[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 82 Agreed to Senate (ATS)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. RES. 82

Congratulating the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory 
       on the 75th anniversary of the founding of the Laboratory.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 7, 2017

Mr. Cardin (for himself, Mr. McCain, and Mr. Van Hollen) submitted the 
        following resolution; which was considered and agreed to

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
Congratulating the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory 
       on the 75th anniversary of the founding of the Laboratory.

Whereas, on March 10, 2017, the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics 
        Laboratory (in this preamble referred to as ``APL''), located in Laurel, 
        Maryland, celebrates the 75th anniversary of the founding of APL on 
        March 10, 1942;
Whereas, less than 4 months after the attack on the United States Pacific Fleet 
        at Pearl Harbor, APL was established to perfect and help field the radio 
        proximity fuze, one of the most closely guarded wartime secrets of the 
        United States;
Whereas historians have ranked the development of the radio proximity fuze as 
        one of the 3 most important technological developments of World War II, 
        along with the development of radar and the atomic bomb;
Whereas, during and after World War II, APL developed the first generation of 
        Navy surface-to-air missiles and associated propulsion, guidance, 
        control, and targeting technologies;
Whereas APL developed the initial ``phased array'' radar system, called AMFAR, 
        for the Navy that provided the scanning, tracking, and targeting 
        necessary to defend the ships of the United States against simultaneous 
        aircraft and missile raids;
Whereas APL created the first satellite-based global navigation system, called 
        Transit, the forerunner of modern GPS, to serve the ballistic missile 
        submarine force of the United States and provide essential capabilities 
        to the Navy from 1964 until the 1990s;
Whereas APL developed prototypes, experiments, ocean physics research, and 
        engineering models that unlocked the potential of towed sonar arrays, 
        groundbreaking developments that revolutionized anti-submarine warfare 
        and guided stealth designs for multiple generations of submarines of the 
        United States;
Whereas APL led development of the Navy's Cooperative Engagement Capability that 
        revolutionized air defenses by enabling ships to engage aircraft and 
        missiles not seen by the radars of the ships by using composite radar 
        tracks created from the radars of ships within the battle group;
Whereas APL developed a system called SATRACK to ensure the accuracy of the 
        Trident II submarine-launched ballistic missiles and confidently 
        estimate missile accuracy anywhere in the world;
Whereas APL proposed, developed, built, and operated a number of the most 
        innovative low-cost planetary science missions of the National 
        Aeronautics and Space Administration, including--

    (1) the Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (commonly known as ``NEAR'') 
mission in 2001, the first mission to orbit an asteroid;

    (2) the MESSENGER Mercury orbiter, launched in 2004; and

    (3) New Horizons, which launched in 2006 and completed a historic flyby 
of Pluto in 2015;

Whereas APL has been responsible for hundreds of significant contributions to 
        the most critical challenges faced by the United States with respect to 
        national security and space exploration; and
Whereas the sustained commitment by APL to the United States and the Federal 
        Government sponsors of APL allowed APL--

    (1) to continuously provide significant contributions to critical 
challenges with respect to systems engineering and integration, technology 
research and development, and analysis; and

    (2) to serve as the most comprehensive University Affiliated Research 
Center in the United States: Now, therefore, be it

    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) congratulates the Johns Hopkins University Applied 
        Physics Laboratory on the 75th anniversary of the founding of 
        the Laboratory;
            (2) recognizes the scientific, engineering, and analytical 
        expertise that the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics 
        Laboratory has applied to solve many of the most critical 
        challenges faced by the United States in the areas of national 
        security and space exploration; and
            (3) respectfully requests that the Secretary of the Senate 
        transmit an enrolled copy of this resolution to the director of 
        the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory.
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