[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 36 (Monday, April 4, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Page S3139]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        HONORABLE PETER B. TEETS

 Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. President I rise today to honor a 
distinguished American and patriot the Honorable Peter B. Teets, former 
Acting Secretary of the Air Force and Under Secretary of the Air Force.
  Secretary Teets left government service on March 25, 2005 to join his 
family in Colorado. He did so after four years of selfless devotion to 
his country serving in what I would characterize as four of the most 
important jobs within the Department of Defense--as the senior official 
in the Department of the Air Force responsible for nearly 700,000 
military, civilians, and family members with budget authority exceeding 
$110 billion dollars. Simultaneously, Mr. Teets also served as the 
Department of Defense Executive Agent for Space and as the Director of 
the National Reconnaissance Office. In this later special capacity he 
was responsible for the acquisition and operation of all space-based 
reconnaissance and intelligence systems. I think you would agree Mr. 
President, Pete Teets was an extraordinary public servant possessing 
uncompromising standards, superior managerial skills and a keen 
analytical mind wherein he was able to exact the most from the military 
service he represented and the programs he supervised. His quest for 
perfection across the board will long be remembered both within and 
outside the Department.
  Prior to joining the Department of Defense, Pete Teets worked in 
industry for nearly four decades serving first as a Martin Maretta 
flight control engineer and ending that service as the President and 
Chief Operating Officer, Lockheed Martin Corporation. His resume is 
replete with ever increasing positions of responsibility spanning the 
period 1963 to 2001, when he was nominated to serve President Bush as 
our Under Secretary of the Air Force and Director of the National 
Reconnaissance Office, two demanding tasks particularly during this 
time of transformation within the Department of Defense, coupled with 
the challenges associated with emerging space requirements and system 
development.
  Throughout his tenure, the members of the Senate Armed Services 
Committee have found Pete Teets to be one of the most thoughtful and 
insightful DOD officials we have come to know. His ability to reduce 
complex system assessments into meaningful constructs were, on more 
than one occasion, immensely helpful to every committee member. His 
private counsel and immense personal interaction were directly 
responsible for solving major program problems for which our country is 
most grateful.
  Our Nation deserves no less than the full measure of devotion from 
the men and women it nominates to our highest positions of authority. 
Peter Teets fulfilled every expectation the Congress and the nation 
placed upon him. He did so with a combination of grace and dignity, 
superb organizational and managerial skill, and with that rare coupling 
of professionalism and confidence that his Air Force and our Department 
of Defense would not accept anything short of excellence in 
accomplishing every assigned mission and task.
  I truly hope this is not the last time the nation will call upon 
Peter Teets and his family to serve this grateful Nation. Indeed, Pete 
has earned the right to return home and focus on the one thing all of 
us yearn to do--spend time and focus on family. His many friends in the 
Senate wish him and his family all the best in the days ahead. We bid 
Pete a fond farewell and heartfelt thanks for a magnificent job as our 
Acting Air Force Secretary and as our Under Secretary of the Air Force. 
We are a better people and stronger Nation today because Pete Teets 
gave and accomplished so much. We will indeed miss America's ``Mr. 
Military Space'' and wish him God's everlasting blessings.

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