[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 8]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 11338]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                   HONORING DR. JAMES ``JEFF'' KIMPEL

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. FRANK D. LUCAS

                              of oklahoma

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 22, 2010

  Mr. LUCAS. Madam Speaker, it is unusual that America has an 
opportunity to thank an individual citizen for his contributions to 
protecting lives and property of our citizens, but in the case of Dr. 
James ``Jeff'' Kimpel, the Director of NOAA's Severe Storms Laboratory 
in Norman, Oklahoma, we have just this kind of individual tirelessly 
dedicated to improving the research and development of weather and 
meteorology programs, Jeff Kimpel is now retiring on June 18 to spend 
more time with his 5 children and 2 grandchildren in Norman, Oklahoma.
  During his last 13 years of federal service Jeff Kimpel has served 
the nation by working to improve the lead-time and accuracy of severe 
weather forecasts and weather warnings in order to save the lives of 
many Americans and to save property from being destroyed. In the state 
of Oklahoma, severe weather is a massive problem, and accurate 
estimates of the true threats from severe weather are especially of 
interest to not just our state, but to a wide range of users. This 
includes weather forecasters, the insurance industry, emergency 
management communities and the general public. Dr. Kimpel has worked 
with the NSSL and was able to establish strong programs that have 
helped speed up the construction of the National Weather Center 
building, which is shared with the National Weather Service (NWS), and 
the University of Oklahoma Meteorology Program.
  Dr. Kimpel has been a pioneer in the field of technology and 
meteorology. The NSSL has been able to expound on many programs to 
enhance their technology, all under the watch of Dr. Kimpel. The NSSL 
has performed research that has led to the upgrade of NEXRADs (NEXt 
generation weather RADar) from propriety to open systems, which also 
added super resolution capability and designed dual polarization 
upgrades.
  As a long serving member of the House of Science and Technology 
Committee, I commend the work of Dr. Jeff Kimpel and recognize his 
outstanding science related positions including President of the 
American Meteorological Society, National Science Foundation positions, 
Department of Energy, and a participant in major decision making policy 
in the environmental, and meteorological and atmospheric areas for NOAA 
and other government agencies. Dr. Kimpel was instrumental in 
establishing support for NSSL that led to the construction of a 
magnificent national weather center building shared with the National 
Weather Service and the University of Oklahoma's meteorology program. 
He is truly one of the world's foremost authorities on severe weather 
including tornados, thunderstorms, hail, strong winds, heavy rainfall, 
ice storms, flooding and winter storms who has explored new 
technologies during his career for using weather information to assist 
government forecasters and federal, university, and private sector 
partners.
  Today we would like to thank you for your service and dedication, and 
for all the work that you have put in. Thank you and best of luck with 
all your future undertakings.

                          ____________________