[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 121 (Tuesday, September 11, 2012)]
[House]
[Page H5775]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       IN HONOR OF NEIL ARMSTRONG

  (Mr. SCHIFF asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. SCHIFF. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the life and legacy 
of a true American hero, the first human being to walk on the Moon--
Neil Alden Armstrong.
  I had the privilege of meeting Neil Armstrong and introducing him to 
my son, Eli, at an event commemorating the 40th anniversary of the 
Apollo 11 landing. It has been said ``we are all dreamers,'' but Neil 
Armstrong inspired generations of Americans to dream big and to reach 
for the stars both figuratively and literally. He believed that the 
yearning to explore is part of what makes us human, and his singular 
achievement on July 20, 1969, still inspires.
  A reluctant hero, Mr. Armstrong never used his Apollo 11 achievement 
for personal gain. On more than one occasion he questioned his own 
notoriety, protesting that his walk on the Moon was the result of the 
dedication of more than 400,000 people--from engineers who designed the 
Lunar Module, to ground controllers who monitored every aspect of the 
mission, to seamstresses who stitched by hand the suit that kept him 
alive on the Moon.
  The late 1960s was a time of tumult in America, when our Nation was 
riven by Vietnam, the struggle for civil rights and the emerging 
women's movement. In the midst of this, Armstrong's climb down the 
Lunar Module's ladder and his ``giant leap for mankind'' united not 
just Americans but people of all nations as they watched. That night, 
countless children looked up at the Moon and dared to dream.

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