[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 113 (Friday, July 24, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1973]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         CELEBRATING 40TH ANNIVERSARY OF APOLLO 11 MOON LANDING

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                        HON. SHEILA JACKSON-LEE

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, July 20, 2009

  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, forty years ago today, 
millions of Americans and other people around the world, sat tuned in 
to the most advanced media device of the day, the television. Millions 
more, gathered around radios. While still others simply raised their 
heads and fixed their eyes to a common sight--the moon. Yet, on this 
day, 40 years ago, the moon was markedly different. For on that day, 
mankind, represented by a young 38-year-old American, Neil Armstrong, 
set foot on the moon.
  On this day, 40 years ago, the country and the world were divided 
along many fronts. This country was reeling following a spate of high 
profile assassinations that took the lives of John F. Kennedy, Malcolm 
X, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Robert Kennedy. The world was divided 
by ideology, separated into blocs of countries aligned with the Soviet 
Union and those aligned with the west. Finally, this country was in the 
midst of a bitter conflict in Vietnam that robbed this country of the 
lives of thousands of young men and women.
  Yet, despite these divisions, the nation and the world was united, 
united in the celebration of an achievement for mankind. And while the 
world had not yet seen the internet, the I-phone, or Twitter, we were 
all connected, connected by a single feat.
  Today, forty years later, while there are still some sources of 
division, the world stands today connected in a variety of ways. The 
step onto the surface of the moon left more than a mere foot print in 
the moon sand, it created a technological movement that has resulted in 
many of the devices that define our life today.
  This feat happened because of the combined determination and 
diligence of an entire country. From the inspiration of a young 
President who challenged us to set our sights on the moon, scientists 
developed new materials, engineers manufactured innovative equipment, 
and factory workers assembled cutting edge transport crafts. Together, 
these Americans proved that by working together, toward a common 
purpose, there is nothing beyond our reach. It was true then, I have no 
doubt that that fact will remain true today.
  President Obama has convened a commission to chart our next steps 
into space. The President is confronted with several choices. With 
soaring deficits facing our states and the looming costs of health care 
reform and energy reform before the nation, some may argue that we 
cannot afford such a risk.
  Yet others realize the gains of that small step. Gains that created 
new innovations in agriculture, architecture, and even health care. The 
pacemaker is just one of the many life saving technologies that has 
resulted from that same small step.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge President Obama to follow the lead of that young 
visionary President that preceded him 40 years ago. I urge him not to 
shy away from continuing the investment made by the past generation of 
Americans. I encourage the President to move ahead and continue the 
nation's investment in space exploration.
  I am confident that the President will move forward. He's already 
shown his vision by recently appointing Marine Corps Major General 
Charles F. Bolden, Jr. as NASA Administrator. General Bolden graduated 
from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1968, nearly 20 years after the first 
Black to graduate from that institution, Wesley Brown.
  Upon graduation from the Naval Academy, General Bolden accepted a 
commission as a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Marine Corps. General 
Bolden was in flight school, when former Navy aviator, Neil Armstrong, 
landed on the moon. This feat kept General Bolden motivated and after 
two years of flight training, he was designated a naval aviator in May 
1970. He flew more than 100 sorties into North and South Vietnam, Laos, 
and Cambodia, in the A-6A Intruder between June 1972 and June 1973. 
Upon returning to the United States, General Bolden began a two-year 
tour as a Marine Corps selection officer and recruiting officer in Los 
Angeles, followed by three years at the Marine Corps Air Station El 
Toro, California. During his free time, General Bolden returned to 
school to earn a Masters degree in Systems Management from the 
University of Southern California in 1977.

  In June 1979, he graduated from the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School at 
Patuxent River, Maryland, and subsequently served as an ordnance test 
pilot and flew numerous test projects in the A-6E, EA-6B, and A-7C/E 
airplanes. As a pilot, he has logged more than 6,000 hours flying time.
  General Bolden was selected as an astronaut candidate by NASA in 
1980, and became an astronaut in August 1981. A veteran of four space 
flights, he has logged more than 680 hours in space, including 444 
orbits of the earth. General Bolden served as pilot on STS-61C (Space 
Shuttle Columbia, January 12-18, 1986) and STS-31 (Space Shuttle 
Discovery, April 24-29, 1990), and was the mission commander on STS-45 
(Space Shuttle Atlantis, March 24, 1992--April 2, 1992), and STS-60 
(Space Shuttle Discovery, February 3-11, 1994). During his first 
Discovery mission, General Bolden and his colleagues successfully 
deployed the Hubble Space Telescope while orbiting the earth from a 
record setting altitude of 400 miles. The second Discovery mission was 
the historic first joint U.S./Russian Space Shuttle mission with a 
Russian Cosmonaut as a crew member.
  General Bolden also held two administrative posts at NASA during 
these years. Following the Challenger accident in 1986, he was named 
the chief of the safety division at the Johnson Space Center, 
overseeing safety initiatives in the return-to-flight effort. From 
April 1992 to June 1993, General Bolden served as Assistant Deputy 
Administrator for NASA.
  In 1994, General Bolden returned to active duty in the U.S. Marine 
Corps as the Deputy Commandant of Midshipmen at the Naval Academy, 
Annapolis, Maryland. In July 1997, he was assigned as the Deputy 
Commanding General, I MEF, Marine Forces, Pacific. From February to 
June 1998, he served as Commanding General, I MEF (FWD) in support of 
Operation Desert Thunder in Kuwait. In July 1998 he was promoted to his 
final rank of Major General and assumed his duties as the Deputy 
Commander, U.S. Forces, Japan. General Bolden then served as the 
Commanding General, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, serving from August 9, 
2000 until August 2002. He retired in August 2004.
  Following retirement, General Bolden became active in the corporate 
sector. Since 2004, he has been the owner and CEO of Jack and Panther 
LLC, a privately-held military and aerospace consulting firm in my 
district of Houston, Texas. Having recently been confirmed by the 
Senate and assumed his post, General Bolden is the first Astronaut to 
lead NASA. As an Astronaut, General Bolden understands NASA's mission, 
its operations, and its most valuable resource, its personnel.
  With a background of achieving in the face of obstacles, General 
Bolden is well positioned to help NASA define its role in the midst of 
our nation's fiscal crisis. Moreover, General Bolden in his new role as 
NASA Administrator has the potential of inspiring a new generation of 
young people, much like I and many others were inspired by Buzz Aldrin, 
Neil Armstrong and Michael Collins forty years ago. I urge support for 
this resolution.

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