[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 41 (Thursday, March 7, 2019)]
[House]
[Pages H2510-H2511]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            HONORING CONSTITUENT OF THE MONTH SHELBY JACOBS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Levin) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. LEVIN of California. Mr. Speaker, as the Congress Member for 
California's 49th District, it is my distinct honor to represent over 
700,000 Californians from North County San Diego and south Orange 
County.
  I have met countless constituents across the district who do 
incredible work to make our community stronger, and I am proud to serve 
them in Congress.
  With so many outstanding constituents, I thought it would be 
appropriate to start a new Constituent of the Month program to 
recognize individuals who have gone above and beyond to help their 
neighbors, give back to their community, and make our country stronger.
  For our first constituent of the month, I am thrilled to recognize 
Mr. Shelby Jacobs of Oceanside, a retired aerospace engineer who worked 
for 40 years on NASA's Apollo and Space Shuttle programs.
  Mr. Jacobs served in a number of roles, including project manager of 
the

[[Page H2511]]

Apollo-Soyuz orbiter and designed a breakthrough camera used to capture 
iconic images of a rocket separation on Apollo 6 in 1968.
  As an African American in an industry with few people of color at the 
time, Mr. Jacobs faced significant difficulties, including unequal pay 
and, often, unfair treatment.
  Now Mr. Jacobs serves as the role model he never had for himself, 
showing young people of color what they can achieve in the face of 
racism, discrimination, and inequality of opportunity, and calling for 
action to address injustices that still exist today.
  He told the San Diego Union Tribune: ``It's important to be a 
pioneer, but I want people to understand that while we appreciate the 
progress, things need to be done to address the inequality. That's 
something that was there when I started and it's still happening today 
right up to the very top level of our government.''
  Mr. Jacobs' story has helped highlight other ``Hidden Figures'' who 
have gone without recognition, particularly people of color and women, 
for their extraordinary contributions to our country.
  I have no doubt that Mr. Jacobs' efforts to touch the lives of young 
people and address inequality has had a profound impact on our 
community and will continue to do so.
  Shelby Jacobs is an inspiration to me and so many others, and I am 
proud to call him our first Constituent of the Month.

                          ____________________