[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 200 (Thursday, December 22, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10089-S10090]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      REMEMBERING JOHN P. CONNELLY

 Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I rise today to commemorate the 
life and career of John P. Connelly, longtime National Fisheries 
Institute president and CEO. John succumbed to cancer on November 20, 
but not before leaving a profound mark on the commercial seafood 
industry that is so dear to us in Alaska.
  Following service in the U.S. Navy--including Active-Duty service as 
an officer in the Navy's destroyer fleet--John joined the American 
Chemistry Council, where he rose to become ACC's corporate secretary. 
In 2003, he was named president and CEO of the National Fisheries 
Institute. In nearly two decades of leadership at NFI, he joined with 
many of us in the Senate in tackling the priority issues confronting 
American seafood producers and the fisheries they rely on--from vital 
legislation such as the 2007 Magnuson-Stevens reauthorization 
legislation and the 2011 Food Safety Modernization Act, to ensuring 
that Federal nutrition guidance reflects the science regarding the 
value of seafood consumption and utilizing trade agreements to open key 
markets to seafood exporters from Alaska and elsewhere. On his watch, 
commercial seafood producers made sustainability the core of their 
operations. On issue after issue, he brought disparate players together 
in what often can be a fractious industry, driving concrete progress 
where others' efforts had stalled.
  While at NFI, John Connelly held leadership roles with the NOAA 
Marine Fisheries Advisory Committee; the International Seafood 
Sustainability Foundation; the International Coalition of Fisheries 
Associations; the ``FISH'' for Crewmembers social responsibility 
standard; the Seafood Industry Research Fund; and many others. In 
October 2022, the Global Seafood Alliance awarded him the Wallace R. 
Stevens Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of his ``leadership, 
integrity, and commitment to responsibility.''
  As is so often the case, however, it was not the plaques on the wall 
that made John Connelly effective. He was known to many in the seafood 
world, including to my staff and me, as a warm, engaging person who 
always wanted to learn about the people he met before delving into 
business. John loved sharing and swapping stories--the funnier the 
better--and as any Alaskan will tell you, fishing and storytelling go 
hand in hand. What a wonderful match between a leader and the industry 
he chose to serve.
  To paraphrase Lincoln, I know nothing I say on the floor today can 
beguile

[[Page S10090]]

John's wife of 36 years, Margaret, or their four children, from the 
grief they are more than entitled to feel at the untimely loss of a 
dear husband and father. I do hope, nevertheless, that this brief 
tribute will leave the Connelly family--and all those who benefited 
from his service to the seafood industry--with the solace of knowing 
how valuable that service was to our Nation. John Connelly will be 
missed by many in my State and by so many in the industry he 
loved.

                          ____________________