[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 125 (Wednesday, October 6, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1804]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      HONORING PETER H. DIAMANDIS

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. W. TODD AKIN

                              of missouri

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, October 5, 2004

  Mr. AKIN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Peter H. Diamandis, the 
X Prize Foundation and SpaceshipOne. The X Prize Foundation is based in 
St. Louis and SpaceShipOne is the now famous commercial rocket which 
won the Foundation's $10 million award for successfully completing two 
trips into space within a 14-day time span on October 4, 2004. Without 
the leadership and initiative of Peter H. Diamandis, president and 
founder of the Foundation, this historic feat would not have been 
accomplished.
  Resurrecting the ingenuity of the Spirit of St. Louis Organization 
and the legacy of Charles Lindbergh, the X Prize Foundation ensures 
that Americans will continue to lead. The X Prize Foundation utilized 
the inspiration and ``can-do spirit'' so characteristic of other great 
American entrepreneurs and innovators. Astounding the world and 
catapulting the commercial aviation industry into a new economic 
stratosphere, Charles Lindbergh's flight in 1927 was truly 
transformative. Lindbergh proved that the vision and leadership of the 
individual and private industry compose the greatest impetus to secure 
new technology and expand the horizons of human accomplishment. 
Seventy-seven years later, the X Prize Foundation provided the 
opportunity for pilots Brian Binnie and Michael Melvill to complete the 
two trips in order to claim the prize. With this most recent triumph, 
the horizon is no longer the objective, but rather the runway to the 
stars.
  Beginning with the 1904 World's Fair, St. Louis has played an 
integral role in the aerospace industry. St. Louis has been home to the 
designers and builders of the beginnings of the Apollo Moon landings, 
the origin of Lindbergh's historic flight, a center of aerospace 
manufacturing and, most recently, the X Prize Foundation.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in honoring the 
initiative and ingenuity of the X Prize Foundation and the crew of 
SpaceShipOne for their great accomplishment of opening the door to the 
heavens more widely to everyone.

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