[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 79 (Friday, June 8, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Page S6006]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      TRIBUTE TO ROBERT W. KNECHT

 Mr. HOLLINGS. Mr. President, it is with great sadness that I 
rise today to commemorate the life of Robert W. Knecht, who passed away 
on Sunday at Georgetown University Hospital from colon cancer. Mr. 
Knecht's passing is a great loss to the coastal and marine policy 
community.
  Mr. Knecht began his public service career not in the coastal 
management field, but working as an Upper Atmosphere Physicist for the 
National Bureau of Standards. He then went on to serve as Laboratory 
Director of the Environmental Services Administration. It was after 
holding those two posts, that he joined NOAA in 1967 as the Deputy 
Director of the Environmental Research Laboratories in Boulder, CO.
  Working with him in the early 1970s, I recall Mr. Knecht's valuable 
contributions in crafting the Coastal Zone Management Act. It was with 
the passage of this landmark legislation in 1972, that Mr. Knecht was 
appointed as the first Director of the National Coastal Zone Management 
Program at NOAA. Working in this capacity for 7 years, he served to 
shape the first generation of State coastal zone management programs 
which continue today to protect our Nation's valuable coastal 
resources. Mr. Knecht was instrumental in the design and implementation 
of the National Coastal Management Program, particularly in enlisting 
coastal States to participate in this federal-state partnership. He 
also played a key role in the development of the coastal energy impact 
program amendments to the Coastal Zone Management Act in 1976 that 
dealt with oil and gas development.
  In 1979, he became a Special Representative to the Secretary of 
Commerce on the United Nations Law of the Sea Negotiations. It was in 
this position that he developed and negotiated positions on the 
international management of seabed mineral resources. In 1980 and 1981, 
he was Director of the Office of Ocean Minerals and Energy at NOAA, 
working on the implementation of new legislation for ocean thermal 
energy conversion and deep seabed mining.
  In 1981, Mr. Knecht left government service for academia, where he 
held positions at the University of Virginia, University of Rhode 
Island, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, and the University of 
California at Santa Barbara. In 1989, he joined the University of 
Delaware Graduate College of Marine Studies where he was the Co-
director of the Center for the Study of Marine Policy for 12 years.
  During his tenure at the University of Delaware, Mr. Knecht was a 
leader in promoting integrated coastal zone management, particularly on 
the international level where he also served as a consultant to the 
World Bank. He served as the Vice President of the International 
Coastal and Ocean Organization and was a member of the Marine Area 
Governance Committee of the Marine Board of the National Research 
Council. He also served as the Co-Editor-in-Chief for the international 
journal, Ocean and Coastal Management.
  Mr. Knecht co-authored two books on ocean policy and integrated 
coastal zone management. In his most recent book on ocean policy, he 
identified the need for government integration of currently fragmented 
ocean policies, calling for a National Ocean Council that could set 
integrated national goals and ocean policies. I am pleased to say that 
this idea became a reality with the Oceans Act of 2000.
  One of Mr. Knecht's most recent accomplishments was receiving the 
1999 Julius A. Stratton Award for Leadership. This national award is 
bestowed biennially to the person or group that has made the greatest 
difference in leading the cause for the coast. Mr. Knecht was a true 
champion for the coast, fostering the development of the fledgling 
Coastal Zone Management Program in the early part of his career, to the 
latter part of his career that focused on developing integrated coastal 
zone management approaches at both national and international levels.
  With Mr. Knecht's passing we have lost a great leader in marine and 
coastal protection. I would like to offer my deepest appreciation for 
Mr. Knecht's contributions to the Nation and send my sincerest 
condolences to his wife, Biliana Cicin-Sain, and to his family, 
friends, and colleagues.

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