[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 195 (Wednesday, December 19, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2645-E2646]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              SUPPORT FOR RECOGNITION OF PLUTO AS A PLANET

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. JERRY WELLER

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, December 19, 2007

  Mr. WELLER of Illinois. Madam Speaker, I rise today to express my 
support for the renewed recognition of Pluto as a planet.
  The planet Pluto was discovered on January 23, 1930, by Clyde 
Tombaugh. Although just 24 years of age with no formal education beyond 
high school, Mr. Tombaugh discovered this new planet by painstakingly 
and systematically examining and comparing photographic plates he had 
made of the night skies over New Mexico. For this achievement, Mr. 
Tombaugh received a prestigious award from the Royal Astronomical 
Society along with a scholarship to the University of Kansas, which 
allowed him to continue his formal education.
  Clyde Tombaugh went on to make a large number of additional 
contributions to our knowledge of the universe and to receive many more 
awards and honors before his death on January 17, 1997. I am proud to 
note that Mr. Tombaugh was born on February 4, 1906, on a farm near 
Streator, IL, in LaSalle County--a community which I am privileged to 
represent in the Congress of the United States.
  Unfortunately, on August 26, 2006, the International Astronomical 
Union, IAU, meeting in Prague and relying on the votes of only a 
handful of its approximately 10,000 members, made the decision to 
downgrade the status of Pluto.
  This decision was met with protests from eminent scientists and 
astronomers all over the world. Perhaps foremost among those in the 
international scientific community strongly disagreeing with the IAU 
decision was Dr. S. Alan Stern. Named earlier this year by Time 
magazine as one of the ``One Hundred Most Influential People in the 
World'', Dr. Stern is also one of the lead consultants for the New 
Horizons Mission.
  The New Horizons Mission is an unmanned spacecraft launched in 
January of 2006, which is projected to reach Pluto and the outer edge 
of our solar system in the year 2015. This

[[Page E2646]]

spacecraft is carrying some of the ashes of Clyde Tombaugh.
  In closing, I urge my colleagues to express their support for the 
reversal of the International Astronomical Union's decision and the 
official reinstatement of Pluto as the ninth and outermost planet in 
our solar system.

                          ____________________