[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 9]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 12293-12294]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




   A TRIBUTE TO PAUL E. GALLIS OF THE CONGRESSIONAL RESEARCH SERVICE

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JOHN S. TANNER

                              of tennessee

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, June 11, 2008

  Mr. TANNER. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the accomplishments 
of Dr. Paul E. Gallis, specialist in European Affairs with the Foreign 
Affairs, Defense, and Trade Division of the Congressional Research 
Service. Dr. Gallis is retiring on July 3, 2008, after serving the 
Nation for approximately 28 years in various positions at CRS, in the 
Senate, and in the State Department. In particular, Dr. Gallis served 
the Congress for 24 years as an expert in and objective observer of 
European security affairs. He has been the institutional memory of 
Congress on vital transatlantic political and security issues spanning 
multiple Congresses, several U.S. administrations, and key events in 
foreign policy. He has been an especially valued resource to Members 
and committees in Congress on all matters relating to the NATO alliance 
and relations with our European allies.
  Dr. Gallis started working at CRS in June 1984 as an analyst in West 
European affairs. He came to CRS after working for 3 years in the 
office of Senator Joseph Biden as a policy advisor and speech writer. 
Before that, he served as a special assistant to Ambassador Rozanne 
Ridgway at the Department of State. Dr. Gallis received an M.A. and 
Ph.D. in European history at Brown University, and a B.A. in history 
and French from Davidson College. He studied at the Ecole des Hautes 
Etudes in Paris, France.
  Dr. Gallis quickly emerged as a leading CRS expert on European 
security affairs. His early work focused on vital and often 
controversial cold war-era security issues such as the Strategic 
Defense Initiative, SDI, and allied responses; the conventional arms 
balance in Europe; and policy issues surrounding the Intermediate-Range 
Nuclear Force, INF, Treaty. With the end of the cold war, Dr. Gallis's 
work incorporated significant changes in the transatlantic 
relationship, turning to burdensharing issues surrounding the first 
Persian Gulf war, as well as international diplomacy leading to 
Germany's unification.
  Throughout his career at CRS, Dr. Gallis served as an authority on 
NATO political affairs and the allied relationship. He produced 
numerous timely reports on NATO's missions and institutional processes, 
including alliance partnership programs and enlargement. He led or 
coordinated important studies on NATO's emerging operational challenges 
in the Balkans and in Afghanistan. Over the telephone and in person, 
Dr. Gallis frequently shared his expertise on these difficult issues 
with tact and judgment. His work informed thousands of Members and 
staff in congressional offices over the years as they grappled with the 
complex foreign policy and security issues of the day in hearings, 
legislative initiatives, and ongoing consultations with U.S. and 
foreign officials. In all of his work, Dr. Gallis upheld an unswerving 
commitment to the core CRS mission of supporting an informed national 
legislature with nonpartisan research and analysis.
  In addition to the above, Dr. Gallis spent several years at CRS 
handling managerial duties as head of the Europe, Middle East, and 
Africa section of the Foreign Affairs Division. In this capacity he 
supervised the work of many CRS analysts and instilled in them his high 
standard of work and professionalism. He represented the Library of 
Congress at the National War College in 1991-1992.
  I got to know Dr. Gallis personally in the context of his many years 
of intensive work with Congressional delegations to the NATO 
Parliamentary Assembly. For the past several years, Dr. Gallis has been 
asked to serve as lead policy staff for delegations to the regular 
meetings of the NPA. In this capacity he has taken on yeoman's work in 
coordinating preparatory research analysis for delegation members, 
directing staff support for the NPA working sessions, and providing 
essential on-site expertise to Members. Paul has been an invaluable 
resource to me and the other Members of the NATO Parliamentary 
Assembly. His knowledge of the issues facing the United States in 
regards to our relationship with our European allies is immeasurable 
and he is a truly valued resource to us in our discussions at these 
meetings. It goes without saying that he will be sorely missed by all 
the participants in the NATO Parliamentary Assembly meetings both here 
and abroad.

[[Page 12294]]

  On behalf of my colleagues in Congress, I want to express my deep 
appreciation to Paul Gallis for his long service to the Congress and 
especially for his direct assistance to the United States Group of the 
NATO Parliamentary Assembly. I will regret his absence in future NPA 
meetings but wish him well in his retirement.

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