[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 109 (Tuesday, June 30, 2026)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E646]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]





                 TRIBUTE TO DR. CHRISTOPHER J. SCOLESE

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. KEN CALVERT

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 30, 2026

  Mr. CALVERT. Mr Speaker, I rise today to honor a man whose career in 
service to our Nation spans nearly five decades--Dr. Christopher J. 
Scolese--an engineer, a leader, and a quiet patriot. Dr. Scolese is 
retiring as Director of the National Reconnaissance Office, and it is 
entirely fitting that this body pause to recognize the extraordinary 
contributions he has made to our national security, our space 
enterprise, and our country.
  Dr. Scolese's life in public service began in 1978, when he was 
commissioned as a United States Naval Officer, supporting nuclear 
propulsion programs for the Navy and the Department of Energy, under 
Admiral Hyman Rickover. It was the beginning of a career defined not by 
the pursuit of recognition, but by an unwavering commitment to mission. 
Over the decades that followed, he would serve in roles of increasing 
responsibility, always bringing to bear the technical rigor and steady 
character that would become his hallmarks.
  In 1987, Dr. Scolese joined NASA, assigned to the Goddard Space 
Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. Over the next three decades, he 
rose through every level of the agency--from systems engineer, to 
NASA's Chief Engineer, to Associate Administrator in the Office of 
Space Science, to Acting NASA Administrator, to Director of NASA's 
Goddard Space Flight Center. He oversaw some of NASA's most 
consequential missions, including the James Webb Space Telescope and 
the Earth Observing System among many others, and became one of the 
most respected figures in the American space community.
  In August 2019, Dr. Scolese was sworn in as the 19th Director of the 
National Reconnaissance Office--the first NRO Director to be 
presidentially appointed and Senate confirmed. His tenure at the NRO 
was nothing short of transformational. He brought to the position a 
technologist's understanding of risk, but also an irrepressible 
enthusiasm for the work. He worked to broaden the NRO's engagement with 
commercial industry and accelerate the pace of satellite development to 
meet the demands of an increasingly contested space environment. Dr. 
Scolese led the NRO's transformation to develop and field proliferated 
satellite architectures, expand the resilience and capacity of ground 
processing systems, and rapid adoption of artificial intelligence, 
while continuing to emphasize critical investments in science and 
technology.
  Dr. Scolese worked to strengthen and broaden partnerships across the 
intelligence and defense communities, industry, and academia and was 
instrumental in expanding relationships with allied nations and 
partners.
  Throughout his career, Dr. Scolese emphasized the importance of 
people and teamwork and the extraordinary accomplishments that can be 
realized through meaningful collaboration. He led with quiet strength, 
kindness, and patience. That is the mark of a leader whose concern for 
the mission outlasts his tenure.
  Dr. Scolese's career spans the Cold War and the space age, the rise 
of commercial space, and the dawn of artificial intelligence. He served 
under eight presidents. He helped build, launch, and operate systems 
that provided American warfighters, policymakers, and intelligence 
analysts with the information needed to defend this Nation and save 
lives--often in ways that the American people will never fully know,
  On behalf of a grateful Congress and a grateful Nation, I wish to 
express our deepest thanks to Dr. Christopher J. Scolese for his 
decades of selfless service. We wish him and his family every happiness 
in the years ahead. He has more than earned it.

                          ____________________