[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 124 (Friday, September 14, 2012)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1537-E1538]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         NEIL ARMSTRONG TRIBUTE

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. SHEILA JACKSON LEE

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, September 14, 2012

  Ms. JACKSON LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to offer my 
gratitude to the great American and Astronaut, Neil Armstrong.
  Neil Armstrong is a name that will forever be a testament to our 
nation's will to prevail in the challenge for successful space 
exploration and push the boundaries--going where no man has gone 
before.
  Neil Armstrong was truly an American hero and icon. He represented 
the ingenuity and the passion for exploration and discovery that is the 
hallmark of our nation.
  It may have been a ``small step,'' but when he became the first 
person to set foot on the moon, it changed the course of history, 
making the impossible possible. His legacy will live on each time we 
dare to dream beyond what seems possible.
  I am sure that everyone in this House and around this great nation 
has some memory of where they were and what they were doing when they 
saw Neil Armstrong become the first human being to walk on the Moon as 
commander of the Apollo 11 mission.
  Neil Armstrong was born in Wapakoneta, Ohio on August 5, 1930. He 
joined the Navy and flew as a naval aviator from 1949 until 1952. In 
1955 he made the decision to join the National Advisory Committee for 
Aeronautics' Lewis Flight Propulsion Laboratory and later transferred 
to the high speed flight station at Edwards Air Force Base, California 
to become a civilian aeronautical test research pilot for NASA.
  Mr. Armstrong, along with his fellow astronauts, Buzz Aldrin and 
Michael Collin, shared the most significant accomplishment of modern 
man--they were the first people to successfully complete a voyage to 
and walk on the Moon.
  On July 11, 1969, Armstrong, boarded the Apollo 11 spacecraft and 
departed for the Moon. Four days later he arrived landed our lunar 
module in the Moon's sea of tranquility.
  While Astronaut Collins remained with the orbiting Mother Ship, Neil 
Armstrong, said

[[Page E1538]]

``One small step for man, one giant leap for Mankind,'' and took the 
first step on the Moon's surface. At that moment Neil Armstrong changed 
Mankind and the Earth.
  At that moment in history, America along with the world celebrated 
the fantastic milestone--science fiction had become science fact--Neil 
Armstrong and his fellow Astronauts had accomplished through the help 
of thousands back on earth and Heaven's blessings.
  Mr. Speaker, I hope that in honoring Neil Armstrong, we as Americans 
will renew young people's interests preparing for careers in 
mathematics and science.

                          ____________________