[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 1]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 20]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




 NATIONAL COORDINATION OFFICE FOR SPACE-BASED POSITIONING, NAVIGATION, 
               AND TIMING CELEBRATES 10 YEARS OF SERVICE

                                  _____
                                 

                           HON. DOUG LAMBORN

                              of colorado

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, January 5, 2016

  Mr. LAMBORN. Mr. Speaker, I would like to recognize the National 
Coordination Office for Space-Based Positioning, Navigation, and Timing 
which recently celebrated its 10 year anniversary in November 2015.
  The National Coordination Office, also known as the NCO, was 
established by a presidential directive under President George W. Bush. 
That directive provided guidance to government agencies on the 
management of the Global Positioning System (GPS) and other space-based 
Positioning, Navigation and Timing (PNT) systems. It also established 
the National Executive Committee (EXCOM) for Space-Based PNT, which is 
chaired jointly by the Deputy Secretaries of Defense and Transportation 
and includes their equivalents from the Departments of State, the 
Interior, Agriculture, Commerce, and Homeland Security, the Joint 
Chiefs of Staff, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
  The NCO is a cadre of senior advisors from the EXCOM member agencies 
and has become a linchpin for national GPS policy information. Earlier 
this year I worked with the NCO at a Space Power Caucus event on GPS. 
As chairman of the caucus, I presided over this event and was impressed 
by the educational information on how GPS works, how it affects our 
daily lives and critical infrastructure, and ongoing government efforts 
to maintain GPS as the ``gold standard'' for PNT around the world. The 
transparent operations of the NCO keep track of these vital efforts and 
inform the EXCOM agencies, Congress, and the public on Space-based PNT.
  The NCO facilitates the implementation of EXCOM tasks and 
disseminates information about U.S. space-based PNT programs and policy 
through the official government GPS website at www.gps.gov.
  The Department of Commerce and its Office of Space Commerce have 
hosted the NCO since 2005. This longstanding relationship was recently 
codified in law through the U.S. Commercial Space Launch 
Competitiveness Act, signed November 25, 2015.
  In ten years, the NCO evolved from an idea into an essential 
organization with significant impact within the space-based PNT 
community. NCO efforts ensure the EXCOM is an effective body for 
assisting national leaders in implementing national Space-based PNT 
policy.
  In closing Mr. Speaker, I would like to acknowledge this organization 
on this milestone, and congratulate them on ten years of hard work and 
wish them continued success in the future.

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