[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 147 (Tuesday, October 28, 1997)]
[House]
[Page H9567]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      RECOGNITION OF GOOD SCIENTIFIC WORK BY GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES

  (Mr. EHLERS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. EHLERS. Mr. Speaker, very often from this podium we hear 
criticism of our Government and of our Nation, and rightfully so, 
because we exercise an oversight role. But I believe we have an 
obligation also to point out when the Government does something good 
and something right. I would like to mention two such items that have 
happened recently.
  First of all, Dr. William Phillips, of the National Institute of 
Standards and Technology, recently shared a Nobel Prize for physics for 
research that he had done on cooling atoms. This is a very esoteric 
field of research, and it has real promise for the future, particularly 
for precise timekeeping, and will improve our time-standard accuracy by 
a factor of 100.
  In a recent science magazine I noticed also that William H.F. Smith 
from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and David 
Sandwell from Scripps Institution have succeeded in mapping the world, 
including the ocean floors, from satellites. What I am displaying here 
is a remarkable map, obtained for the first time in history, showing 
all the topographical details of the land and undersea surfaces. This 
will be extremely useful in analyzing effects such as El Nino and 
determining how to improve our fisheries.
  I commend these scientists as well as Dr. Phillips for the good work 
they have done. We are proud of them, and proud to have them as 
Government employees.

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