The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“PATRICK H. WINDHAM” mentioning the U.S. Dept. of Commerce was published in the Senate section on pages S3658-S3659 on April 24, 1997.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
PATRICK H. WINDHAM
Mr. LIEBERMAN. Mr. President, I would like to take a few moments to pay tribute to Patrick H. Windham, the long-serving Senior Democratic Professional Staff Member for the Subcommittee on Science, Technology and Space. Pat is leaving Washington for California with his wife Arati Prabhakar and newborn baby Katie after nearly 20 years of service to the Senate, primarily on science and technology policy issues. For the many people here who knew or worked with Pat, including my staff and me, he will be sorely missed as a great source of institutional knowledge but most of all as a friend, a genuine and nice guy in a town not always known for its friendliness.
Originally from California, Pat completed his undergraduate work at Stanford, received a Masters in public policy from the University of California at Berkeley and first came to the Hill in 1976 as a Congressional Fellow to the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation. In 1982 Pat began his long association with Senator Hollings, joining his personal staff as a legislative assistant. He has held his present position of Senior Democratic Professional staff member for the Subcommittee on Commerce, Science and Transportation since 1984.
I met Pat through his many hours of work on the important issue of technology partnerships, especially those run through the Commerce Department such as the Advanced Technology Program. Pat, along with my able colleague Senator Hollings, has been a tireless advocate of promoting the movement of new ideas generated by scientists and engineers in our universities and national laboratories out into the commercial marketplace. Widely respected for his substantive thinking on such topics, Pat has tirelessly worked on legislative solutions that would bridge the cultural gap existing between the differing worlds of academia, government and industry. I believe this effort to be critical towards ensuring the future ability of America to compete in a global market.
During World War II and the subsequent Cold War, federal investment in science and technology was seen as essential to maintaining America's national security. A by-product of federal investment was an infrastructure of world-leading high tech defense companies, laboratories and universities and subsequent creation of an entire new generation of products and industries. With the end of the Cold War, the defense rationale for continued investment is not as politically compelling and the growth of information technologies continues to change the landscape for American business.
We are now in a period of transition, looking for ways to move from the old system of innovation where the government funded the science, paid for development and then purchased the final product--to a new system that preserves both our country's security and its competitive economic advantage. It is not an exaggeration to say that Pat has been a major contributor in the development of science and technology policy during this turbulent transition period. My office and I particularly respect his work for Senator Hollings as an architect of both the Advanced Technology Program and the Manufacturing Extension Program, both of which help move technology and information out to the manufacturing floors of America's workplaces. Pat has always been open minded, has carefully listened and will be remembered as a joy to work with. My staff and I hope that Pat will find some time to write and reflect on the technology policy issues he's been grappling with for so long, and welcome fresh insights from him. The Senate owes him a large debt of thanks for his fine work here. Good luck in California, Pat, and best wishes to your wonderful wife and daughter.
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