[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 2]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 2633]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




EXPRESSING CONDOLENCES OF THE HOUSE TO THE FAMILIES OF THE CREW OF THE 
                       SPACE SHUTTLE ``COLUMBIA''

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                             HON. JOE BACA

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, February 5, 2003

  Mr. BACA. Mr. Speaker, our Nation and the entire world mourn the 
passing of the crew of the Space Shuttle Columbia. They were brave 
individuals committed to challenging the limits of our knowledge and to 
the advancement of humanity. These brave souls have left us, but their 
spirit will remain forever.
  Our Nation will always remember these heroes--Commander Rick D. 
Husband, Pilot William C. McCool, Payload Commander Michael P. 
Anderson, Mission Specialist David M. Brown, Mission Specialist Kalpana 
Chawla, Mission Specialist Laurel Blair Salton Clark, and Payload 
Specialist Ilan Ramon. I ask the Almighty to guard the souls of these 
greatest examples of humanity, and that they be loved and remembered 
with the deepest of gratitude and admiration for their dedication to 
advancing our understanding of the universe and discovering ways that 
science can improve our lives.
  Thanks to missions like that of the Space Shuttle Columbia, we live, 
you might say, in a completely different universe than we did a 
generation ago, and our children will live in a totally different 
universe in their adulthood than we do now. We forge this path of 
progress from the sacrifices of brave souls like the crew of the 
Columbia. It is at times of grief that we find the higher purpose in 
our lives--our faith in God, love of family, and a dedication to the 
advancement of humanity.
  We find ourselves conflicted by the pain of losing some of the 
greatest examples of humanity and overcoming our fear of breaking from 
the shell of our known universe and receiving with open arms the wealth 
of knowledge that awaits us. In the end, we must surrender to our 
scientific impulse and our restless, altogether human curiosity about 
the physical universe. We are incapable of nothing, and, like the 
universe and the love in our hearts, our future is without limits.

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