[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 6]
[House]
[Page 8658]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




 REMEMBERING THE APOLLO-SOYUZ TEST PROJECT AND LIEUTENANT GENERAL TOM 
                                STAFFORD

  (Mr. LUCAS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. LUCAS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize a momentous event 
in this Nation's history and honor the men and women who worked so 
diligently to make it happen.
  The Apollo-Soyuz test project, which took place in July of 1975, was 
the first international human spaceflight, a joint operation between 
two rivaling superpowers: the United States and the Soviet Union. The 
Apollo-Soyuz test project was so successful, many historians attribute 
the handshake in space between Apollo Commander Tom Stafford and Soyuz 
Commander Aleksey Leonov to be the beginning of the end of the cold 
war.
  Lieutenant General Tom Stafford was born in Weatherford, Oklahoma, in 
1930. After graduating from the Naval Academy, earning his wings from 
the Air Force in 1953, and graduating from the Air Force Experimental 
Flight Test Pilot School, Stafford went on to serve as a pilot on 
Gemini 6, a commander of Gemini 9, commander of Apollo 10, and, 
finally, commander of the Apollo-Soyuz test project.
  Thomas Stafford is a true patriot, a man who served this country in 
inspiring ways for over 60 years. I want to congratulate him on his 
accomplished service and his distinguished career.

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