[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 136 (Wednesday, November 24, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2140]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[[Page E2140]]
 TRIBUTE TO BOB PALMER, DEMOCRATIC STAFF DIRECTOR OF THE COMMITTEE ON 
                                SCIENCE

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. NANCY PELOSI

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, November 24, 2004

  Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I would like to express my deep appreciation 
for the distinguished and colorful career of Dr. Robert E. Palmer. At 
the end of this Congress, Bob will retire, having served on the 
Committee on Science for 25 years. He is retiring as the Democratic 
Staff Director of the Committee on Science--having served in that 
position for longer than any other person in the history of the 
Committee.
  Bob began his career with the Committee in the late 1970s as a 
Congressional Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of 
Science. Rather than return to academia as a research marine 
biologist--his field of training--Bob elected to stay on the Science 
Committee staff. For a quarter century, Bob has been a central 
participant in science and technology policy. Though he has worked 
largely in the background, he has made significant contributions to our 
Nation's well-being.
  Bob was not a typical scientist. As an undergraduate, he studied 
psychology at Harvard and served as a Vista Volunteer. He supported 
himself in such varied ways as moving furniture, playing music and even 
working as a private detective. He left Massachusetts for the 
University of Delaware, where he earned a Ph.D. in marine biology. It 
was after he had completed his graduate work that he started on the 
Committee as a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) 
expert. Among his first critical assignments was to help negotiate the 
transition of LANDSAT from a government program to an operational 
satellite system in the private sector. This was followed by a 
leadership role on the Global Change Research Act. That initiative has 
led to the research that underpins much of our knowledge of global 
climate change today. He also set up a key hearing on the Search and 
Rescue Satellite Program that prevented that important international 
program from being canceled.
  In the mid-1980s Dr. Palmer was promoted to Committee management. He 
first served as the staff Director of the Subcommittee on International 
Scientific Cooperation and then the Subcommittee on Investigations and 
Oversight. He played a major role in the staff investigation of the 
Challenger accident, including studying issues around the fatal 
decision to launch.
  On the I & O Subcommittee he led the investigation into problems with 
the NOAA-NASA weather satellite program. Without his work, it is likely 
that the country would have suffered some break in the gathering of 
real-time, high-quality data regarding emerging dangerous weather 
patterns. Such a break in coverage would have meant lost lives and 
increased property damage. Subsequent investigative work by Bob led to 
the resignation and later indictment and conviction of an Inspector 
General at an agency in the Committee's jurisdiction. His early work as 
a private detective ended up serving him well in his role on the 
Committee.
  These are just a few specific examples of Bob's role in the work of 
the Committee. But he has helped draft numerous pieces of legislation, 
worked to investigate misconduct, served in many conferences with the 
Senate as the lead Democratic staffer and worked with Administration 
figures--regardless of party-to try to insure that policies and 
programs reflected the intent of Congress. His intelligence, energy, 
experience and humor have allowed him to accomplish much.
  When Dr. Radford Byerly moved to Colorado in 1993, then Science 
Committee Chairman George Brown choose Dr. Palmer as the natural person 
to replace Byerly as the staff director of the full Committee on 
Science, Space and Technology. Bob has continued as the Democratic 
staff director of the committee for over a decade, serving under three 
senior Democratic Members from across the political spectrum. Bob has 
served each with talent and professionalism and all the Members of the 
Committee hold him in the highest regard.
  Unfortunately for the Committee and the Congress, Bob's wife Mary, an 
accomplished researcher and teacher, has received an academic 
appointment from the University of Florida. So she is leaving the 
University of Maryland for Gainesville and Bob will follow her there. 
In his typically good-natured way, he says that she followed him to 
Washington 25 years ago and has stayed here for his career advantage; 
it is his turn to relocate to support her career. We wish you both well 
in the future. You have served the Committee, the Congress and the 
country with great distinction.

                          ____________________