[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 34 (Monday, March 17, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Page S2343]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           WORLD FLIGHT 1997

  Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, on March 17, 1937, Amelia Earhart took to 
the skies in her Lockheed 10E to fulfill her dream to be the first 
pilot ever to circumnavigate the globe at its longest point--the 
Equator. Today, she stands as one of our greatest American heroes. 
Through her vision and spirit, she demonstrated to the world that 
limits are more often perceived than real.
  This morning, 60 years after Ms. Earhart began her journey, Linda 
Finch took off from Oakland, CA, to re-create and complete Earhart's 
heroic expedition. Spanning 5 continents and making more than 30 stops 
in 20 countries, Linda will closely replicate Earhart's route. The 
flight is expected to take 2\1/2\ months, and is the first to re-create 
Earhart's flight using the same make and model aircraft, a Lockheed 
Electra 10E, with only a pilot and navigator at the controls. Indeed, 
the aircraft has been meticulously and accurately restored to replicate 
Earhart's Electra right down to its rivets.
  Linda hopes that her journey, called World Flight 1997, will inspire 
millions of American children with Earhart's belief that with faith in 
yourself, anything is possible. As she notes, ``World Flight was 
created to share Amelia Earhart's vision with young people. The heart 
of the World Flight project is its outreach to inner city and at-risk 
youth with her message about reaching above and beyond perceived 
limitations.'' To spread this message, she has developed an interactive 
educational program for students, including an Internet web page that 
will allow students to track her flight in real time and read messages 
from Linda and her navigator. Like her, it is my hope that children all 
over the world will follow her travels, and from them gain the 
confidence to follow dreams of their own.
  As Linda begins her flight, I wish her a safe journey. Like her hero 
Amelia Earhart, she is an inspiration to us all.

                          ____________________