[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 58 (Wednesday, April 11, 2018)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E430]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   RETIREMENT OF ROBERT M. LIGHTFOOT, JR. ACTING ADMINISTRATOR, NASA

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                       HON. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, April 11, 2018

  Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise to recognize 
the career of an outstanding civil servant who has dedicated his 
professional life to furthering our nation's goals in space exploration 
at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
  Robert M. Lightfoot, Jr., Acting Administrator of NASA will retire on 
April 20, 2018 after 29 years of service at NASA.
  Mr. Lightfoot's NASA career, which began in 1989 as a test engineer 
and program manager for the space shuttle engine technology testbed 
program at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, is 
marked by numerous leadership roles, including as: assistant associate 
administrator for the Space Shuttle Program at NASA Headquarters from 
2003 to 2005 where he worked on space shuttle Return to Flight 
activities following the loss of Space Shuttle Columbia and her crew in 
2003; deputy director of the Marshall Space Flight Center from 2007 to 
2009, and director of the Marshall Space Flight Center from 2009 to 
2012.
  In 2012, Mr. Lightfoot, became associate administrator of NASA, the 
highest ranking civil servant position in the agency.
  Mr. Speaker, on January 20, 2017, following the departure of NASA 
Administrator Charles Bolden at the end of the Obama Administration, 
Mr. Lightfoot became the Acting Administrator of NASA.
  Since the date he assumed the Acting Administrator role, Mr. 
Lightfoot has led NASA through the transition to the current 
Administration, through the Fiscal Year 2018 and Fiscal Year 2019 
budget submissions, through Congressional budget hearings, and through 
the reestablishment of the National Space Council and NASA's 
participation therein.
  Perhaps, most importantly, Mr. Lightfoot has provided steadfast 
leadership of NASA's programs, including the development of the Space 
Launch System and Orion crew vehicle, the commercial crew program that 
will reestablish U.S. human spaceflight capability to low-Earth orbit, 
the development of the James Webb Space Telescope and Mars 2020 
flagship science projects, the commencement of the aeronautics x-plane 
project, and the continued advancements in space technologies that will 
enable future NASA missions.
  The nation is fortunate to have had such a committed, experienced, 
and technically-knowledgeable leader at the helm of NASA for what has 
become the longest Acting Administrator period in the agency's history.
  Mr. Speaker, it is not surprising that Robert Lightfoot has received 
numerous prestigious awards and accolades for his service to NASA, 
engineering, and civil space, including the Presidential Rank Award for 
Distinguished Executives, the highest honor for Federal government 
work. However, like the NASA workforce he leads, Mr. Lightfoot never 
forgets that he is part of a team.
  In an interview with NASA Tech Briefs in May, 2010, Mr. Lightfoot 
said, ``Spaceflight is very much a team sport, and being part of these 
teams, whether it was running engine tests, whether it was return to 
flight, whether it's working through problems associated with anything 
we're working on, if I can do that, that's what an engineer does. But 
you rarely do it by yourself. I have been very fortunate to be part of 
some tremendous teams, and the higher up I've moved, there are still 
teams there . . . they're just different.''
  For his excellence in engineering contributions to NASA, for his 29 
years of dedication to furthering the nation's goals in civil space, 
and for his outstanding leadership of NASA through an extended period 
as Acting Administrator, I extend my deepest thanks and appreciation, 
and send my best wishes to Robert M. Lightfoot, Jr. as he retires from 
Federal government service and embarks on the next chapter of his life.

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