Jim Langevin

Mr. LANGEVIN

Mr. LANGEVIN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commemorate the 107th anniversary of the Armenian genocide. On April 24, 1915, the Ottoman Empire embarked on a genocidal campaign to wipe out more than 1.5 million innocent Armenians. For too long, the world denied the Armenians' plight. But thankfully, leaders like President Biden and this House of Representative have recognized the Armenian genocide for the tragedy that we all know to be true. My home State of Rhode Island boasts one of the largest Armenian communities in the country, and I have been proud to represent them for the last 22 years. Yet, as Winston Churchill famously said, ``Those who fail to learn from history are condemned to repeat it.'' Mr. Speaker, another genocide is unfolding before our eyes in Ukraine. The scenes from Bucha, Mariupol, and the villages across the country are heartbreaking and haunting. But like the Armenian people, Ukrainians are strong, and they have shown their unmatched bravery to the world. I strongly reiterate my harsh condemnation of Vladimir Putin's war crimes. We must do all that we can to support the Ukrainian people in their battle for freedom. The consequences of failure are far too dreadful to imagine.

Mr. LANGEVIN

Mr. LANGEVIN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of the Ukraine Democracy Defense Lend-Lease Act. In the spring of 1941, Congress passed the Lend-Lease Act, which allowed the United States to rapidly deliver weapons and military supplies to Allies like Great Britain, assisting their heroic fight against Adolph Hitler. Once dead set on creating a global empire, he failed. In the spring of 2022, another murderous dictator has emerged, committed to destroying a sovereign democracy and reconstituting old borders of the USSR. We must ensure that Putin also fails. Since Russia's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, the Biden administration has made impressive progress in the delivery of crucial security assistance to Ukraine and the Ukrainian people. And yet, it is time to cut through the remaining bureaucratic red tape and accelerate the delivery of critical equipment to the brave warfighters on the ground in Ukraine. Mr. Speaker, they deserve nothing less than our swift and unwavering support. Freedom and democracy are at stake. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the rule and pass the Ukraine Democracy Defense Lend-Lease Act. We must stand with the Ukrainian people in their fight for their democracy, for their freedom, and for their homeland.

Mr. LANGEVIN

Mr. LANGEVIN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Holocaust Remembrance Day in memory of the 6 million Jews who were systematically hunted down, rounded up, and murdered in cold blood by the Nazi regime and their evil collaborators. Millions of other innocent civilians were also targeted by the Nazis, including people with disabilities, members of the LGBTQ community, Roma, Sinti, Slavs, and any other person deemed to be inferior by Adolph Hitler and his coconspirators. And yet, Mr. Speaker, the anti- Semitism that fueled the Nazi's genocidal campaign sadly is still alive and well today. According to the Anti-Defamation League, there were 2,717 anti- Semitic incidents in the United States last year, averaging more than seven incidents per day. That is the highest number ever recorded by the ADL since it began tracking anti-Semitic incidents in 1979. More than 75 years after the Holocaust, that is plainly unacceptable. On this day, Yom HaShoah, we must recommit ourselves to rooting out anti-Semitism wherever we find it. We must never forget the atrocities of the Holocaust.

Mr. LANGEVIN

Mr. LANGEVIN. Madam Speaker, this is an important week for the future of American diplomacy, especially as it relates to cybersecurity. An open, interoperable, reliable, and secure internet is foundational to U.S. foreign policy and national security in the 21st century, but this vision for the global digital ecosystem faces greater challenges than ever before. Cybersecurity absolutely must become a core foreign policy priority of the United States and, this week, we have taken a major step forward in that regard. On Monday, the Department of State formally launched the Bureau of Cyberspace and Digital Policy. On the international stage, this bureau will lead U.S. efforts to uphold standards of responsible state behavior in cyberspace, shape digital standards that govern new technologies, and protect digital freedoms around the world. I congratulate Secretary Blinken and Deputy Secretary Sherman on this significant accomplishment. I look forward to working with my colleagues to ensure that this new bureau receives the funding it needs to accomplish its critical mission. And beyond that, I also look forward to enshrining this new bureau in statute through the Cyber Diplomacy Act, a bipartisan bill, which will ensure its long-term viability and the preservation of cybersecurity as a key foreign policy priority for the coming decades.

Mr. LANGEVIN

Mr. LANGEVIN. Madam Speaker, this evening, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 1916, the Ensuring Lasting Smiles Act, a bill which would require health plans to cover medically necessary services related to congenital anomalies. I would like to share the story of one of my constituents, Caleb Locke, a young man from Ashaway, Rhode Island, who was born with ectodermal dysplasia. As a result of his condition, Caleb's lower jaw is both thin and short with no ridge, and his posterior upper jaw lacks sufficient bone structure. Caleb is missing teeth, and he needs dental implants, but this process will require multiple surgeries, including bone grafts from his hip to reconstruct his jaw and sinuses. Unfortunately, and unbelievably, Caleb's health insurance has deemed these procedures as ``cosmetic'' and has consequently denied coverage. Madam Speaker, Caleb needs these surgeries, and they are clearly not cosmetic. It is wholly unacceptable that coverage can be denied on those grounds. Caleb, and anyone else with a congenital anomaly, should never be denied coverage for medically necessary services related to their conditions. That is why I was proud to support the passage of H.R. 1916 this evening, and I urge our colleagues in the Senate to promptly do the same.

Mr. LANGEVIN

Mr. LANGEVIN. Mr. Speaker, today I rise to honor the legacy of my good friend and colleague, Congressman Don Young from Alaska, who sadly passed away the evening of March 18. Don was an inspirational man who served the people of Alaska in the House of Representatives for nearly half a century and did so with a giant heart and tremendous passion. Don cherished this institution. He was a strong proponent of bipartisanship and civility, and he consistently sought to find common ground. It is something I always admired about him. There is something I want the country and the world to know: He was also a champion for the disability community, and I was proud to work closely with Don as co-chairs of the Bipartisan Disabilities Caucus. Together, we worked across the aisle to break down barriers and provide opportunities for Americans with disabilities and to raise awareness of disability issues for our colleagues. Don was a problem solver. He was a dedicated public servant. And, in many ways, he was larger than life. I was devastated to learn of his passing, and I am really going to miss him. He made a difference. His wife, Anne, and his children, Dawn and Joni, are in my prayers, as well as his entire family. Rest in peace.

Mr. LANGEVIN

Mr. LANGEVIN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today because my constituents, like all Americans, are paying far too much at the pump. They are angry, and so am I. In response to Vladimir Putin's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, President Biden rightly imposed crippling sanctions on Russia to bankrupt Putin's war machine and sever Russia's ties to the global war economy. That was the right move, and Russia is feeling the punishment from those sanctions. But, unfortunately, so are the American people. The American people are willing to do their part in support of Ukrainians, who are fighting for their survival, fighting for their independence. But the fact is, we are too dependent on foreign autocrats for their oil and gas. It leaves us vulnerable to supply chain constraints and gives tyrants like Putin too much power over our way of life. But with transformative investments in clean energy and electric vehicles, we could take back control, lower energy costs, and protect our national security. That is why we need substantial tax credits so that all families can afford electric vehicles. To power them, we must bolster our clean energy production from solar wind and other renewable sources. These investments will shake our reliance on fossil fuels, create good-paying jobs, and shield us from energy price shocks like we are feeling right now. We simply have no time to waste.

Mr. LANGEVIN

Mr. LANGEVIN. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding. Madam Speaker, I rise today in strong support of the National Defense Authorization Act. I begin by congratulating and thanking Chairman Smith and Ranking Member Rogers, as well as my counterparts on the CITI Subcommittee, Ranking Member Banks and former Ranking Member Stefanik for their bipartisan collaboration in helping to craft a national defense bill for the 61st consecutive year. Thanks to the work of my subcommittee, this legislation includes a significant increase in early-stage research. Our research enterprise has always ensured our technology superiority. It is how we won the space race. Today, as the battlefield expands into cyberspace and outer space, we find ourselves facing a more aggressive Russia and China. I am proud that Congress has unlocked funds for hypersonics defense, directed energy, quantum computing, machine learning, and biotechnology so that we never send our war fighters into a fair fight. Madam Speaker, I am most proud that this bill includes many recommendations from the National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence, including funds to accelerate the deployment of new technology to the war fighter. I am also proud that in our first year as a subcommittee, the Subcommittee on Cyber, Innovative Technologies, and Information Systems, we have made significant investments in our cybersecurity forces, set a course for improved cybersecurity governance within the Department, and continue to strengthen the Department of Homeland Security's Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. The NDAA also fully funds key national security platforms, the Virginia-class and Columbia-class submarine programs. I thank the Rhode Islanders who build our Nation's submarines and make our country safer. Finally, this bill funds installation resilience projects to address the ongoing threat from climate change. These achievements would not have been possible without the work of my subcommittee staff and personal staff. I thank Michael Hermann, Josh Stiefel, Troy Nienberg, Payson Ruhl, Caroline Goodson, and Juliann Hitt, and former staffers Bess Dopkeen and Caroline Kehrli. Madam Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to support this bipartisan commitment to national security.

Mr. LANGEVIN

Mr. LANGEVIN. Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize the distinguished career of an extraordinary Rhode Islander, my friend Randy Rosenbaum. For 27 years, Randy has served as the executive director of the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts, where he helped Rhode Island artists to share their gifts and talents with the rest of the world. From the up-and-coming artist to the well-established, the young artists to the old, Randy lifted up the work of a diverse, new generation of Rhode Island artists. To put it simply, he is to the Rhode Island arts community what the smile is to the Mona Lisa. Randy has left an indelible mark on the Rhode Island arts scene, increasing RISCA funding ninefold, putting the Ocean State on the map as a film location, and supporting Rhode Island's $2 billion arts economy. Randy's leadership, now that he is retiring after 30 years at the helm of RISCA, will surely be missed, but his legacy lives on through his countless accomplishments. Madam Speaker, I congratulate Randy on his retirement, and I wish him all the best in his next chapter.

Mr. LANGEVIN

Mr. LANGEVIN. Madam Speaker, I rise today to speak in strong support of President Biden's Build Back Better agenda. Last November, the American people sent us to Washington to create more jobs, cut taxes, and lower costs for middle class families, and we are ready to deliver. The Build Back Better agenda will lower healthcare costs for families across my district and across the country, cut taxes for more than 35 million working families, and expand high-quality home healthcare for millions of older Americans and Americans with disabilities. As the President also returns from the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, we have an opportunity to pass a $550 billion investment in fighting climate change and transitioning to a green economy. We simply do not have time to spare. The American people are counting on us. Let's get this done.

Mr. LANGEVIN

Mr. LANGEVIN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of the Continued State Flexibility To Assist Older Foster Youth Act. Last month, I hosted a townhall with the National Foster Youth Institute for current and former foster youth across the country. Their stories of hardship broke my heart. I was not surprised, though, because these young people are among the most vulnerable in our society, often lacking the same social safety net that you or I could rely on in a crisis. Surveys throughout the pandemic have shown foster youth face elevated financial, housing, and food insecurity; decreased educational and workforce participation; and increased isolation. This bill before us today extends crucial flexibilities for the Chafee Foster Care Program that we put in place last December, allowing States to better meet the needs of current and former foster youth. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the bill and help young people access this much-needed assistance.

Mr. LANGEVIN

Mr. LANGEVIN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding, and I commend the chairman for his strong leadership on cybersecurity issues and in support of this act before us today. This bill, the House companion of which I sponsored with Representatives Matsui, Katko, and Garbarino, would help address a serious issue that has not received the attention it deserves: the cyber threats targeting our Nation's schools. The education of our children is clearly a critical function, yet the increasing frequency and severity of cyber threats targeting K-12 schools have jeopardized the education of students across America. In the past 4 years, more than 1,000 educational organizations across the country have fallen victim to cybercriminals. More than 400 incidents have occurred in the past year alone. What is more, an increasing proportion of these incidents are ransomware attacks that are particularly debilitating to the operation of our schools. Our students and educators have experienced more than enough disruption in the past year and a half. We cannot afford to let this issue continue to go unaddressed. Many of our schools do not have the resources to counter the cyber threats that we face. Without assistance, this problem will continue to get worse, jeopardizing our students' privacy and ability to learn. Fortunately, this Congress has already demonstrated a recognition of the government's need to provide cybersecurity assistance to entities that perform essential functions yet live below the cybersecurity poverty line, unable to defend themselves against the myriad threats they face. It is why we took steps to invest $50 million in support for State and local government entities as part of the forthcoming reconciliation bill. It is also why I fought to increase the budget of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency by more than $400 million earlier this year. I thank Chairwoman Roybal-Allard for her leadership, and I thank her team and the members of the Appropriations Committee, along with Chairman Thompson and his team and the members of the Homeland Security Committee. It should also be the reason that we pass the K-12 Cybersecurity Act into law without delay. This bill would direct the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency to study the cybersecurity risks facing our elementary schools and secondary schools. With a detailed understanding of the specific cybersecurity challenges facing our schools, including challenges raised by remote learning, CISA would then be required to develop cybersecurity recommendations and online training tools for educational officials at K-12 institutions. Our educators and administrators would be equipped with the knowledge they need to better defend themselves against cyber threats and keep our schools safe for our students. Mr. Speaker, I thank Representative Matsui for her tireless attention to this issue and Representatives Garbarino, Slotkin, and Clyde for joining us in advancing this legislation. I recognize the efforts of my colleagues in the Senate, Senator Peters and Senator Scott, who deftly shepherded this bill through their Chamber. Finally, I recognize my good friend, Chairman Bennie Thompson, for ensuring this bill received the consideration it deserves. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this important legislation.

Mr. LANGEVIN

Mr. LANGEVIN. Madam Speaker, I was unavoidably detained and could not vote on amendment 435 by Representative Torres for H.R. 4350. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' on rollcall No. 292. Members Recorded Pursuant to House Resolution 8, 117th Congress Babin (Nehls) Boyle, Brendan F. (Jeffries) Carter (TX) (Calvert) DeFazio (Brown) DeSaulnier (Thompson (CA)) Escobar (Garcia (TX)) Frankel, Lois (Clark (MA)) Fulcher (Johnson (OH)) Grijalva (Garcia (IL)) Higgins (NY) (Tonko) Issa (Calvert) Johnson (TX) (Jeffries) Kim (NJ) (Underwood) Kirkpatrick (Levin (CA)) Latta (Walberg) Lawson (FL) (Evans) McEachin (Wexton) McHenry (Banks) Meeks (Jeffries) Meng (Jeffries) Morelle (Tonko) Napolitano (Correa) Norman (Timmons) Payne (Wasserman Schultz) Perlmutter (Neguse) Porter (Wexton) Reschenthaler (Meuser) Rice (SC) (Timmons) Rush (Underwood) Ryan (Kildee) Sewell (Cicilline) Stanton (Levin (CA)) Stefanik (Miller-Meeks) Strickland (Torres (NY)) Swalwell (Veasey) Wagner (Walorski) Wilson (FL) (Hayes)

Mr. LANGEVIN

Mr. LANGEVIN. Mr. Speaker, I have an amendment at the desk.

Mr. LANGEVIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, the United States attracts and develops some of the brightest minds in the world. They can fortify national security and boost economic competitiveness. Unfortunately, much of that talent leaves because there are few options to remain. My amendment provides a pathway to citizenship for the best foreign talent to work in the U.S. in support of our National Security Innovation Base. Great power competition is a race for talent to maintain our military and technological superiority. We want the brightest minds in the world working for us, not the Chinese Communist Party. The U.S. has less than 5 percent of world's population, so it is no surprise that many great scientific minds are born outside U.S. borders. So then how have we maintained our technological superiority over the last 70 years, by way of example? Well, our world-class universities and innovative private sector attract future Nobel laureates in critical technologies like machine learning and artificial intelligence. However, our constricted pathways to residency and citizenship drive this talent into the arms of our adversaries; so we face intense competition from other countries who offer large research grants and expedited citizenship to lure this talent away. But it is not just potential adversaries. Some U.S. companies are setting up R&D facilities in Canada because their immigration policies more effectively attract highly-skilled workers. Under this amendment, the Secretary of Defense will implement a competitive annual process to select scientists with technical expertise in critical technologies and recommend them for proper processing and vetting. It is in our national security interests not only to have these scientists working on research on our behalf, but also to prevent this talent from working for our adversaries. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. LANGEVIN. Mr. Speaker, how much time do I have remaining?

Mr. LANGEVIN. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lofgren).

Mr. LANGEVIN. Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers so I am prepared to close. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. LANGEVIN. Mr. Speaker, let me just say that when the Secretary of Defense deems it vital to the national security interests of the United States, this would give that authority to grant this special pathway to the Secretary to make that determination. A special immigrant visa, by the way, to streamline the admission of applicants in the name of national security is not new. My amendment is modeled after a 1949 law granting the Director of the CIA the authority to obtain permanent residency for anyone deemed ``in the interest of national security or essential to the furtherance of national intelligence missions.'' Today, the Secretary of Defense has no mechanism for retaining top technical and scientific talent who are vital to national security. Unsurprisingly, the Department of Defense explicitly endorses the amendment. So, again, my amendment is not new or groundbreaking to the immigration conversation. In fact, again, it provides the Secretary of Defense with the same authority that the Director of the CIA has enjoyed since 1949. This authority is not challenged as a less strident or reckless method that our adversaries exploit because it does not circumvent the current immigration process. All the Secretary of Defense innovation referrals are subject to the same rigorous and extensive background checks that any other applicant receives. I am confident that they will properly vet these applicants as we will keep the best talent in the world working on our behalf. I encourage my colleagues to support this amendment to ensure our continued military and technological superiority. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. LANGEVIN. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the en bloc package, which contains amendment No. 384 to create four critical technology security centers. These centers would be created through competitive grants issued by the Department of Homeland Security to universities or federally funded research and development centers, including national laboratories. Each center would have a different focus, with the first four covering network technology, network industrial control systems, open source software, and Federal critical software, respectively. Each center would rigorously test the security of a set of technologies developed with input from the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, or CISA, the compromise of which would represent the highest level of risk to our critical infrastructure. With respect to those specific technologies, centers would evaluate their overall security posture; develop new tools and capabilities for vulnerability discovery, management, and mitigation; and support the remediation of the vulnerabilities they find. This is an important recommendation of the Cyberspace Solarium Commission, and I thank my fellow Commissioner, Mr. Gallagher, for cosponsoring this amendment. I also thank Chairman Thompson for his support of the measure. I urge Members to support the en bloc package and the underlying bill.

Mr. LANGEVIN

Mr. LANGEVIN. Madam Speaker, I thank the chairman for yielding. Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of the National Defense Authorization Act. I commend Chairman Smith and Ranking Member Rogers for their bipartisan cooperation in bringing the bill to the floor. I also want to thank Ranking Member Banks and former Ranking Member Stefanik for their bipartisan collaboration this year. I would also like to thank the members of the Cyber, Innovative Technologies, and Information Systems Subcommittee for their hard work, particularly Vice Chair Houlahan. Thanks to the work of my subcommittee, this legislation harnesses cutting-edge technology to benefit our warfighters and our national security. This legislation includes a 36 percent increase in defense- wide basic and applied research and development and significant increases for historically Black colleges and universities. This bill also includes many provisions recommended by the National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence, which I offered as a package of amendments during our committee markup. We are taking important steps in addressing the promises and challenges of this powerful technology, and I am thankful for the commission cochairs, Secretary Bob Work and Dr. Eric Schmidt, and members of that committee as well for their service. The NDAA builds off the important work of the Cyberspace Solarium Commission by establishing the Joint Collaborative Environment at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, called CISA. This program, which will live at the newly established Joint Cyber Defense Collaborative, or JCDC, will facilitate public-private cooperation in analyzing cyber threats. Beyond the CITI provisions, the NDAA fully funds the Virginia-class and Columbia-class submarine programs which are crucial to our deterrence posture against China. I am so proud to represent the Rhode Islanders who construct these amazing vessels and do their part in keeping us safe. I am also proud of the reforms we made to the Uniform Code of Military Justice to address sexual assault and extremism and of our efforts to defend our military infrastructure against climate change. These achievements would not be possible, of course, without the work of my subcommittee staff: staff lead Michael Hermann; Bess Dopkeen, Troy Nienberg, and Josh Stiefel.

Mr. LANGEVIN. I also thank minority staff, Sarah Moxley. Our clerk, Caroline Kehrli, is departing the subcommittee, and her work has been incredibly invaluable. My legislative director, Caroline Goodson, and military fellow, Juliann Hitt, also made significant contributions to the bill. Madam Speaker, Chairman Smith has, once again, done a masterful job leading us through this process, and I urge all of my colleagues to support the NDAA.

Mr. LANGEVIN

Mr. LANGEVIN. Madam Speaker, I rise today to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell. For over 18 years, this discriminatory policy resulted in the discharge of thousands of brave, honorable, and capable servicemembers, solely due to their sexual orientation. On December 22, 2010, the Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act was signed into law, and the policy officially ended 10 years ago today. As a longtime supporter of repeal, I was thrilled when years of advocacy and determination paid off in the victory for dignity and equality. LGBTQ servicemembers are an integral part of our Nation's defense, and they deserve our eternal support and gratitude for the sacrifices they make every day to keep us safe. Please join me in commemorating this historic day and in thanking all LGBTQ servicemembers and veterans for their service to our Nation.

Mr. LANGEVIN

Mr. LANGEVIN. Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. As Rhode Island's former secretary of state, I know the importance of access to the ballot box. That is why I was devastated when the Supreme Court gutted one of our most momentous civil rights bills, opening the door to a litany of voter suppression laws. Our dearly departed John Lewis was bloodied on the bridge at Selma while peacefully urging passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The scars he carried were not in vain, as decades of progress have shown us. But it is abundantly clear that we have not yet achieved equality of access. There are forces at work in this country trying to undo what we have so painstakingly earned. That is why it is so important that we pass this bill to restore the Voting Rights Act and ensure that every American, regardless of race, can have his or her voice heard in our democracy. Let's vote in favor of this bill and send a clear message that we want to protect every vote in America.

Mr. LANGEVIN

Mr. LANGEVIN. Madam Speaker, today it is an honor for me to pay tribute to the Office of Naval Research and its contributions to our Sea Services, the Nation, and the pursuit of scientific and technological discovery on the occasion of its seventy-fifth anniversary. The Office of Naval Research was established by act of Congress on August 1, 1946, in the aftermath of World War II to ``plan, foster, and encourage scientific research in recognition of its paramount importance as related to the maintenance of future naval power, and the preservation of national security.'' A product of wartime necessities that brought together government and military planners, academia, and industry to help make science and technology an essential tool for victory, the Office of Naval Research grew into a vital organization dedicated to the enduring warfighting requirements of the Navy and Marine Corps and the peacetime needs of the nation. The Office of Naval Research prioritizes building a close and essential relationship between the public good and the progress of science and technology. For seventy-five years this agency has maintained that relationship through war and peace. Much of our infrastructure for the public support of science and technology. from the National Science Foundation to DARPA to the Air Force Office of Scientific Research and Army Research Office, was built in the years after the war using the model pioneered by the Office of Naval Research. In its early decades, the Office of Naval Research supported research in the burgeoning fields of computing and directed energy, leading to the development of one of the first digital computers, Project Whirlwind, as well as the creation of the maser and laser. Its projects took scientists to the upper atmosphere in some of the highest recorded balloon ascents and brought human beings to the very bottom or the ocean in the Challenger Deep. Office of Naval Research-supported engineers and scientists created the first autonomous robot, as well as the first autonomous undersea vehicle. The Office of Naval Research, Arctic Research Laboratory helped several generations of scientists understand polar environments better. Its support led to the development of atomic clocks; the key invention that made precision satellite navigation possible. Finally, and perhaps most of all, long- term support from the Office of Naval Research led to the postwar blossoming of the ocean sciences, leading to countless discoveries in acoustics, wave prediction, meteorology, marine mammal research, and climate studies. The invention of virtually every important sensor and undersea vehicle that made these discoveries possible owes a debt to the stewardship of the Office of Naval Research. From aircraft to ships to weapons systems, nearly every platform in use by the Navy and Marine Corps today relies in some way on technology originally developed or enhanced by the Office of Naval Research's sponsorship. Medical advances such as QuikClot save the lives of Marines and Sailors. Portable energy technologies provide power to forces, vehicles, and sensors. Laser weapon systems defend ships at sea. Materials developed through Office of Naval Research efforts protect the hulls of ships from marine organisms as well as the blast effects of weapons, and allow jet engines to work hotter, longer, and more efficiently than ever before. Today, Office of Naval Research programs are advancing the fields of artificial intelligence, autonomy, networking, directed energy, warfighter performance, maritime awareness, and next-generation power for the Navy and Marine Corps of the future. Madam Speaker, I am proud to honor the achievements of the Office of Naval Research, and I am certain the Members of the House will join me in recognizing the seventy-five years of scientific excellence this distinguished organization has provided--and seventy-five more that it will provide--to our Sailors and Marines and to the American people.