[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 12]
[House]
[Page 16623]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



     LT. COL. EILEEN COLLINS, FIRST FEMALE PILOT OF A SPACE SHUTTLE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Ose). Under a previous order of the 
House, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Lampson) is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. LAMPSON. Mr. Speaker, I rise this evening to talk about a first 
that is, in my opinion, long overdue. Early tomorrow morning, shortly 
after midnight, Lieutenant Colonel Eileen Collins, the first woman in 
the history of NASA, will command a 5-day Columbia space shuttle 
mission to launch NASA's most powerful space telescope, the Chandra X-
ray Observatory.
  Lieutenant Collins, who also can boast that she is the first female 
pilot of a space shuttle, is a good example of how far our space 
program has come since the first lunar landing 30 years ago tomorrow.
  In these days of economic progress and budget surpluses, I urge all 
of my colleagues to support continued funding of the manned space 
program so that today's little girls can grow up knowing that they may 
be one of the first to walk on Mars or to conduct research in the 
international space station right alongside scientists from Italy, 
Russia, Japan, or wherever else in the world.
  As a member of the House Committee on Science, and I guess a 
confirmed space nut, it makes me proud that I represent Johnson Space 
Center and its efforts to put more women into manned or, perhaps I 
should say, womaned space program.
  Lieutenant Colonel Collins, I wish her Godspeed, a most successful 
mission, and a safe return for her and her crew.

                          ____________________