[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 91 (Wednesday, May 25, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2703-S2704]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        TRIBUTE TO CRAIG McLEAN

  Mrs. SHAHEEN. Mr. President, I rise today to acknowledge the public 
service of Craig McLean who retired in April after a distinguished 40-
year career within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 
NOAA. Within NOAA, Mr. McLean was as a dedicated leader, advocating for 
science to advance NOAA's mission to understand and predict changes in 
climate, weather, ocean, and coasts.
  Mr. McLean has a deep dedication to our oceans and waterways, 
garnered from growing up along the Passaic River in Rutherford, NJ. As 
a child, he took a small boat out on the Passaic. As a teenager, he 
learned to dive and performed decompression diving in order to explore 
deep-ocean shipwrecks. These experiences helped inspire his career.
  Mr. McLean began his NOAA career in 1981 as a uniformed officer in 
the NOAA Commissioned Officer Corps and served for nearly 25 years 
before retiring at the rank of captain. During that time, he was 
instrumental to the founding of the NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration 
and Research, OER. Later, during his 16 years as a Federal executive, 
he provided continued leadership in driving forward mapping of U.S. 
waters to advance oceanographic scientific knowledge and discover deep 
ocean secrets including new species, historical shipwrecks, and 
undersea mountains. His leadership underlies OER's astounding 
accomplishments including mapping 2 million square kilometers and 
collecting ocean data in the waters of 16 countries and the high seas. 
This work contributed to key conservation decisions for vital marine 
habitats.
  Most recently, Mr. McLean served as Assistant Administrator for 
NOAA's Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research--OAR--for more than 6 
years,

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leading an enterprise of 10 Federal laboratories across the country and 
six major programs performing vital research to understand and predict 
changes in climate, weather, ocean, and coasts for the benefit of the 
Nation. Mr. McLean's preeminent leadership of OAR enabled vital 
advancements, including improved forecasting of weather extremes such 
as hurricanes, winter storms, extreme precipitation, and drought as 
well as a greatly increased understanding of the Earth's climate 
system. His leadership has enabled NOAA to better prepare society in 
order to reduce the severe impacts of these events on life and 
property.
  On the international stage, as the U.S. Representative to the 
Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of the United Nations 
Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization--UNESCO--Mr. 
McLean's skillful collaborative approach helped advance U.S. scientific 
goals and garnered support from our partners in ocean observing around 
the world. He helped broker consensus for global biogeochemical ocean 
sensors, known as Argo, which enabled a $53 million international 
commitment to expand deployments to improve ocean health and climate 
forecasting. Through this role, Mr. McLean served as a leader for the 
United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development, 
championing this global undertaking to provide a common framework that 
ensures ocean science can support countries and achieve the United 
Nations' 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.
  Finally, I want to acknowledge Mr. McLean's commitment to scientific 
integrity within NOAA. During the last administration, he boldly 
stepped forward as a complainant when NOAA experienced political 
interference, putting himself at risk to uphold scientific integrity 
and the Agency's reputation. He also served as the Department of 
Commerce representative on the National Science and Technology Council 
Fast-Track Action Committee on Scientific Integrity where he cochaired 
a working group to provide responsive outcomes for the Presidential 
Memorandum on Restoring Trust in Government Through Scientific 
Integrity and Evidence-Based Policymaking. NOAA's science and the 
Agency's integrity has been made stronger through Mr. McLean's 
commitment and leadership on this issue.
  On behalf of my constituents in New Hampshire, I thank Craig McLean 
for his decades of excellent service to our Nation and wish him well in 
his retirement. I hope he enjoys the chance to take his family out on 
the water more in retirement and enjoys the oceans he has championed 
throughout his career.

                          ____________________