[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 2]
[Senate]
[Page 2575]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                  REMEMBERING ASTRONAUT WILLIAM McCOOL

  Mr. ENSIGN. Mr. President, I rise today to extend my deepest 
condolences to the families of the seven astronauts whose lives were 
lost on February 1. To Nevadans Audrey and Barry McCool, whose son 
William piloted the final Columbia mission, I offer my sympathy and the 
sincere gratitude of an entire nation.
  You raised an incredible human being. William McCool represented the 
best and the brightest of this country. Though his life was taken 
prematurely, his legacy will be felt indefinitely.
  William was incredibly smart, a talented athlete, and a true patriot. 
The combination of these traits, along with devoted parents and 
religious conviction, produced an American hero. We mourn that hero 
today, as Audrey and Barry McCool mourn their son. And while we stand 
with them in grief, we should also express our admiration for the type 
of son they raised.
  Many children dream of one day becoming an astronaut. A very elite 
few ever make that dream a reality. For William McCool, his dream was 
his destiny. As a child, he looked up to his Marine and Navy pilot 
father, built model airplanes, and became an Eagle Scout. As a young 
man, he excelled by graduating second in his class at the Naval 
Academy, maintaining a 4.0 grade point average, and earning advanced 
degrees in computer science and aeronautical engineering. Not applying 
to be an astronaut until his thirties, by the time of his last mission 
William had logged more than 2,800 hours of flight experience in 24 
aircraft, including more than 400 landings on aircraft-carrier decks.
  As a pilot, William McCool risked his life often for this country. On 
January 16, he left his wife, sons, parents, and siblings grounded on 
Earth while he soared toward his lifetime dream among the stars. 
William was kept from completing his journey home, but our gratitude 
for his service must not be short lived.
  We must ensure that these 7 astronauts, and the 10 other NASA 
astronauts who died in pursuit of knowledge, did not do so in vain. We 
ow it to their children to continue the quest of space science, and we 
owe it to all our children to continue reaching for the stars.

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