[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 112 (Friday, September 17, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1651]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




ON THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE'S LABORATORIES IN 
                              BOULDER, CO

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                         HON. SHERWOOD BOEHLERT

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, September 17, 2004

  Mr. BOEHLERT. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the 50th 
anniversary and rededication of the Department of Commerce laboratories 
located in Boulder, CO. As chairman of the House Science Committee, I 
have the privilege of chairing the authorizing Committee for two of the 
three Department of Commerce agencies that have laboratories in 
Boulder: the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and 
the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
  The NIST laboratories in Boulder have developed a close relationship 
with the University of Colorado at Boulder, a collaboration that 
recently yielded a Nobel Prize and a MacArthur ``Genius grant'' 
fellowship for two of its researchers. The NIST laboratory in Boulder 
is home of the Atomic Clock, which serves as the primary time standard 
for the United States. NIST researchers work to provide measurement and 
standards services to critical industries such as fiberoptics and 
electronics, and emerging industries such as biomaterials and 
nanotechnology. NIST has helped to establish the scientific conditions 
that enable technology-based industries to develop and grow, and it 
deserves our deepest thanks for its work so far.
  NIST researchers in Boulder also work with the Department of 
Commerce's National Telecommunications and Information Agency's (NTIA) 
National Institute for Telecommunications Sciences, which is also 
located in Boulder. NTIA's engineers search for ways to improve 
broadband wireless communications, reduce radio frequency interference, 
and solve other problems with direct impact on the quality of cellular 
communications, the development of wireless computing, and the 
management of the radio frequency spectrum, all critical to the 
nation's telecommunications infrastructure.
  The NOAA laboratories in Boulder also enjoy a close relationship with 
the University of Colorado, conducting research in oceanic, 
atmospheric, and climate sciences. This research has vastly increased 
our understanding of global weather and climate systems, including 
severe weather, air pollution, global climate change, and ozone 
depletion. Boulder also hosts the NOAA Space Environment Center, which 
provides the nation with alerts on the magnitude and impacts of solar 
weather on communications, transportation, and energy systems. We are 
fortunate in the United States to have the scientific know-how to 
predict, and thus reduce, the impacts of severe weather, be it 
tornadoes, hurricanes, or solar storms.
  The Boulder Laboratories were first dedicated by President Dwight D. 
Eisenhower on September 14, 1954. I congratulate them on their first 50 
years. The scientists in Boulder have accomplished much that they can 
be proud of, and I wish them 50 more years of ground-breaking and 
exciting research.

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