[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 196 (Monday, December 9, 2019)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1564-E1565]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      RECOGNIZING DAVID HOBBS, THE SECRETARY GENERAL OF THE NATO 
                         PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLY

                                  _____
                                 

                        HON. GERALD E. CONNOLLY

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                        Monday, December 9, 2019

  Mr. CONNOLLY. Madam Speaker, on behalf of myself and Rep. Mike Turner 
of Ohio, I rise to recognize David Hobbs, the Secretary General of the 
NATO Parliamentary Assembly. He will step down from his position on 
December 31, 2019 after decades of stellar service to the Assembly and 
to the national parliaments of all NATO countries, including the United 
States Congress.
  David Hobbs took up his post as Secretary General of the NATO 
Parliamentary Assembly in January 2008, following his election by the 
heads of national delegations to that body. He had previously served on 
the Assembly's staff for many years and drew on this long experience to 
help transform the institution.
  David Hobbs holds degrees in physics and defense from Manchester 
University and King's College in London. After working in the UK civil 
service and the private sector, he joined Aberdeen University's Centre 
for Defence Studies, where he published studies on nuclear forces and 
policy. His expertise gave him unique insight not only into the conduct 
of the Cold War, but also informed his understanding of the strategies 
Western allies followed to ultimately prevail in it.
  David Hobbs joined the NATO Parliamentary Assembly in 1983 as 
Director of its Science and Technology Committee. In 1987, he assumed 
additional responsibilities as Director of Committees and Studies and 
was tasked with coordinating the work of all five of the Assembly's 
Committees.
  Mr. Hobbs played a central role in driving the Assembly's adaptation 
following the collapse of the Soviet Union, and ensuring that national 
parliaments and their members helped forge a new security order that 
placed democratic values at its very core. It was at this time that the 
Assembly began to reach out to the new parliaments of former Communist 
countries to assist in their democratic development. David Hobbs was 
part of a team that established a set of conferences and training 
programmes, including the Rose-Roth Seminars named after late Senator 
Bill Roth and Congressman Charlie Rose, which worked with 
parliamentarians from Europe's new democracies on security sector 
reform, parliamentary oversight, and preparation for membership in NATO 
itself.
  Mr. Hobbs was appointed Deputy Secretary General of the NATO 
Parliamentary Assembly in November 1997.
  In addition to his responsibilities at the NATO Parliamentary 
Assembly, from 1996 to 2007 David Hobbs served as the Chairman of the 
Euro-Atlantic Foundation, an NGO which provided computing and I.T. 
assistance to parliaments in Central and Eastern Europe. From 1993 to 
2005, he was a member of the research advisory council of the Chemical 
and

[[Page E1565]]

Biological Arms Control Institute, and from 2009 to 2014 he was a 
member of the Senior Steering Group for NATO's Special Operations 
Headquarters. He wrote extensively on the political and military 
implications of new technology.
  As the Assembly's Secretary General, David Hobbs made it a top 
priority to maintain and strengthen the trans-Atlantic link through 
parliamentary dialogue and cooperation. He travelled to the United 
States with parliamentary delegations 37 times between 2003 and 2019 to 
ensure that European political leaders better understood strategic 
policy decision-making in the United States and to introduce European 
national legislators to their counterparts in the House of 
Representatives and the Senate. He often accompanied the President and 
Vice Presidents of the NATO PA on visits to the halls of Congress for 
bilateral discussions with members of Congress and their staffs. Those 
efforts paid off, and the Assembly is now considered the primary 
vehicle for Congressional outreach to allied nations and their 
political leaders.
  As a member and now chairman of the United States delegation to the 
NATO PA, I have witnessed first hand David Hobbs' commitment to the 
trans-Atlantic bond and to NATO, his understanding of U.S. politics and 
policies and ability to work with members from both sides of the aisle 
on a bipartisan basis. As our predecessors have, the current members of 
the United States delegation to the NATO PA and I have come to rely on 
his expertise, unfailingly sound judgement, and shrewd insights.
  David Hobbs is also known and appreciated for his quick wit and 
friendliness and has long made parliamentarians and staff feel welcome 
and essential to the life of the Assembly. His strong management skills 
and vision reinvigorated the secretariat in Brussels and helped the 
Assembly adjust to an increasingly perilous and complex security 
environment characterized by new challenges like terrorism, cyber-
attacks, hybrid warfare, and an ever more revanchist Russia.
  It should hardly be surprising that this vital institution dedicated 
to parliamentary diplomacy flourished under David Hobbs' stewardship. 
He leaves the NATO Parliamentary Assembly a stronger and more vibrant 
organization. He has dedicated himself to preserving history's greatest 
alliance, which requires great patience, diplomacy, hard work, and 
faith. Mr. Hobbs's tenure will be remembered for his grace, the active 
listening he deployed to ensure that everyone always felt heard, the 
respect he showed all delegates and staff, and the stability he brought 
to this vital alliance.

                          ____________________