[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 13]
[House]
[Page 19179]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



EILEEN COLLINS, A TESTAMENT OF THE POSSIBILITIES THAT DREAMS PRESENT TO 
                                   US

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 19, 1999, the gentlewoman from Maryland (Mrs. Morella) is 
recognized during morning hour debates for 5 minutes.
  Mrs. MORELLA. Mr. Speaker, as a testament of the possibilities that 
dreams present to us, I rise this morning to speak on a resolution that 
I introduced which passed the House yesterday honoring a true American 
hero.
  After two frustrating but necessary delays, STS-93 finally launched 
early in the morning on July 23, and last Tuesday the Space Shuttle 
Columbia landed safely at the Kennedy Space Center after the successful 
completion of its mission. On its 26th voyage to Earth's orbit, 
Columbia launched the Chandra X-Ray Observatory. This marvel of 
technology promises to unlock many secrets of the origins of the 
universe and the formation of galaxies, stars and planets. As promising 
and as exciting as this latest enterprise of exploration is to 
scientists and students everywhere, there is still a greater 
significance to this mission.
  The commander of this mission, U.S. Air Force Lieutenant Colonel 
Eileen Marie Collins, was born in 1956, just one year before the space 
race began with the Soviet launch of Sputnik 1. She grew up in the 
tense climate of the Cold War, fully aware that as demonstrated by 
Sputnik the Soviet Union could launch a missile with enough force to 
threaten her home. No doubt, she shared the apprehension that would 
spark the space race and see the United States play catch-up to the 
apparent dominance of the world's other superpower.
  She just turned 12 when Apollo 8 made its 10 historic orbits of the 
Moon on Christmas day 1968, and I have no doubt she was among the 
millions who watched Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, and Buzz Aldrin 
make their voyage in Apollo 11 in July of 1969.
  She dreamed of being a test pilot and an astronaut but it did not 
come easy for her. Though women were early pioneers of flight, since 
the 1930s fewer opportunities were open to women. It was not until the 
mid-1970s that women became eligible for positions as military 
aviators, the traditional route to the astronaut program.
  Collins was working her way through community college during this 
time and earned a scholarship to Syracuse. She studied mathematics and 
economics, going on to later earn a Master of Science degree in 
operations research from Stanford University and a Master of Arts in 
space systems management from Webster University.
  In 1979, the same year Skylab fell out of Earth's orbit, she 
completed her pilot training for the Air Force. She became a flight 
instructor, and in 1983 when Sally Ride became the first American woman 
in space, she was a C-141 commander and instructor. As a test pilot, 
she eventually logged over 5,000 hours in 30 different aircraft.
  She was selected as an astronaut in 1990, became the first woman 
pilot of the Space Shuttle aboard the Discovery on STS-63 in February 
of 1995. Going into this most recent mission, she had already logged 
over 419 hours of time in space.
  With her latest mission, however, she embarked on an adventure that 
marks another moment in history. She became the first woman commander 
of a mission to space.
  As chair of the Subcommittee on Technology, I introduced the 
legislation that created the Commission on the Advancement of Women and 
Minorities in Science, Engineering and Technology Development, working 
to reverse the underrepresentation of these groups in the sciences 
through better education and encouragement at all levels of learning. 
Through my work on the Committee on Science, I have had the pleasure of 
meeting Colonel Collins. I have been impressed by her down-to-earth 
personality and sense of self in such a historic context.
  Commenting on the low number of women astronauts, she said, ``If you 
do not have large numbers of women apply, it will be hard to select 
large numbers of women.''
  Mr. Speaker, H. Res. 267 seeks to recognize the wider possibilities 
demonstrated by this flight. This latest mission is a signal to little 
girls who dream. Space is there for them, too. And the next time 
humankind endeavors to take another joint leap, it could well be a 
woman to make it.

                          ____________________