[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 44 (Thursday, March 29, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E496]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           A TRIBUTE TO PHILIP COYLE, PENTAGON TESTING CHIEF

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. JERRY LEWIS

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 29, 2001

  Mr. LEWIS of California. Mr. Speaker, I would like today to pay 
tribute to Mr. Philip E. Coyle III, who recently left government 
service after six years as Director of Operational Test and Evaluation 
in the Department of Defense. Since he was confirmed in 1994, Mr. Coyle 
provided the leadership that sought to ensure that our men and women in 
uniform can feel confident in their safety while using the increasingly 
complex and deadly weapons systems being developed for the 21st 
Century.
  Before joining the Pentagon in 1994, Mr. Coyle spent 33 years in 
service at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California, 
where he was involved in the nuclear weapons testing program. From 1981 
to 1984, he was named Associate Director for Test, and from 1987-93 he 
served as Laboratory Associate Director and Deputy to the Laboratory 
Director. He was also Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Defense 
Programs in the Department of Energy under President Carter.
  Since taking over the chief tester job, Mr. Coyle made a reputation 
for being pragmatic, balanced, knowledgeable, and candid. He has been 
called upon to effectively test jet fighters that can turn tighter, fly 
faster and be more stealthy than anything produced by this nation in 
the past. He has worked with the designers of our National Missile 
Defense program to devise tests that can gauge the success rate of a 
system that is often referred to as ``hitting a bullet with a bullet.'' 
And he has helped ensure that a myriad of other planes, ships and land 
vehicles operate as effectively and safely as possible, both during 
training and in actual engagements.
  The American military is the most advanced, strongest and best 
trained in history. Our soldiers, sailors, Marines and pilots are 
always ready to put their lives on the line to defend our nation and to 
protect freedom around the world. Their dedication and professionalism 
is respected and emulated by friend and foe alike. To a very great 
degree, their confidence in taking up the cause of freedom is based on 
their faith in the equipment we have provided them. And that faith is 
based on the knowledge that Mr. Coyle and his testers have done 
everything in their power to ensure that this equipment will respond 
when it is most needed.
  Mr. Speaker, Philip Coyle has been named the recipient of the 
``Beyond the Headlines'' award by the Project on Government Oversight 
public interest group, honoring his years of public service behind the 
scenes. His dedication to the safety and success of those who defend 
our nation surely makes him deserving of such an award. I ask my 
colleagues to join me in similarly recognizing him as a valuable public 
servant, and wish him well in his future endeavors.

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