[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 4]
[House]
[Page 5052]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     TRIBUTE TO COLONEL ILAN RAMON

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the order of the House of 
January 7, 2003, the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Pence) is recognized 
during morning hour debates for 5 minutes.
  Mr. PENCE. Mr. Speaker, today marks the 30th day since the Shuttle 
Columbia disaster, and thus the end of what is for Jews around the 
world a traditional 30-day mourning period for the untimely death of 
Israeli astronaut Colonel Ilan Ramon. It is my privilege to rise here 
on the blue carpet of the House of Representatives as friends and 
family and leadership gather at this very hour in Jerusalem with the 
bereaved and with the family and children of Colonel Ramon to remember 
a life of extraordinary accomplishment.
  Colonel Ramon's journey into space occurred in the midst of continued 
suffering in his homeland, a horrendous period of violence, and his 
bravery helped lift the spirits of his countrymen. No one understood 
the significance of his expedition more than Colonel Ramon himself. 
Before launching from the Kennedy Space Center on January 16, 2003, 
Ramon remarked ``Being the first Israeli astronaut, I feel I am 
representing all Jews and all Israelis. I'm the son of a Holocaust 
survivor. I carry on the suffering of the Holocaust generation, and I'm 
kind of proof that despite all the horror they went through, we are 
going forward.''
  Mr. Speaker, Colonel Ramon rose from the lowest depths to the highest 
heights and brought his country, his people, and the entire world with 
him. He graduated as a fighter pilot from the Israel Air Force flight 
school and commanded a squadron of pilots in the raid on the Iraqi 
nuclear reactor at Osirak in 1981, saving Israel and the world from the 
threat of a nuclear Iraq led by Saddam Hussein.
  Colonel Ramon died together with Christians from America and with a 
Muslim from Pakistan. He died living out the prophetic dream of unity 
in one purpose that is shared by all those who embrace the Abrahamic 
tradition of faith. His life is a testimony to the great idea that one 
man can truly change the world, that a child from any background, any 
faith, any social status can indeed turn out to be an Ilan Ramon.
  Mr. Speaker, Colonel Ilan Ramon did more than die a hero as part of 
Columbia seven. He lived as a hero. May his memory be blessed and his 
family comforted among the mourners of Zion and Jerusalem and America 
this day.

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