Eddie Bernice Johnson

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize my longtime Chief of Staff, Mr. Murat Gokcigdem. He is leaving the Hill this month after 29 years of service to the House of Representatives.

Prior to coming to my office, Mr. Gokcigdem attended West Virginia University in Charleston, earning his bachelor's and his master's degree in International Public Policy. He then began his career as a Hill staffer working for Congressmen Jim Moody and Tom Barrett. He worked his way from Special Assistant to Legislative Director before joining my staff. He has since served in my Washington, DC office for over 21 years. He began as my Legislative Director in 2001 and quickly demonstrated a deep understanding of the legislative process and inner workings of Capitol Hill. His success in that role led me to promote him to Chief of Staff, where he has long advised me on all communications, legislative, and administrative issues and managed my DC and district office staff.

Murat has been a constant companion for those 21 years, probably more so than he ever imagined. I would not have made it this long in this job without his counsel. I call him at all hours of the day and night, make seemingly impossible requests, and rely on him in part for every aspect of my Congressional operation.

Murat has also served as a resource for Legislative Directors, Chiefs of Staff, and schedulers from all over the Hill, particularly for those serving the Congressional Black Caucus and the Texas delegation. They know that if they have a question, Murat has an answer.

Murat's presence in my office has greatly improved my capacity to serve the constituents of TX-30 and supported the professional development of those who have worked for me.

I want to thank him and his family, his wife Elin and his children Ela and Elif, for his service, his counsel, and most importantly, his friendship over the years.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize a valued staff member of the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, Richard ``Dick'' Obermann, who is retiring this month after 33 years of service to the House of Representatives.

Dick Obermann began his career in the House in 1990, as the Science Advisor for the Space Subcommittee on the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology. He was well qualified for the position, holding both a M.S.E. in Aeronautics and Astronautics from Stanford and a B.S.E. and Ph.D. in Aerospace and Mechanical Sciences from Princeton University. Before working at the Committee, Dick worked on the technical staff at the MITRE Corporation and as a senior program officer at the National Research Council. Dick worked on space policy issues for his entire 33 years on the Committee, and he is generally regarded as one of the foremost space policy experts in the United States.

I was elected to Congress in 1992, and I began my service on the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology in that same year. I have known Dick Obermann for 30 years. During my time on the Committee, I

have always known Dick to be a consummate professional with an exacting attention to detail and a passion for ensuring the success of America's space program. When I took over as the Ranking Democrat on the Committee, my first action was to name Dick the Chief of Staff. In the ensuing 12 years as my Chief of Staff, Dick guided the Committee staff through many successes, culminating in the passage this year of the CHIPS and Science Act, the largest and most comprehensive legislation in the Committee's history.

After three decades of service, I am happy that Dick will have some well-deserved time for rest and relaxation. I know he will appreciate having more time to spend with his beloved wife, Grace and his two children Pearl and John. But I also know that Dick is not one to hold still for too long, and I'm sure he will have success in any of his future endeavors.

We often speak of the dedicated staff who make this institution such a wonderful place in which to work. Dick Obermann is just such a person. His decades of public service have made this institution a better place. His efforts as a space policy professional were instrumental in ensuring the many successes of our nation's space program. But most of all, his sound counsel and friendship have made my time in Congress all the better. I thank Dick for his many years of dedicated and loyal service.

Madam Speaker, I rise in support of the bipartisan, bicameral FLOODS Act led by Senator Wicker. Flooding is the most common natural hazard in the United States, resulting in the greatest number of lives lost and property damaged. We passed the tenth anniversary of Superstorm Sandy about one month ago. That storm was a harbinger of the future as we have seen many storms with record- breaking extreme precipitation that has led to flooding events, from Hurricane Harvey in my home state of Texas, to the more recent Hurricane Ida. The need to better prepare our communities for potential catastrophic flooding is now more crucial than ever.

The FLOODS Act directs the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to establish a National Integrated Flood Information System that will inform and provide timely decision-making in the face of flooding events and coordinate and integrate flood research at NOAA. The bill would also designate a service coordination hydrologist at each National Weather Service River Forecast Center, and it requires NOAA to leverage existing work through intra-agency and external partnerships to improve impact decision support systems, as well as regularly update Atlas 14 precipitation frequency estimates.

It cannot be overstated how urgent the need for this basic work is for informing products such as updated FEMA flood maps used in flood insurance determinations, designing infrastructure in flood prone areas, and for planning evacuations. I want to thank Representative Sherrill for her leadership on this legislation and on the issue of addressing the causes and impacts of flooding on Americans across the country.

I urge my colleagues to support its passage.