To the shock and bewilderment of those who knew him, Christopher Bolkcom, a distinguished analyst at the Congressional Research Service, died suddenly May 1 at age 46.
Twenty years ago, Christopher was a research assistant working for John Pike here at FAS. He quickly went on to become a national expert on military aviation and other aspects of defense policy. When looking over a bibliography of studies prepared for the secretive Office of Net Assessment, I was impressed to see that Christopher had co-authored several papers for the influential Pentagon group more than fifteen years ago. More recently, as a CRS analyst, he wrote dozens of authoritative reports on military aircraft and all kinds of related topics. He was much in demand. As noted by the Project on Government Oversight, he testified at a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee just last Thursday, the day before he died.
But Christopher’s testimony and his publications on “Tactical Air Modernization” (pdf) and the like don’t begin to capture the depth and vitality of the man. He knew enough discord in his own life to make him thoughtful and forgiving towards the weaknesses of others. (Well, sometimes.) He had a mischievous sense of humor and he liked to live on the edge. He pursued the martial arts, he rode a motorcycle to work, and he listed me as a reference for his security clearance renewal.
Above all, Christopher was a loving father to his two young children, Jessica and Max. He was also a generous and devoted friend. His family has invited those who remember him to make a donation in his name to the Falls Church Presbyterian Church Youth Program, 225 E. Broad Street, Falls Church, Virginia 22046.
When a hurricane hits, it’s all hands on deck – that goes for federal data, too. Pulling back from our investments in timely, accurate, and accessible public data will only make us less prepared and put us all at greater risk.
This is bigger than a singular elimination of race and ethnicity questions. It could accelerate the second wave of widespread reductions to demographic data, leaving public health officials with even less information to deliver better health outcomes for all Americans.
Soft law was never meant to be a permanent solution. Treating it as one, and letting the sandcastle stand in for the skyscraper indefinitely, is how we end up with a decade of voluntary commitments and no enforceable accountability to show for it.
FAS has partnered with ICLEI USA to launch the CRI Local Advisory Council.