[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 188 (Tuesday, October 26, 2021)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1146]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 IN RECOGNITION OF DR. JULIA NESHEIWAT

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. MICHAEL WALTZ

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, October 26, 2021

  Mr. WALTZ. Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize the service and 
career of combat veteran and public servant Dr. Julia Nesheiwat, who 
has devoted her entire life in service to this country and by every 
metric, exemplifies duty, honor, and the American Dream.
  Born to Ben and Hayat Nesheiwat, Jordanian immigrant parents who 
worked tirelessly to provide for her and her four siblings, Dr. 
Nesheiwat graduated from Stetson University. She then went on to earn 
her M.A. in security studies from Georgetown University, Washington 
D.C. and a Ph.D. from the Tokyo Institute of Technology in Japan. Dr. 
Nesheiwat is a lifelong member of the Council on Foreign Relations and 
served on the Governing Advisory Council for the World Economic Forum.
  After the September 11 attacks, Dr. Nesheiwat was immediately 
deployed in the U.S. Army military intelligence corps. She served 
multiple tours in support of Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation 
Iraqi Freedom in Afghanistan and Iraq for which she was awarded the 
Bronze Star Medal. Dr. Nesheiwat subsequently was selected to serve on 
the U.S. Presidential Commission on Intelligence Capabilities Regarding 
Weapons of Mass Destruction, leading the North Korea and Iran policy 
steering committee.
  She went on to help establish the newly formed office of the Director 
of National Intelligence as the Chief of Staff for policy and planning, 
where she managed the integration and collaboration of analysis and 
reporting with all intelligence agencies.
  During her time at the Department of State, Dr. Nesheiwat served as 
the first Deputy Assistant Secretary for Energy where she built a new 
bureau that addressed the nexus of energy, climate, technology, 
development, international programs, and public-private partnerships. 
She then collaborated with the Department of Defense to create a new 
curriculum on energy security as a visiting professor at the Naval Post 
Graduate School.
  Dr. Nesheiwat continued her call to service as the first U.S. Deputy 
Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs focused on the release of U.S. 
citizens legally detained or held hostage abroad. Dr. Nesheiwat's 
diplomatic work was instrumental in the release of dozens of Americans 
illegally held overseas as well as her work with the families of those 
detained.
  Returning to her home state of Florida, Dr. Nesheiwat was appointed 
by Governor Ron DeSantis to serve as Florida's first Chief Resilience 
Officer, a cabinet-level position tasked with preparing Florida for the 
environmental, physical, and economic impacts of sea level rise.
  In 2020, Dr. Nesheiwat once again answered the call to serve, this 
time in the White House as Deputy Assistant to the President for 
Homeland Security and Resilience. At such a perilous time in our 
nation's history, she brought her extensive expertise on national 
security and resilience to develop strategies to help protect America 
against the COVID pandemic, natural disasters, critical infrastructure 
protection, foreign election interference, civil unrest, counter-
narcotics, and wildlife and trafficking crimes.
  Dr. Nesheiwat was later appointed to serve a four-year term as a 
Commissioner on the U.S. Arctic Research Commission. The Commission is 
an independent federal agency that advises the President and Congress 
on domestic and international Arctic research. She is also a 
Distinguished Fellow with the Atlantic Council with the Global Energy 
Center.
  Madam Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in celebrating the 
lifelong servant leadership of Dr. Julia Nesheiwat and her career 
spanning the Bush, Obama, Trump, and Biden Administrations. She has 
brought great credit to her country and we thank her as she continues 
to serve the American people.

                          ____________________