[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 129 (Friday, September 21, 2012)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1615]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   RECOGNIZING DR. KAIGHAM J. GABRIEL

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. JAMES R. LANGEVIN

                            of rhode island

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, September 21, 2012

  Mr. LANGEVIN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize and pay tribute 
to Dr. Kaigham J. Gabriel on the occasion of his departure as Acting 
Director of the Department of Defense's (DoD) Defense Advanced Research 
Projects Agency (DARPA). I had the pleasure of working with Dr. Gabriel 
on several occasions during his tenure at DARPA and admire his 
dedication to supporting our men and women in uniform and his 
commitment to strengthening the technological advantage of our current 
and future combat forces.
  The DARPA mission is clear and concise: to create and prevent 
strategic surprise for the Nation. In a little less than 3 years as the 
deputy director and acting director, Dr. Gabriel led the Agency in 
accomplishing numerous initiatives important to DoD and National 
Security.
  He initiated an advanced manufacturing program designed to counter 
the increasing time, cost, and risk of producing complex defense 
systems by shortening the timeline from conception to fielding of 
weapons and defenses. He oversaw the development of a hypersonic test 
vehicle that flew at Mach 20, the fastest high lift-to-drag ratio 
aircraft ever built and one that will be instrumental in our Nation's 
capabilities in the future. We now have 3 minutes of fully 
aerodynamically controlled flight at Mach 20, which yielded more 
aerodynamic and test measurement data than had been collected in ground 
tests during the previous 40 years.
  Dr. Gabriel also directed DARPA's innovative talents to improve the 
welfare of our brave men and women in uniform who suffered severe 
injuries in theater before returning home. The Agency's prosthetics 
research has pioneered a new generation of artificial limbs. I 
witnessed, for example, a veteran using an artificial hand so adroitly 
that he was able to pluck a single grape from a large cluster. In 
addition, in less than a year's time, DARPA's team researched, 
developed, built, and deployed wristwatch-size blast gauges that detect 
and record overpressure blast exposure--data critical to the early 
diagnosis and treatment of traumatic brain injury for our troops 
deployed abroad.
  Dr. Gabriel helped the Agency create a forward cell in Afghanistan to 
support technology deployment efforts. This included a 90-day ``Skunk 
Works'' activity that brought together some of the country's best 
computer and social scientists, counterinsurgency experts, economists 
and analysts. The team deployed to Afghanistan within a month of being 
tasked to aid the war effort. Dr. Gabriel also oversaw the fielding of 
a wide-area, high-definition, off-nadir light detection and ranging 
collection system to provide much-needed 3D map data and systems.
  To ensure that our nation's resources are being directed in the most 
appropriate areas, Dr. Gabriel oversaw the development of several 
analytic frameworks that guided DARPA's investments toward areas 
revealed to be most divergent with existing threats to the country's 
security. The cyber analytic framework, in particular, highlighted the 
need to undertake some new and innovative approaches in defensive 
cybersecurity, and DARPA was the first DoD organization to address 
openly the need for an offensive cyber strategy.
  In today's fiscally constrained environment, Dr. Gabriel insisted on 
financial accountability and solid business practices. During his 
tenure, DARPA's obligation rate was 21 points higher than the previous 
5-year average, translating into more than $600 million in the 
performer community, working for DoD and the Nation.
  Dr. Gabriel would be the first to tell us that none of this would 
have been possible were it not for the incredible talent at DARPA. In 
our conversations, he has emphasized to me that the personnel are the 
lifeblood of the Agency, and he has helped to recruit the nation's best 
talent from academia, industry, nonprofits, the Services, and 
laboratories to serve our Nation.
  On behalf of the House of Representatives and the United States of 
America, I thank Dr. Kaigham Gabriel for his service to our country, 
his significant contribution to the defense of our Nation, and his 
leadership in advancing what is necessary for America to prevent and 
create strategic surprise. I know my colleagues on both sides of the 
aisle, and in both houses of Congress, join me in sending our best 
wishes in his next endeavor.

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