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“ON THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE'S LABORATORIES IN BOULDER, CO” mentioning the U.S. Dept. of Commerce was published in the Extensions of Remarks section on pages E1614 on Sept. 14, 2004.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
ON THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE'S LABORATORIES IN
BOULDER, CO
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HON. VERNON J. EHLERS
of michigan
in the house of representatives
Tuesday, September 14, 2004
Mr. EHLERS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the 50th anniversary and rededication of the Department of Commerce laboratories located in Boulder, Colorado. Three Commerce Department agencies have labs located in Boulder: the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
(NOAA), and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). As chairman of the House Science Subcommittee on Environment, Technology, and Standards, I have the honor and pleasure to be responsible for overseeing the research work of these three important research laboratories.
The Boulder laboratories were first dedicated by President Dwight D. Eisenhower on September 14, 1954. Since then they have made significant contributions in such fields as precision timekeeping, nanotechnology, wireless communications, and atmospheric and climate science. This research has been critical to developments in public and private infrastructure, homeland security, and a variety of technology-based industries.
The Boulder laboratories are located on land that was donated by the citizens of Boulder who, in 1950, raised the necessary $90,000 in funds in two weeks to purchase 217 acres for the first buildings. This generous act set the stage for the strong relationship between the Commerce laboratories and the community in Boulder that continues to this day.
The Commerce laboratories have two joint institutes with the University of Colorado at Boulder: the Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics, or JILA, a partnership with NIST, and the Cooperative Institute for Research in the Environmental Sciences (CIRES), a partnership with NOAA. As a young physicist, I spent a year doing research at JILA, and have happy memories of the research and collegial atmosphere fostered by this relationship between NIST and the university.
Let me mention just a few of the recent accomplishments of the employees at the Department of Commerce's Boulder laboratories and Joint Institutes. NIST staff at Boulder include Eric Cornell, who in 2001 won the Nobel Prize for Physics together with Carl Wieman of the University of Colorado for creation of a Bose-Einstein condensate, a new state of matter. Deborah Jin recently won a MacArthur ``Genius'' Award to pursue research on the science of atomic clocks and lasers. Staff at the NOAA laboratories include Susan Solomon, recipient of the
``Blue Planet Prize'' and the 1999 National Medal of Science for her work on identifying the cause of the Antarctic Ozone Hole. Dr. Hans Liebe of NTIA won the 2002 Harry Diamond Memorial Award, the highest recognition for technical achievement given by the 235,000-member United States unit of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). This is just a sample of the hundreds of hard-
working, dedicated personnel at the Boulder labs, and their contributions to American science and technology.
Mr. Speaker, I want to congratulate the Department of Commerce laboratories in Boulder, Colorado on their first 50 years. Based on their performance since 1954, I believe we can expect at least another 50 years of pioneering scientific research from these outstanding institutions, their academic and industrial partners, and their many scientists and technicians.
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