Political Quotes

“Mr. President, just before the July recess, the Senate confirmed the nomination of Dr. Christopher J. Scolese to serve as Director of the National Reconnaissance Office, NRO. I doubt there is any individual more qualified for the job. I supported the nomination, but it was bittersweet because Chris has left his post as Director of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, MD. Chris was the longest serving Director in Goddard's illustrious history. Chris is well-suited to run the NRO. To put the matter simply, he knows how to put stuff into space and make it work. I will provide just one example: the Terra mission. Chris was the project manager. Terra was supposed to be a 5-year Earth science mission that has now lasted 20 years. Terra explores the connections between Earth's atmosphere, land, snow and ice, ocean, and energy balance to further our understanding of our home planet. I know the NRO is headquartered in Virginia, but with Chris at the helm, we Marylanders will consider it part of our State, just as we consider the Wallops Flight Facility to be part of Maryland. I was down at Wallops on April 17 for the successful commercial resupply services, CRS launch to the International Space Station and I visited Goddard on March 4 to discuss the impact of the 35-day government shutdown and the budget picture going forward with Chris and the Goddard workforce. Chris certainly has the academic credentials for the job.…”