form of national currency until being discontinued in the 1930s. The ledgers Lee is familiar with are not just the ones involved in the Department's budgeting, but also the original Treasury Department ledgers tracing the return and destruction of these notes. I wish Lee continued success in this field.
Above all else, Lee will leave behind a legacy of strong, calm, and effective leadership. Few can fill the multifaceted role he held at the Department but even fewer can do so in the universally respected and admired manner that he did so.
The Nation and the Department of Justice have lost a great asset. I commend Lee for his many accomplishments and for his selfless service to this country. He will be missed. On behalf of Kansans and a grateful nation, I personally thank Lee for his service to our Nation and congratulate him on his retirement; he has earned a long and fulfilling one.
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