[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 28 (Tuesday, February 10, 2026)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E122]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                HONORING THE SERVICE OF RONALD O'ROURKE

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. JOE COURTNEY

                             of connecticut

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, February 10, 2026

  Mr. COURTNEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to take a moment to honor an 
extraordinary public servant and pay special tribute to Ronald O'Rourke 
for his 42 years of service to Congress and the American people as a 
Specialist in Naval Affairs at the Congressional Research Service, or 
CRS. Mr. O'Rourke began his service with CRS on January 17, 1984, and 
retired on January 31, 2026.
  Mr. O'Rourke is a foremost expert in naval affairs, whose writing 
draws admiration and attention from Congress and defense journalism 
alike. Throughout his career at CRS, he regularly briefed Members of 
Congress and their personal staff, committee staff, and testified 
before congressional committees on topics pertaining to naval and 
defense policy. The Subcommittee on Seapower and Projection Forces most 
recently received Mr. O'Rourke's testimony in March 2025, where he 
spoke to the state of U.S. shipbuilding. His tenure at CRS provided him 
insight into many iterations of the U.S. Navy, from the shipbuilding 
slump of the Post-Cold War era to the modern reinvigoration of the U.S. 
maritime industrial base.
  Mr. O'Rourke wrote many reports for Congress on various issues 
relating to the Navy, Coast Guard shipbuilding, the shipbuilding 
industrial base, China's naval forces and other foreign navies, U.S.-
China strategic competition in the South and East China seas, U.S. 
defense strategy, defense acquisition policy including block-buy 
contracting and multi-year procurement, the international security 
environment including the U.S. role in the world, and the Arctic. Mr. 
O'Rourke's annual publishing on Navy Force Structure and Shipbuilding 
is a touchstone of his contributions to this institution--and is a 
personal favorite of mine.
  He has presented at CRS's New Member Seminar, an orientation for new 
Members of Congress in Williamsburg, Virginia, regularly participated 
in CRS's annual defense budget seminar for congressional staff, and 
presented at various other CRS programs.
  Mr. O'Rourke has been repeatedly recognized for his expertise, 
professionalism, and dedication to public service. In 1996, he received 
a Distinguished Service Award from the Library of Congress for his 
service to Congress on naval issues. In 2010, he was honored under the 
Great Federal Employees Initiative for his work on naval, strategic, 
and budgetary issues. In 2012, he received the CRS Director's Award for 
his outstanding contributions in support of the Congress and the 
mission of CRS.
  During his tenure at CRS, he has mentored numerous colleagues on 
various aspects of defense policy analysis, from serving as a critical 
source of institutional memory on past debates to hosting brownbag 
lunches on ways to organize written products. In 2017, he received the 
Superior Public Service Award from the Navy for service in a variety of 
roles at CRS while providing analysis of benefit to the Navy for a 
period spanning decades. He is the author of several journal articles 
on naval issues and is a past winner of the U.S. Naval Institute's 
Arleigh Burke essay contest.
  Mr. O'Rourke is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Johns Hopkins 
University, where he received his B.A. in International Studies, and a 
valedictorian graduate of the University's Paul Nitze School of 
Advanced International Studies, where he received his M.A. in the same 
field.
  Mr. Speaker, as a member of the Seapower and Projection Forces 
Subcommittee for 19 years, I have had the privilege of working with 
Ron, who was always available to answer any inquiry and share his deep 
historical knowledge of our Nation's sea services. On behalf of the 
Subcommittee on Seapower and Projection Forces, the U.S. House of 
Representatives, and the American people, I express deep gratitude for 
Mr. O'Rourke's contributions during his more than four decades at CRS. 
Along with his family, friends, and colleagues, I thank him and wish 
him and his wife Mary Fitch all the best in retirement.

                          ____________________