[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 120 (Wednesday, July 17, 2019)]
[House]
[Page H5921]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                AMERICA MUST REMAIN THE LEADER IN SPACE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Texas (Mr. Weber) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. WEBER of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commemorate the 50th 
anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission.
  In his famous 1961 speech at Rice University in Houston, Texas, 
President John F. Kennedy challenged the Nation to put a man on the 
Moon by the end of the decade. President Kennedy spoke these now famous 
words: ``We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do other 
things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard.''
  President Kennedy understood the importance of American leadership in 
space. He added: ``Whether it will become a force for good or ill 
depends on man, and only if the United States occupies a position of 
preeminence can we help decide whether this new ocean will be a sea of 
peace or a new, terrifying theater of war.''
  Military professionals will tell you that whoever occupies the high 
ground in a conflict has the upper hand. Folks, there is no higher 
ground than space. America must remain the leader in space. It is just 
that simple.

  In 1969, the crew of Apollo 11 fulfilled that very mission to put a 
man on the Moon. Today, we honor not only the astronauts Neil 
Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins, but all of the great NASA 
men and women who worked tirelessly to make the Apollo 11 mission a 
success.
  We have learned about the hidden figures of the Apollo program, those 
behind the scenes. Here are some more.
  At the height of the Apollo program, according to one estimate, 1 in 
50 Americans were working on some aspect of the program. This included 
some 400,000-plus full-time employees.
  The astronauts knew their lives depended on these people, most of 
whom they never knew nor would they ever meet, that were performing 
difficult tasks on a very demanding schedule.
  Over 530 million people around the globe watched the telecast of 
Armstrong's first steps from 250,000 miles away. Not only did Apollo 11 
show the world what America can achieve, but it displayed a beautifully 
unique ability of human space exploration, its capacity to stimulate, 
to inspire, and to cause people to reach deep inside to find the very 
best they had to offer.

                              {time}  1100

  American greatness is a compilation of these things. On that day, we 
spread our message of American greatness around the globe.
  Fifty years ago, the politics of a volatile world order compelled us 
to the challenge of space competition. The world has changed, and in 
today's uncertainty, one thing remains certain: the importance of 
American preeminence in space.
  Now, we turn our focus to a new challenge. We will send Americans 
back to the Moon's surface by 2024, only this time, to stay. It has 
been a long time since man walked on the Moon. In 2024, we will make 
history once again when the first woman walks on the Moon.
  With our great NASA's lead, the private and public sectors are coming 
together to accomplish this great and very difficult task. Through 
their partnerships, American excellence is leveraged across the board. 
We are building sustainable, reusable systems that will not only take 
us to the Moon but leapfrog us to Mars.
  Our great NASA is bringing Democrats and Republicans together in what 
I call American togetherism.
  Thank God for NASA.

                          ____________________