Recognizing and commending the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), and Cornell University for the success of the Mars Exploration Rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, on the 5th anniversary of the Rovers' successful landing.

Mr. Speaker, let me say how much I appreciate the hard work and the very thoughtful remarks by my very good friend. Mr. Broun, Mr. Davis and Mr. Schiff have all outlined some of the very great challenges that have been faced with this amazing Spirit and Opportunity program.

I, like my friend, Mr. Schiff, was 5 years ago there when this program began. And I will never forget when Dr. Charles Elachi, the director of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory about whom Mr. Schiff was just speaking, leaned to me and said, ``David, you know, I know this is scheduled to have a life span of 90 days, 3 months.'' He said, ``I suspect that it might just go a little longer than that.'' And here we are today marking the fifth anniversary of Spirit and Opportunity, named by two young students who came together. They had a contest to name them. And these very bright and thoughtful kids came forward and said they wanted to name them Spirit and Opportunity. And they have gone through an amazing 5 years, as Mr. Broun said so well, wind storms and all kinds of cold and great adversity, and yet they are still chugging along providing very important information back to us. Mr. Schiff talked about the days ahead, and now Opportunity is headed to that new massive crater Endeavour. And so we are going to continue to get more and more interesting information. These three gentlemen, Mr. Speaker, have just talked about what Spirit and Opportunity have gone through.

I would like to take a moment to look at the context around which this whole issue is being considered, and that is the devastating economic times that we are facing right here in the United States of America. Obviously, first and foremost on our minds is getting our economy back on track, ensuring that people who are suffering greatly with foreclosures and job losses, and even worse in some instances, are able to have those needs addressed. And many of us have been working to try and put into place a strong, bold, dynamic and robust economic growth program that, interestingly enough, is modeled after the program that was put into place by the man who called for us to put a man on the Moon by the end of the decade in the 1960s. That, of course, was John F. Kennedy. And we are continuing to try and work for those kinds of growth policies.

Now the reason I say that, Mr. Speaker, is that there are so many who

would argue that, as we look at sort of the amorphous space program out there, why in the world are we investing resources on that when we have so many pressing challenges right here at home? And there are a couple of points that I think need to be made. First, when we were celebrating the landing of another great JPL program, the Phoenix, one of the great scientists got up and talked about the fact that throughout world history, every single developed nation has, in fact, regardless of what challenges they faced, always looked at the imponderable. They have always made risk to pursue the unknown. And I'm reminded, of course, that it was the great Queen Isabella who sold her jewels so that Christopher Columbus might have the opportunity to discover America. And so risk-taking is something even during adverse times we need to continue to pursue. And we can't ignore that, because we are the United States of America, the greatest nation the world has ever known. And that is why this is very important.

Second, we need to also realize, Mr. Speaker, that there are very important gains that we as a society and as a world are able to glean from this very important work, whether it is in medical imaging, and I know Dr. Broun understands that, whether it is in dealing with environmental protection, whether it is dealing with cellular technology or global positioning systems, there are a wide range of things that have emanated from programs like Spirit and Opportunity that have dramatically improved the standard of living and quality of life of people here in the United States and around the world.

And so it is in that context that I join in celebrating the work of our friends in the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and CalTech and all involved in this very important NASA research and effort that is going on. I thank both my friends for their hard work in their committee and for coming forward and allowing Mr. Schiff and me to consider this resolution.

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to rise in support of this resolution which I authored with my California colleague, Mr. Schiff, to recognize the five-year anniversary of the landing of the Mars Exploration Rovers, Spirit and Opportunity. I also commend the individuals that contributed to the success of the missions. In particular, the great minds at the La Canada Flintridge-based Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), who designed and built the rovers, and whom I have the distinct honor to represent. JPL is managed by the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), and very ably led by JPL's outstanding director, Dr. Charles Elachi.

Mr. Speaker, as you may recall, during the summer of 2003, NASA launched its Mars Exploration Rovers from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The rovers were an exciting addition to NASA's Mars Exploration Program, and their mission was to explore the surface of Mars for three months in search of clues to give scientists a peek into the planet's past. Specifically, the rovers were to determine whether Mars had ever contained environments with quantities of water sufficient to support life.

After traveling more than a quarter million miles, Spirit and Opportunity successfully landed on Mars's surface on January 3, 2004 and January 24, 2004, respectively. Within their primary three-month mission time frame, the rovers successfully uncovered geological evidence indicating that a body of water once flowed through certain regions, and that early Mars was characterized by impacts from meteors, explosive volcanoes and subsurface water.

In an amazing display of endurance, Spirit and Opportunity managed to maintain their operational status far beyond the three months that were expected, and continue to operate to this day, five years later. The rovers explored more than 21 kilometers of Mars's terrain, climbed hills, descended deep into large craters, survived dust storms and endured three brutal Martian winters. Their amazing missions continue to yield valuable information about the history of Mars and are symbolic of America's pioneering spirit.

Mr. Speaker, while oftentimes the parts that are developed for our space missions are sent off never to be seen again, it is important to realize that the technology stays here at home where it continues to make important contributions to our lives. For example, NASA-sponsored work at facilities like JPL has resulted in the development of critical technologies that have been commercially applied in fields as far ranging as medical imaging, transportation, cellular telecommunications, supercomputing and environmental protection. In addition, these projects inspire our youth to pursue education in the STEM fields--science, technology, engineering and mathematics. And they provide well-paid, highly technical jobs for innovators and entrepreneurs throughout our country. In fact, the success of the Mars rovers is due to the contributions of many, including workers from all across the country--from Composite Optics in San Diego, California to BAE Systems in Manassas, Virginia.

The footprints of NASA's many successes have been made as far away as our moon, the planet Mars and beyond. But its most important impact is here at home. The work being done at JPL and other facilities is spurring the innovations that create jobs and make our lives better. And it is inspiring new generations of innovators who will pursue the careers that will continue to keep the United States at the forefront of technological advancement.

Mr. Speaker, I commend the men and women whose tireless work has made the Mars rovers' expeditions such a tremendous success, and I urge my colleagues to vote in support of this resolution.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of House Resolution 67. This resolution recognizes and commends NASA, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and Cornell University for the success of the Mars exploration rovers, Spirit and Opportunity.

By almost any measure, the Mars exploration rovers have been an extraordinary success. These rovers, named

Spirit and Opportunity, were originally intended to perform a 90-day mission on the hostile surface of Mars. Spirit was the first rover to land on the Mars surface on January 3, 2004. Spirit was joined on the Martian surface by Opportunity 3 weeks later on January 24, 2004. From the very early phases of the mission, these rovers have exceeded even the wildest expectations of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory team that designed and built them.

Originally intended to perform a 90-day mission to search for evidence of water and other conditions that could have supported life on the harsh surface of the red planet, they have now exceeded that goal by over 1,800 days. Along the way they rewrote our knowledge of the Martian environment by discovering and verifying geological evidence of ancient Martian environments where hospitable conditions may have existed.

While on Mars, these rovers have explored over 21 kilometers of Martian terrain, survived dust storms, mechanical difficulties, and endured three cold, dark Martian winters. The advanced scientific instruments deployed in conjunction with Cornell University have relayed over a quarter million images, including evidence of explosive volcanoes and subsurface water.

At a time when Americans could use some good news, it is fortunate that we can recognize and commend the men and women of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Cornell University for their outstanding success in designing, developing, launching and operating the Mars Exploration Rovers.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this resolution.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to yield to my good friend whom I respect tremendously, Mr. Dreier from California, as much time as he may consume.

(Mr. DREIER asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I thank my colleague from Tennessee and my colleague from California. We are, as Republicans and Democrats, coming and talking about something that is extremely important, and that is science exploration of Mars and what Spirit and Opportunity have done there. We talked on the previous bill about math and science and how important it is that we go forward with these types of projects. And it absolutely is critical for the future of our Nation that we do so.

The other things that are critical for our Nation that we need to explore is how to stimulate our economy. And the best way to stimulate our economy is by stimulating small business. Small business is hurting today. It is hurting terribly. The American middle class and the workers of America are hurting terribly.

We have proposals brought forth to this floor in bill after bill that markedly increase the size of the Federal Government. This is what I call the steamroll of socialism being shoved down the throats of the American people.

We have to find solutions to this economic problem we have in America. And building a bigger government, building a more socialistic government, is not going to create jobs. It is not going to bring about the things that we need to get us out of this economic downturn.

I hope that as we work together on this bill, and as we did with the previous bill, that we can work together, Democrats and Republicans alike, can come and find some commonsense economic solutions for America, commonsense solutions that will stimulate the real economic engine of America, and that is small business.

Small businesses create most of the jobs in America today. We have proposals that are going to take away jobs from small business because it is going to put a heavier regulatory burden on that small business. It is going to put a heavier tax burden on small businesses. We have seen proposals in the budget that will increase taxes on what is described as the wealthiest in America.

But most of those tax increases will affect small businesses, and it is going to rob jobs, rob jobs that are critical for the economic well- being of America.

Small business is the economic engine that pulls along the train of economic prosperity in America, and we

need to stoke the fires of that train so it has the ability to create jobs, to bring us out of this economic downturn.

What I see over and over again are policies that are being suggested that are going to rob small business of those critical assets that they need. They are going to rob the American people of the jobs that we need.

Government does not make one single nickel, not one single penny. All it does is it takes away from the private sector. We have policies that are taking away from the private sector and increasing a bigger and bigger government to tell us how to live our lives. It is robbing the private sector of necessary funds that are absolutely critical to get us out of this economic downturn.

We cannot continue down this road toward a socialistic society with socialized medicine that is going to destroy the quality of health care. It is going to be extremely costly. It has been said very often around here that if you think health care is expensive today, wait until it is free. It is going to destroy the innovation that is absolutely critical.

So as we commend NASA, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Cornell University on this outstanding scientific accomplishment that they brought forward with Spirit and Opportunity, we need to look beyond that and we need to look in a bipartisan way. We have got to stop what I think is an idiocy of destroying small business and creating a bigger socialistic government.

We have seen bill after bill that spend too much, tax too much, borrow too much. Our children and grandchildren are going to live at a standard that is much less than we have today if we don't just stop this, and I am struggling for a word here, but one where we are bringing forth policies that are absolutely adverse to what this country was founded upon. We stand at a crossroads, and it is a crossroads that will lead one direction towards socialism and total government control, and another direction which leads toward freedom, entrepreneurship, innovation and economic security.

So I call upon my colleagues on the Democratic side, let's work together. Let's work together to find policies that make sense. Let's work together to find commonsense market-based solutions that will stimulate small business, that won't hurt our children and grandchildren like bill after bill that is being proposed and a budget that is being proposed. We have to stop this direction, this steamroll of socialism that is being driven by Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid. It is a steamroller of socialism that is being shoved down the throats of the American people, and it is going to strangle the American economy. It is going to kill the American public economically.

So as we applaud these scientific endeavors, I call upon my Democratic colleagues to work with us in a bipartisan way so we can find economic solutions that are so drastically needed, so that we can find the solutions that America needs.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

I thank the gentleman for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, colleagues, 5 years ago in January, 2004, I had the privilege of being in the control room at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory when Spirit, the first of two identical Mars rovers, landed in Gusev Crater. It was an amazing experience to watch the dozens of engineers, controllers and scientists who had worked so hard and for so long on the rover project to see its initial success. I'm proud to have many of them as my constituents, and I'm honored to share JPL with my colleague, David Dreier, and have joined him in this resolution honoring 5 years of surface operations by Spirit and its twin, Opportunity.

Spirit and Opportunity landed on Mars to begin what was planned as a 3-month mission to evaluate whether conditions would have at one time been suitable for life on the red planet. Under the leadership of Dr. Charles Elachi and Principal Investigator Steve Squyres of Cornell University, JPL employees worked around the clock to make the most of what was planned as a limited duration mission.

Equipped with cameras, spectrometers and grinders, America's robotic explorers have now been hard at work for more than 5 years and are still going strong. The rovers' incredible durability is a testament to the quality of their design, the care with which their operations are managed and a scientific bonanza for scientists here and around the world.

The rovers' discovery of evidence of past water on Mars was 2004's top scientific ``Breakthrough of the Year'' according to the journal Science. The rovers have also uncovered evidence of Mars' violent volcanic past and have transmitted more than 36 gigabytes of data back to Earth.

Despite a gimpy wheel, Spirit has spent most of the past year exploring an area dubbed Home Plate, which is rich in silica, another telltale sign of water. Opportunity has had shoulder troubles, but has covered a lot of ground in the last 5 years. The rover spent almost 2 years exploring Victoria Crater and has now begun a long drive to its next major destination, a much larger crater called Endeavour. At more than 14 miles in diameter, Endeavour is more than 20 times larger than Victoria.

People around the world have been captivated by the stunning photographs of the Martian surface and the planet's ruddy sky. In the first 2 months after Spirit and Opportunity landed on Mars, JPL's rover Web site registered almost 9 billion hits. Since then we have watched the seasons change on Mars and have marveled at the changing terrain as the rovers have moved about the surface.

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, managed by the California Institute of Technology, designed, built and controls the rovers. JPL has been the pioneer of our exploration of the solar system from the beginning of our space program and is one of the crown jewels of American science. Explorer I, America's first satellite, was a JPL project. At the time it was launched, the United States had fallen behind the Soviets in the space race, and several other attempts of getting an ``American Sputnik'' into orbit had ended in fiery explosions on the launch pad. Not only did Explorer I salvage our pride, but the tiny satellite discovered the Van Allen radiation belts that circle the Earth.

Since then, JPL probes have explored most of our solar system--from the Ranger series that paved the way for the Apollo moon landings, to Voyager's grand tour of the outer planets in the 1970s and 1980s, to last spring's landing on Mars by the Mars Phoenix--and have also surveyed the cosmos as well as our own planet.

In 2 years NASA will launch an even larger rover, the Mars Science Laboratory, which will build on the work being done today by Spirit and Opportunity. With a little luck, the rovers will still be working-- still expanding our understanding of Mars and, more importantly, of ourselves.

I urge all my colleagues to support the resolution.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 67) recognizing and commending the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), and Cornell University for the success of the Mars Exploration Rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, on the 5th anniversary of the Rovers' successful landing.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on H. Res. 67, the resolution now under consideration.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

A little over 5 years ago, the NASA rovers named Spirit and Opportunity landed on the surface of Mars. These rovers originally had a 90-day mission to survey the surface of the red planet and send back scientific information.

By all measures, both rovers were incredibly successful during their original 90-day missions. Both rovers were able to maneuver around the surface of Mars, and they sent back scores of captivating images. The information they sent back has helped us to better understand the past and present geology of our planetary neighbor, and provided indication that water once flowed on the surface of Mars.

The little rovers proved to be so robust that their original 90-day mission was extended, and extended, and extended again. Ultimately, the mission was extended six times. That is a tribute to our scientific knowledge in this country. Both rovers continue to function and are roving the surface of Mars as I speak.

Without a doubt, these rovers have been wildly successful. Besides being impressive fetes of science and engineering, they have inspired countless children of our country with their amazing images of the red planet. This truly represents the best of what our national space program is about, and provides a reminder of why we should continue to support the work of NASA.

I want to thank the sponsor of this resolution, Mr. Dreier, for introducing House Resolution 67, and I encourage my colleagues to support its passage.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield as much time as he may consume to the gentleman from California (Mr. Schiff).

I yield myself as much time as I may consume.

As heard earlier on this floor, we talked about other nations throughout the world who seem to be achieving higher academic standards than we are here in this country in the classroom. But as we start observing many of these countries, none of those are putting in play and putting into reality the science that we are doing in this country.

The rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, that landed on Mars were an American project, not one of the other nations that we talked about. So as we discuss from time to time areas where we must recognize we may have failures, but our educational system is also providing, and has provided, bright young minds with the challenges that has brought forward the research, the development, the space exploration that is going on today in this country.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I have observed over the last 8 years probably the largest increase in spending in the history of this country except perhaps the 8 years of Lyndon Johnson. And all that spending was directed toward some of the same exact spending that is occurring today under this new administration and under this new majority in Congress.

Yet I hear described under the old administration good government, with the exact same expenditures, becoming socialism. I suggest that we all become bipartisan and start reading from the same dictionary.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Madam Speaker, just over 5 years ago, two engineering marvels--the Mars

Exploration Rovers Spirit and Opportunity--captured the imagination of the American public and the world when they landed on Mars to begin a 3 month-long NASA mission. The mission objective was to search for signs that water may have been present for long periods of time--signs that could tell us whether the Red Planet had been hospitable to life in the past. Within the first several months of the Mars mission, the NASA Web site experienced over a billion site visits. The Mars Exploration Rovers have been a wildly successful mission, with more than 13 miles of harsh Martian terrain traversed and over a quarter million awe- inspiring images from the Martian surface captured, in addition to many thousands of scientific spectra that lends to our study of Mars.

Spirit and Opportunity have made many important discoveries over the last 5 years. One of the most significant discoveries was evidence of water and geological information that supports an understanding that ancient Martian environments included periods of wet, possibly habitable conditions.

I wholeheartedly support H. Res. 67, the resolution offered by my friends and colleagues from southern California, Mr. Schiff and Mr. Dreier to honor NASA, their team from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and Cornell University on 5 years of great engineering and scientific discovery.