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Congressional Daily Record
This section is a tribute, commemoration, or district-facing statement. It mentions members such as Ken Calvert. Extensions of Remarks are statements submitted for the official record, even if they were not spoken live on the floor.
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June 30, 2026
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Extensions of Remarks
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Download official Extensions PDFReturn to issue contextHON. KEN CALVERT
of california
in the house of representatives
Mr. CALVERT. Mr Speaker, I rise today to honor a man whose career in service to our Nation spans nearly five decades—Dr. Christopher J. Scolese—an engineer, a leader, and a quiet patriot. Dr. Scolese is retiring as Director of the National Reconnaissance Office, and it is entirely fitting that this body pause to recognize the extraordinary contributions he has made to our national security, our space enterprise, and our country.
Dr. Scolese's life in public service began in 1978, when he was commissioned as a United States Naval Officer, supporting nuclear propulsion programs for the Navy and the Department of Energy, under Admiral Hyman Rickover. It was the beginning of a career defined not by the pursuit of recognition, but by an unwavering commitment to mission. Over the decades that followed, he would serve in roles of increasing responsibility, always bringing to bear the technical rigor and steady character that would become his hallmarks.
In 1987, Dr. Scolese joined NASA, assigned to the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. Over the next three decades, he rose through every level of the agency—from systems engineer, to NASA's Chief Engineer, to Associate Administrator in the Office of Space Science, to Acting NASA Administrator, to Director of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. He oversaw some of NASA's most consequential missions, including the James Webb Space Telescope and the Earth Observing System among many others, and became one of the most respected figures in the American space community.
In August 2019, Dr. Scolese was sworn in as the 19th Director of the National Reconnaissance Office—the first NRO Director to be presidentially appointed and Senate confirmed. His tenure at the NRO was nothing short of transformational. He brought to the position a technologist's understanding of risk, but also an irrepressible enthusiasm for the work. He worked to broaden the NRO's engagement with commercial industry and accelerate the pace of satellite development to meet the demands of an increasingly contested space environment. Dr. Scolese led the NRO's transformation to develop and field proliferated satellite architectures, expand the resilience and capacity of ground processing systems, and rapid adoption of artificial intelligence, while continuing to emphasize critical investments in science and technology.
Dr. Scolese worked to strengthen and broaden partnerships across the intelligence and defense communities, industry, and academia and was instrumental in expanding relationships with allied nations and partners.
Throughout his career, Dr. Scolese emphasized the importance of people and teamwork and the extraordinary accomplishments that can be realized through meaningful collaboration. He led with quiet strength, kindness, and patience. That is the mark of a leader whose concern for the mission outlasts his tenure.
Dr. Scolese's career spans the Cold War and the space age, the rise of commercial space, and the dawn of artificial intelligence. He served under eight presidents. He helped build, launch, and operate systems that provided American warfighters, policymakers, and intelligence analysts with the information needed to defend this Nation and save lives—often in ways that the American people will never fully know,
express our deepest thanks to Dr. Christopher J. Scolese for his decades of selfless service. We wish him and his family every happiness in the years ahead. He has more than earned it.