[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 87 (Tuesday, June 18, 2013)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E910]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 THE INTRODUCTION OF THE SALLY K. RIDE CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL ACT OF 
                                  2013

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 18, 2013

  Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, 30 years ago today, 
Sally Ride became the first American woman to travel into space. For 
that, she will be forever enshrined in history. But as impressive as 
that feat was, she made many other contributions to our country that 
were just as important. In recognition of all of her achievements, 
today I am pleased to be an original cosponsor of the Sally K. Ride 
Congressional Gold Medal Act of 2013, which was introduced by my 
colleague Representative Scott Peters.
  Sally Ride was a newly minted Ph.D. physicist when she joined the 
National Aeronautics and Space Administration in 1978. During her 
service in the astronaut corps, she participated in two Space Shuttle 
missions: STS-7 in 1983 and STS-41G in 1984. While training for her 
third mission, the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster occurred, which 
ended her service as an astronaut. In the aftermath of the disaster, 
Dr. Ride was selected to serve on the Presidential commission 
investigating the accident. She would later go on to serve as a member 
of the Space Shuttle Columbia Accident Investigation Board, becoming 
the only person to serve on both Space Shuttle accident investigation 
boards.
  After her service at NASA, Dr. Ride became a professor of physics at 
the University of California, San Diego, as well as the Director of the 
California Space Institute. In addition to her teaching at UC San 
Diego, Dr. Ride was heavily involved with programs to increase science, 
technology, and mathematics (STEM) educational achievement in young 
women. To this end, in 2001 she co-founded a company that creates 
entertaining science programs for elementary and middle school 
students. Dr. Ride was also a prolific writer of children's books.
  Sadly, in July of last year, Dr. Ride passed away after a battle with 
cancer.
  During her life, Sally Ride was honored and recognized many times. 
However, she was never awarded a Congressional Gold Medal. I think we 
can all agree that this was an unfortunate oversight on the part of 
Congress, and we should expeditiously move forward with this 
legislation to posthumously recognize Dr. Ride's achievements.
  I hope that as we work to pay tribute to this extraordinary woman, we 
also work to honor the legacy of her achievements. We can best honor 
that legacy by ensuring a strong and healthy space program, by 
rededicating our scientific and educational agencies to the cause of 
improving STEM education, and by striving to ensure that all young 
people, regardless of race or sex or creed, believe that they too can 
reach for the stars.

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