Mr. DODD. Mr. President, I rise today to recognize a distinguished citizen of my home State of Connecticut, Henry Strauss, on the occasion of his 80th birthday.

Mr. Strauss was born in New York City in 1915, where he attended New York City public schools and was an intercollegiate diving champion at his alma mater, New York University.

In 1940 he married his wife Joan and a year later began active duty in the U.S. Navy, where he served with distinction. He survived the worst noncombat disaster in the history of the Navy in a gale off the coast of Newfoundland. For helping save the lives of his shipmates, Mr. Strauss was cited for heroism and commissioned to command a subchaser in the South Pacific through some of the worst naval combat of the war. He retired from the Navy in 1946 as a lieutenant junior grade.

Upon his return from the war, Mr. Strauss moved to Connecticut to raise two daughters and start his own business. Through this company, Henry Strauss Productions, Mr. Strauss pioneered the use of film to teach, train, increase people's productivity, and promote understanding between cultures. Clients of Henry Strauss Productions included the U.S. Army, the State Department, IBM, United States Steel, and Pan American Airways.

He was the first American film-maker allowed by the Soviet Government to make a documentary film on that country, a project he completed in 1960. Other films he made for his clients included films on England, Spain, Tahiti, and Africa. His career culminated with an Academy Award nomination for best documentary for his film `Art Is.'

Henry Strauss's love of the sea has brought him to navigate six of the seven oceans of the world, compete and place in some of the world's most prestigious yachting competitions, and earn distinguished membership into the Explorers' Club, the Cruising Club of America, and the New York Yacht Club.

Throughout his life he has successfully encouraged his two daughters and three grandchildren to be civic-minded and politically active citizens.

Once again I would like to congratulate Henry Strauss on this auspicious occasion.

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