[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 12]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 17139]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                IN RECOGNITION OF THE LIFE OF BRET KNAPP

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. MIKE ROGERS

                               of alabama

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, December 4, 2014

  Mr. ROGERS of Alabama. Mr. Speaker, I would like take a brief moment 
to recognize the life, service and dedication of Mr. Bret Knapp. After 
a life of public service in our national laboratories, Bret passed away 
a few weeks ago at the too-early age of 56. This exceptional man spent 
33 years working within our nuclear weapons laboratories, and leaves a 
lasting legacy of exceptional leadership, technical depth and--most 
notably--open, honest and straightforward communication.
  An engineer by training, Bret thrived at the two ``physics'' labs 
often dominated by physicists and scientists. During 26 years at 
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Bret led programs in all 
manner of defense and nuclear technologies and contributed to efforts 
that dealt with all phases of nuclear weapons research, development, 
sustainment, certification, and dismantlement. Bret's broad experience 
and technical horsepower enabled him to dig into the details of any 
program and his direct and straightforward manner was always seeking 
solutions.
  Bret received multiple awards for excellence from the National 
Nuclear Security Administration during the course of his career, and in 
2006 was asked to move to LLNL's sister laboratory, Los Alamos National 
Laboratory (LANL), to help lead its nuclear weapons program. In 
November 2013, Bret was selected to serve as the Acting Director of 
Lawrence Livermore. Under his leadership, both LANL and LLNL carried 
out their critical but often-unheralded nuclear security missions for 
the nation.
  My condolences, and that of the nation, go to his family as well as 
his professional family at the national labs. Bret will be missed, but 
his contributions to our country will endure.

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