[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 8]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 10715-10716]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




     THE FINAL FLIGHT OF THE SPACE SHUTTLE PROGRAM ON JULY 8, 2011

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                           HON. ALLEN B. WEST

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                          Friday, July 8, 2011

  Mr. WEST. Mr. Speaker, today we close another chapter in the history 
book of manned space flight. Today Americans around the Nation watched 
the final launch of the Space Shuttle Atlantis, a journey that began 30 
years ago with the first flight of Space Shuttle Columbia.
  For 135 times the Nation has turned their eyes to the State of 
Florida to watch the solid rocket boosters ignite and lift the Space 
Shuttle through the bounds of our Earth's atmosphere. Each mission of 
the Space Shuttles' primary goal was to continue to push the bounds of 
space exploration. With each mission the United States achieved another 
milestone of expanding man's frontier in space earning the respect and 
admiration of the world.
  The State of Florida has been the epicenter for manned exploration of 
space. Over the last 50 years from Gemini, to Apollo, to the Space 
Shuttles, hundreds of thousands of Floridians have contributed their 
talents, energy and knowledge to explore space. Some have dedicated 
their lives to the exploration of space.
  Today I would like to recognize the men and women over the last 30 
years who worked on the Space Shuttle program. While the names of the 
astronauts will be recorded in the history books, we must also note the 
thousands of individuals who worked behind the scenes to make history 
by challenging the final frontier.
  I am concerned about losing the workforce that has dedicated their 
knowledge to the exploration of our universe. I believe that we could 
lose a competitive and innovative edge that we maintain at the Kennedy 
Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Florida.
  Soon the Space Shuttle Fleet will be shipped off to museums around 
the country and will become items that school children will visit to 
see America's past glories in space. These children will see these 
space exploration vehicles, then look towards the stars sparking their 
imagination to ask the question ``what lies beyond?'' However, when the 
Space Shuttle Atlantis lands in the next several days for the first 
time in my entire 50 years on Earth we will not have a vehicle or a 
plan to send humans from our planet into space.
  The space program is essential to the State of Florida. Thousands of 
the brightest scientific minds reside in the area surrounding the 
Kennedy Space Center and billions of dollars of economic activity are 
generated in the States of Texas, California and my home State of 
Florida. In addition, since the Mercury Program, the Space Program has 
placed our Nation on the cutting edge of innovation.
  President John F. Kennedy challenged our Nation to land a man of the 
Moon. In the space race with the Soviet Union, Neil Armstrong and Buzz 
Aldrin placed an American flag on the lunar surface in 1969. Now the

[[Page 10716]]

former Soviet Union is our taxi cab ride to the International Space 
Station at a cost of approximately $63 million a seat. Further, China 
is now building their ability to be the leaders in space exploration. 
This is unacceptable and the antithesis of American exceptionalism.
  While we have had failures in the space program along the way, such 
as Apollo 1, Challenger and Columbia, when some individuals felt we 
should stop manned space flight after the Challenger accident, 
President Ronald Reagan stated: ``We'll continue our quest in space. 
There will be more shuttle flights and more shuttle crews and, yes, 
more volunteers, more civilians, more teachers in space. Nothing ends 
here; our hopes and our journeys continue.''
  I am concerned that the United States has no plans for human 
exploration capability to go beyond Earth's orbit for an indeterminate 
time into the future. Space will always be challenging and dangerous, 
but we are Americans and we have always met our challenges and faced 
danger. And with regard to space we must continue the journey, focus on 
the stars, reach for the heavens, and be a leader in space exploration 
in the 21st century.
  Americans, by our nature, do not accept being in second place. I am 
committed to ensuring that one day we again will be the leaders in 
manned space exploration.

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