Tribute to Bob Palmer, Democratic Staff Director of the Committee on Science

TRIBUTE TO BOB PALMER, DEMOCRATIC STAFF DIRECTOR OF THE COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE -- (Extensions of Remarks - November 24, 2004)

Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I would like to express my deep appreciation for the distinguished and colorful career of Dr. Robert E. Palmer. At the end of this Congress, Bob will retire, having served on the Committee on Science for 25 years. He is retiring as the Democratic Staff Director of the Committee on Science-having served in that position for longer than any other person in the history of the Committee.

Bob began his career with the Committee in the late 1970s as a Congressional Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Rather than return to academia as a research marine biologist-his field of training-Bob elected to stay on the Science Committee staff. For a quarter century, Bob has been a central participant in science and technology policy. Though he has worked largely in the background, he has made significant contributions to our Nation's well-being.

Bob was not a typical scientist. As an undergraduate, he studied psychology at Harvard and served as a Vista Volunteer. He supported himself in such varied ways as moving furniture, playing music and even working as a private detective. He left Massachusetts for the University of Delaware, where he earned a Ph.D. in marine biology. It was after he had completed his graduate work that he started on the Committee as a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) expert. Among his first critical assignments was to help negotiate the transition of LANDSAT from a government program to an operational satellite system in the private sector. This was followed by a leadership role on the Global Change Research Act. That initiative has led to the research that underpins much of our knowledge of global climate change today. He also set up a key hearing on the Search and Rescue Satellite Program that prevented that important international program from being canceled.

In the mid-1980s Dr. Palmer was promoted to Committee management. He first served as the staff Director of the Subcommittee on International Scientific Cooperation and then the Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight. He played a major role in the staff investigation of the Challenger accident, including studying issues around the fatal decision to launch.

On the I & O Subcommittee he led the investigation into problems with the NOAA-NASA weather satellite program. Without his work, it is likely that the country would have suffered some break in the gathering of real-time, high-quality data regarding emerging dangerous weather patterns. Such a break in coverage would have meant lost lives and increased property damage. Subsequent investigative work by Bob led to the resignation and later indictment and conviction of an Inspector General at an agency in the Committee's jurisdiction. His early work as a private detective ended up serving him well in his role on the Committee.

These are just a few specific examples of Bob's role in the work of the Committee. But he has helped draft numerous pieces of legislation, worked to investigate misconduct, served in many conferences with the Senate as the lead Democratic staffer and worked with Administration figures-regardless of party-to try to insure that policies and programs reflected the intent of Congress. His intelligence, energy, experience and humor have allowed him to accomplish much.

When Dr. Radford Byerly moved to Colorado in 1993, then Science Committee Chairman George Brown choose Dr. Palmer as the natural person to replace Byerly as the staff director of the full Committee on Science, Space and Technology. Bob has continued as the Democratic staff director of the committee for over a decade, serving under three senior Democratic Members from across the political spectrum. Bob has served each with talent and professionalism and all the Members of the Committee hold him in the highest regard.

Unfortunately for the Committee and the Congress, Bob's wife Mary, an accomplished researcher and teacher, has received an academic appointment from the University of Florida. So she is leaving the University of Maryland for Gainesville and Bob will follow her there. In his typically good-natured way, he says that she followed him to Washington 25 years ago and has stayed here for his career advantage; it is his turn to relocate to support her career. We wish you both well in the future. You have served the Committee, the Congress and the country with great distinction.