[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 123 (Monday, July 22, 2019)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E951-E952]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  COMMEMORATING THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ``APOLLO 11'' MOON LANDING

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. SHEILA JACKSON LEE

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, July 22, 2019

  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Madam Speaker, on July 20 our nation commemorated 
the 50th Anniversary of the Moon Landing.
  I remember July 20, 1969, when astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin 
``Buzz'' Aldrin became the first humans ever to land on the moon.
  With the words ``the Eagle has Landed,'' their place in history was 
secured.
  I hold the men and women who made that day possible in great regard 
for their tireless work to make it possible in my lifetime to see 
people depart our tiny blue planet and visit another world.
  To young people listening today this may sound like science fiction, 
but for those of us fortunate enough to have witnessed the event it is 
science fact.
  Since the beginning of mankind, we have been driven by curiosity and 
a wonder of what is next for humanity.
  In 1865, Jules Verne's ``From the Earth to the Moon'' was published.
  ``From the Earth to the Moon,'' was a humorous science fantasy story 
about three members of a post-American Civil War gun club efforts to 
build a spaceship to the moon.
  A little over a century later, the men and women of NASA made that 
science fiction story science fact.
  People have wondered about our place in the cosmos for as long as we 
have been able to look up into the night sky and see the stars.
  And of course, after witnessing the moon landing, we have been dared 
by our own sense of imagination and possibility to slip the surly bonds 
of earth, ascend to the heavens.
  The visionary who made this possible was the nation's' youngest 
elected president, John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the 36th President of the 
United States of America.
  His election as president fired the imagination of a nation that was 
redefining its role on the world stage following World War II.
  He said in his inaugural speech ``Ask not what your country can do 
for you, ask what you can do for your country.''
  President Kennedy understood that for freedom to prosper in the world 
America must lead the way and that we did not have a person to waste--
that we needed everyone's talents.
  Most of all, John Kennedy was a man who never stopped thinking about 
tomorrow or working to realize the full promise of America.
  And he understood that we all had a place in that future and a role 
to play in bringing it about.
  John Kennedy believed there was nothing America could not achieve 
once it set its mind to it.
  In September 1962, President Kennedy delivered his famous Moon Speech 
at Rice University in the city of Houston, Texas, and committed America 
to send a man to the moon and to bring him safely home before the end 
of the decade.
  Asked why we should go to the moon, President Kennedy said:
  ``We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, 
not because they are easy, but because they are hard.''
  To anyone who might doubt America's ability to make good on this 
commitment, President Kennedy said, ``this country of the United States 
was not built by those who waited and rested and wished to look behind 
them.
  ``This country was conquered by those who moved forward--and so will 
space.''
  It is with an awe of that sense of exploration that I commemorate the 
50th Anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing.
  In one-fell swoop, President Kennedy harnessed our competitive drive 
and merged it with mankind's relentless pursuit of discovery and 
information and knowledge.
  ``It was a bold proposition, not because of this challenge, but also 
because of our standing in the Space Race.
  Just four years before Kennedy's Moon Speech, the Soviets had 
released Sputnik into orbit, as the first unmanned satellite, and in 
the process taken the lead in the global space race.
  Our confidence shaken, we set out to work on the mission before us.
  The 1960s were a tumultuous time in our pursuit of the moon's 
surface--Vietnam, Civil Rights, and the Cold War vied for our 
attention.
  A few years ago, the book ``Hidden Figures,'' about three African 
American women who made significant contributions to the space program 
was made into a motion picture.
  Their contributions and those of hundreds of women was revealed for 
the first time.
  There are thousands of hidden figures who contributed to the pinnacle 
of human achievement--human space flight and men walking on the moon.
  More important, it revealed the capacity of an America absent 
discrimination to outperform the world on the most difficult of human 
endeavors--landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to Earth.
  Our path to the moon was not linear and not without setbacks.
  Before we could celebrate the triumph of the Apollo 11 crew and the 
valor of Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins, we mourned 
the crew of Apollo 1, Gus Grissom, Edward White, and Roger Chaffee who 
died tragically during a launch test.
  Before we could walk on the moon, it was necessary first to orbit the 
Earth.
  Indeed, the journey to Mare Tranquillitatis was long, and a 
collective, national endeavor.
  The challenge would be the pursuit of three presidents until, on July 
20, 1969, the crew of Apollo 11 touched down on the Moon's surface.

[[Page E952]]

  The words uttered by Neil Armstrong were instantly immortalized, and 
can be recited by every child, then and now: ``One small step for man, 
one giant leap for mankind.''
  This was a moment for joy and celebration for the entire nation.
  But for those of us from Houston, this moment is an occasion of 
unique pride.
  The flight to the Moon, and indeed all manned flights, have been 
guided by the brilliant and hardworking men and women working in 
Mission Control at the NASA Johnson Space Center of Houston, who, for 
close to 60 years, have been the steady hand, guiding manned space 
exploration.
  I thank them for all that they do and urge all who will hear these 
words to maintain that same sense of discovery and exploration and 
wonder for what lies next for us.
  And, I invoke President Kennedy's admonition to us from 58 years ago, 
that we should not be motivated simply by what is easy, but that we 
should meet the difficult challenge and savor what can be accomplished 
by our collective efforts.
  Therefore--I seek out ways each day to touch this part of American 
exceptionalism--our ability to take all that we know about science, 
seek out new knowledge, bring the talents of all our people regardless 
of gender, race, or ethnicity and apply our resources to solving 
problems.
  We can prevail against global climate change, cure cancer, end 
pandemics, and poverty--by pursuing these ends with the same focus and 
determination that our nation brought to bear in facing the challenge 
of landing people on the moon.
  I congratulate the men and women of NASA past, present and future in 
making science fiction--science fact.
  Today, we celebrate our trip to the moon.
  I look forward to our celebration of our nation sending the first 
humans to Mars.

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