[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 107 (Friday, July 25, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1523]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


HONORING DR. ALFRED M. BEETON, ACTING CHIEF SCIENTIST OF NOAA, UPON HIS 
                               RETIREMENT

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. STEVE C. LaTOURETTE

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, July 25, 1997

  Mr. LaTOURETTE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to acknowledge and pay 
tribute to a scientist who has worked tirelessly for over 40 years to 
learn and teach about the Great Lakes environment. Dr. Alfred M. Beeton 
earned his post-secondary degrees in zoology at the University of 
Michigan and continued to conduct and direct research in the Great 
Lakes region until his appointment as acting chief scientist for the 
National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration [NOAA] in 1996. 
This brief statement can scarcely touch upon the depth and breadth of 
Dr. Beeton's career accomplishments, but I shall try to highlight some 
representative achievements.
  Dr. Beeton's work has spanned time beyond that of his personal 
career, from investigations into the evolution of the Great Lakes to 
recommendations for the future of policy affecting large lakes. In over 
100 publications and speeches addressing scientists and policy makers, 
Dr. Beeton has touched on the most pressing issues affecting the 
quality of the Great Lakes. Some of the topics to which he has added 
his knowledge and insight include human factors affecting water 
quality, thermal pollution from powerplants, basic ecology of fish and 
other aquatic organisms, and how policy can begin to address these and 
other issues.
  Dr. Beeton's legacy will live on long after his retirement in August. 
Throughout his career as a professor at the Universities of Michigan 
and Wisconsin, Wayne State University, and Oregon State University, he 
trained hundreds of undergraduates and over 30 graduate students in 
aquatic science. In testimony before the Senate, Dr. Beeton helped to 
shape policies that initiated the restoration of the Great Lakes. He 
served for 10 years as director of the Great Lakes Environmental 
Research Lab [GLERL] in Ann Arbor, MI, helping to shape NOAA's mission 
on the United States' fourth coast.
  It was during his tenure as GLERL's director that I came to know Al 
Beeton personally. My district in Ohio is entirely within the Great 
Lakes basin, and includes the largest portion of Ohio's Lake Erie 
shoreline of any Ohio congressional district. Thus, the quality of the 
Great Lakes environment is inextricably tied to the quality of life for 
my constituents. Dr. Beeton has served as the embodiment of 
institutional memory for Great Lakes environmental issues. Al Beeton 
has been the person my staff could always turn to for an honest 
assessment of the status of our great natural resource.
  During the past several years of fiscal restraint, GLERL has faced a 
flat Federal contribution to its budget. This has meant a loss of staff 
and reprioritization of the lab's research programs. At the same time, 
interest in the restoration of Great Lakes resources has steadily 
increased. Threats to the Great Lakes from invading species and 
persistent toxins have been a continuous scourge and are not made less 
serious by Congress' intent to control the Federal budget. Throughout 
this period, Dr. Beeton has successfully led GLERL's efforts to study 
problems as large as the control of zebra mussels and the instantaneous 
forecasting of weather on the coastlines. As a result, we have a much 
better handle on how to protect the lakes and live safely on their 
shores than a decade ago.

  In 1996, Dr. Beeton planned to retire from his long and successful 
career and perhaps to enjoy the fruits of his labor while sailing. The 
Commerce Department tapped Dr. Beeton to serve as Acting Chief 
Scientist of NOAA and he began this new chapter in his life on June 21, 
1996. In this position, he has coordinated with other NOAA 
administrators to establish the agency's scientific policy and to 
provide guidance to NOAA managers on scientific and technology issues. 
Among other things, the Office of the Chief Scientist is responsible 
for coordinating NOAA activities to implement the National 
Environmental Policy Act, managing NOAA's technology transfer program, 
and administering the National Climate Program.
  The appointment of a Great Lakes scientist to the highest scientific 
office in the Nation's ocean-oriented agency is an indication of the 
recognition of the fourth coast as an important aquatic resource. Al 
Beeton has brought prominence to a natural resource which was once 
treated more like a sewer than the national treasure it is. His efforts 
have been integral to the restoration of the lakes and we owe him our 
gratitude. Dr. Beeton will retire from his post as Acting Chief 
Scientist in August, and with this I bid him a fond farewell.

                          ____________________