[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 39 (Thursday, February 27, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Page S1233]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




SENATE RESOLUTION 519--HONORING THE LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS OF KATHERINE 
                         COLEMAN GOBLE JOHNSON

  Mr. MANCHIN (for himself, Mrs. Capito, Mr. Warner, and Mr. Kaine) 
submitted the following resolution; which was considered and agreed to:

                              S. Res. 519

       Whereas Katherine Coleman Goble Johnson, an African-
     American physicist and mathematician, was born on August 26, 
     1918, in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia;
       Whereas, in 1937, Katherine Johnson graduated from West 
     Virginia State College, doing so with highest honors at age 
     18;
       Whereas Katherine Johnson and 2 other students were the 
     first African Americans to be admitted to graduate school at 
     West Virginia University;
       Whereas, in 1953, Katherine Johnson began her career in 
     aeronautics as a computer in the segregated West Area 
     Computing unit at the Langley Memorial Aeronautical 
     Laboratory of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics 
     (NACA);
       Whereas, as a member of the Flight Research Division at 
     NACA, Katherine Johnson analyzed data from flight tests;
       Whereas, after NACA was incorporated into the National 
     Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Katherine 
     Johnson--
       (1) calculated the trajectory for the Freedom 7 mission 
     crewed by Alan Shepard in 1961, which was the first human 
     spaceflight by an individual from the United States;
       (2) co-authored a report that provided the equations for 
     describing orbital spaceflight with a specified landing 
     point, which made her the first woman to be recognized as an 
     author of a report from the Flight Research Division;
       (3) was asked to verify the calculations of the electronic 
     computers at NASA that were used to calculate the orbit for 
     the Friendship 7 mission crewed by John Glenn; and
       (4) provided calculations for NASA throughout her career, 
     including for the Apollo missions;
       Whereas Katherine Johnson broke the barriers of race and 
     gender by completing groundbreaking work at NASA;
       Whereas, in 1986, Katherine Johnson retired from NASA;
       Whereas, in 2015, Katherine Johnson received the 
     Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama at 
     age 97;
       Whereas, in 2017, NASA dedicated a building in honor of 
     Katherine Johnson at Langley Research Center in Hampton, 
     Virginia;
       Whereas NASA dedicated the Katherine Johnson Independent 
     Verification and Validation Facility in Fairmont, West 
     Virginia, after a bipartisan bill authored by Senator Shelley 
     Moore Capito and Senator Joe Manchin to redesignate the 
     facility was signed into law in 2018; and
       Whereas, on February 24, 2020, Katherine Johnson passed 
     away at 101 years of age: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) honors the life of Katherine Coleman Goble Johnson and 
     her achievements as a pioneer, physicist, mathematician, and 
     cultural icon;
       (2) extends its heartfelt sympathy to the family of 
     Katherine Coleman Goble Johnson;
       (3) honors and, on behalf of the United States, expresses 
     deep appreciation for the outstanding and important service 
     of Katherine Coleman Goble Johnson to the United States; and
       (4) respectfully requests that the Secretary of the Senate 
     communicate this resolution to the House of Representatives 
     and transmit an enrolled copy of this resolution to the 
     family of Katherine Coleman Goble Johnson.

                          ____________________