Doug Jones

Mr. President, today I rise in absolute awe--remain in awe--of what happened in this country and in this world 50 years ago this week, and I am still inspired by the events of our space program 50 years ago.

Fifty years ago today, Americans of all ages, in every corner of this great Nation and, in fact, all over the world, stopped what they were doing to watch in complete awe as Apollo 11 launched from Cape Kennedy, headed toward the Moon. It is unbelievable what we saw, what we witnessed, that entire week.

It would be the first time that humans would set foot on a celestial body other than the Earth. We would step foot on the Moon, which had captured the imagination of the world since time began, trying to reach that big, round object in the sky. It was a remarkable feat, made possible by the sheer determination and grit of the American space program and all of those who participated in it.

I was just a kid growing up in Alabama at the time. I lived just 2 or 3 hours south of what was known as Rocket City in Huntsville, AL. It is still known as Rocket City because of all of the work at NASA and in our space program today. It was a thriving metropolis then and even more so today. That is where all of the rockets were built. That is where the engines, the powerful engines that drove the rockets into space, were built. They were tested in Huntsville, AL. If you go there today, most of those stands are still there. Some of them are about to be used again. Those Saturn V rockets, the most powerful rocket engines man had ever created, were built in Huntsville, AL. They were the engines that would propel man to the Moon.

I was absolutely mesmerized--absolutely mesmerized--by all things involving the space program. I still am. I can remember so many times when my maternal grandfather, Oliver Wesson, whom I called Paw-Paw, and I would just sit for hours and watch and listen

to the commentaries. We would watch the liftoffs. We would watch the splashdowns. Some of my best memories as a kid were literally sitting in front of a TV set with my granddad, watching the heroes I saw, the heroes I wanted to be, and the heroes America wrapped their arms around. At the time, there was nothing--nothing--and maybe to some extent today--more that I wanted to do than to be an astronaut and to go into space. It sounds corny for an old man like me to say that, but it is absolutely true.

Those astronauts, the original Mercury Seven astronauts, were heroes in every sense of the word. I admire their courage, not having a clue when they blasted off from Florida whether they would return safely. And we did lose astronauts along the way.

I did so many things. I read. I studied. I watched. I read papers. A lot of papers in my grammar, junior high, and high schools were all written about the space program.

I am a memorabilia collector, as many of you may know, including of autographed baseballs. I have a few autographed baseballs by some of the astronauts, but the ones I like most are the newspapers. From that time, I could see that everybody could sense something was special. From the time Apollo 11 took off from Cape Kennedy, and the headlines in the Birmingham News read ``Man Sets Foot in Heavens,'' to the time they splashed down, I collected and saved every one of those newspapers. They are still at home, and they are prized possessions.

We watched every single launch. We knew every single name of every astronaut. We stood there with intense, mesmerizing attention to every moment of those launches.

It was something that captivated this entire country. It was a unifying time. It was a unifying force at a time when America needed it--the 1960s. For Apollo 11 in 1969, it was a time when we needed that sense of collective pride. We needed that sense of unification. We had gone through tough times during the civil rights era. We had gone through and we were still in the midst of the Vietnam war and all that tore this country asunder. We saw all that happened in 1968. We saw the deaths of John Kennedy, Robert Kennedy, and Martin Luther King, but the space program was that one sense of pride.

It didn't take a tragedy to unify America at that time. It took success. It took a build of what we do. It took our determination. It took knowing that we were the most patriotic, and, doggone, we were going to beat those Russians to the Moon. It sounds so corny these days, but it is absolutely the case. We were going to do it. It was going to be the United States of America, and, doggone, we did it.

A lot has changed. Today, we are building on this legacy. We are still building on this legacy in space. We are building it in Huntsville, AL, and elsewhere with NASA, and we are going to continue to inspire a new generation--and more generations to come--of Alabamans and Americans, people all across this country, to help us reach even loftier heights.

Yes, a lot has changed since 1969--50 years ago--but there is a reason that space flight and exploration of other worlds continue to capture our attention and to capture our imagination. It is because, at the end of the day, we are all dreamers. We always dream of those loftier heights. We always want to achieve. We always want to make this country great--consistently make this country great. We always want to reach for the stars, whether it is in our personal lives or whether it is collectively as a country. That is what we do. We are dreamers.

Today, 50 years after the launch of Apollo--and on Saturday, we will celebrate 50 years of the actual steps on the lunar surface--we celebrate the achievement of a dream five decades ago, but a dream that started long, long before that, long before President Kennedy challenged America to put a man on the Moon.

Looking back, 50 years ago was really just the beginning. It showed us that a true moonshot was possible, and, quite literally, it opened our world to new possibilities.

Today, we are reaching for human spaceflight back to the Moon and to Mars. It is not just us; other countries are doing the same. We are looking for a return flight to the Moon for deeper exploration. We are receiving pictures from the farthest reaches of the galaxy, things we have never seen before. We have seen the surface. We have landed rovers on the Moon surface and have seen the pictures and have done the tests. It is just unbelievable. Who would have ever thought of this some 50, 60 years ago when I was a kid?

Today, we have a greater understanding of the universe around us and how we apply that knowledge to our own lives. We continue to reach for the stars.

Yes, a lot has changed, but a lot hasn't. We still have divisions in this country. We still need that unifying voice. We still need that sense of pride that we can all--everybody--wrap our arms around.

Today, we seem to be divided more than we were during the height of the Vietnam war. We seem to be divided over the very issues that my friend Senator Cornyn was talking about a moment ago with regard to immigration. We are divided over politics--a partisan divide. We are divided over gun violence. You name it; we are divided. So we need that unifying voice. We need something positive that we can all wrap our arms around.

It is not just a holiday--and sometimes now, in today's world, unfortunately, even our holidays get divided. Even on our holidays, people go to their corners for political reasons, on both sides of the aisle. Make no mistake, folks, I am not casting a stone one way or another. I am casting it across this land. People are divided.

We have to honor the visionaries of long ago, as well as the visionaries of today who think big, dream big, and give our Nation a collective sense of purpose and unity--a collective sense of unity and purpose--not a divisive sense of purpose for their own benefit but a collective sense of unity and purpose.

We can honor those folks by setting aside all of the differences we see. We can honor those folks by not going to our corners every time a hot-button issue is mentioned either here on the floor of the Senate or in a tweet or in a Facebook post or in the national news. We can set that aside. We can set it aside by setting aside our differences.

We honor folks by setting aside our differences today. We can honor those folks by remembering our collective pride and who we are as Americans, by making sure that all men and women are created equal and living up to the creed that we so proudly point to in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. We can do that again. We can honor these visionaries by coming together, reaching across the aisle and also reaching within our aisles to bring people together to talk about those things we can do together and with a sense of pride. We can do it by, once again, being the leader of the world and not trying to do everything alone but bringing our friends and allies to join us in these collective efforts to make us stronger.

Yes, we owe those folks a great debt of gratitude for making America a leader in space, a leader in the world, and giving us all something to dream about. Let us now meet that challenge in a different way.

Let us continue to explore space. Let us continue to reach for the stars, but let us dedicate ourselves to becoming that unified voice so that something we can all dream about is one America--one America--not a house divided but one America for everyone.

Thank you.

I yield the floor.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Madam President, I rise to honor two of Alabama's great citizens. The State misses greatly the late Senator Howell Heflin, who was a Member of this body for 18 years, and my friend and campaign manager, Giles Perkins, who was a lawyer in Birmingham, AL. These two men spent their lives working to improve our great State, and both shaped the future of Alabama in his own way. Following these remarks, we are going to be honoring both of these men in a reception to be held in my office.

I last spoke on the floor of my friend and former campaign manager, Giles Perkins, following his death last December. Giles was an accomplished attorney, community leader, brilliant political adviser, and strategist. Although a native of Texas, he moved to Alabama following his marriage to his true love, Hillery Head, and he quickly came to understand how Alabama's complicated and sometimes dark history shaped our State. He had the vision of a brighter future if all Alabamians could have just simply worked together to create one Alabama for everyone.

Whether in politics, his legal practice, or with regard to his remarkable community projects--most notably Railroad Park, which helped to transform the city of Birmingham--for anyone who crossed paths with Giles, one saw in him his passion for making Alabama and the entire South better places for us all.

Giles' last political effort was my 2017 Senate campaign. As campaign chair, he was nothing short of extraordinary. He challenged me constantly--so much so that I began calling him Yoda. I still often refer to him as Yoda. His ability to see the bigger picture and his ``tough love'' approach with me made me a much better candidate, a better person, and certainly a better U.S. Senator. I will always cherish his friendship.

Howell Heflin was, to say the least, a lion of the U.S. Senate and a political mentor of mine. A military hero who hailed from Tuscumbia, AL, Judge Howell Heflin was sometimes described as the ``conscience of the Senate'' as he was widely known for his unshakable integrity. Because of that, he was the chair of the Ethics Committee, I think, for 12 years running--something that, in his final remarks, he described as anything but enjoyable, but he was a man of unshakable integrity. He was part of the ``greatest generation.'' He became a marine at the age of 21, and he served the Nation during World War II. He was awarded the Silver Star for valor in combat, and he received two Purple Hearts for his actions.

Even by Members of this body, Howell Heflin was always affectionately referred to as ``Judge.'' If you read back over the day he announced his retirement, which was on March 29, 1995, all of his colleagues referred to him as ``Judge'' because of his extraordinary career. As a one-term chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court, he modernized Alabama's court system and won numerous awards for it as well as for himself personally. He was a known national figure because of his work on the courts. Later, while in this body, he helped to streamline the Federal courts in order to help move the civil courts and the criminal justice system. He always believed that justice delayed was justice denied.

He was elected to the Senate in 1978. I was then in my third year of law school. During the summer of 1978, I opted to work full time on his campaign rather than to clerk for a law firm. This was in part because I believed that his election, following a 20-year or more domination of Alabama politics by George Wallace, would be one of the most significant elections in Alabama's history--a turning point for a State whose reputation had sorely suffered throughout the civil rights movement. It turned out I was absolutely right. Howell Heflin's election ushered in a time in Alabama during which politicians in our State began to look beyond the dog whistle politics of race and to do their best to represent all of the citizens of Alabama.

He was a champion of the rural farmer, NASA, and businesses throughout Alabama. He was also a champion of the small business leader, teachers, members of the union, and African-American citizens in Alabama, who were still feeling the effects of discrimination and restricted voting rights.

By today's standards, Howell Heflin would certainly be considered pretty conservative with his positions that many, including myself, would probably not agree with. Yet, in his heart, Howell Heflin believed in the Constitution of the United States, and he strived to ensure that we lived up to the creed that all people are created equal. During his floor speech in which he announced his retirement, he said, ``Not until we become genuinely one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all can this country realize its potential for true greatness.''

He worked as a Senator to secure the extension of the Voting Rights Act, which is something we are still arguing about today--23 years after he left the Senate. He appointed the first two African Americans to the Federal bench in Alabama. Sadly, even though the number of Federal judges in Alabama's three Federal districts have grown significantly in number, there are still only two active Federal judges in Alabama who are African American. He supported historically black colleges and universities, and he ensured the passage of the civil rights restoration bill. He helped to pass the fair housing bill and helped to establish a national holiday that honors the late Martin Luther King, Jr.

Howell Heflin's commitment to racial justice and his sensitivity to issues of race led him in 1993 to give a remarkable floor speech that opposed an insignia patent bill that contained an image of a Confederate battle flag. This was over 20 years before the tragedy in Charleston, SC, when battle flags across the country came down. It was 20 years or so before that when he opposed an amendment that would have contained an image of the Confederate battle flag. It was truly a remarkable speech, and I referenced it just recently in a speech I gave here on the Equality Act. It was considered by many--his friends, his family, his staff, and all who knew him, especially those in this body--to be his finest hour. It was his finest hour because it was one of those rare occasions on the floor of the Senate during which an impassioned speech by one Senator swayed a vote.

There was an amendment and a motion to table on that bill--a motion that had not succeeded. Howell Heflin then took to the floor so as to sway Senators to reconsider. Then, overwhelmingly, by a vote of over 75 to 20-something, the motion was tabled, and the bill died, as it should have.

That led Carol Moseley-Braun--the first African-American female Senator in history--to state the following:

His integrity, his intelligence, his commitment and faith

in the Constitution of these United States, faith in what the

American dream has always stood for and can be in the future,

has led Judge Heflin in a direction that I think is without

peer and without parallel in this body. He has been a force

for good. He has been a force for right.

There are very few people who have known Howell Heflin and there are very few people in Alabama who remember him who would say otherwise.

He was a force for good, and he was a force for right.

I am so proud that my first job after law school was working with him as staff counsel on the Senate Judiciary Committee. It was just an amazing experience for a kid who had never been to Washington, DC, before taking the job.

It is now my privilege to hold the seat that Judge Heflin had for 18 years. It is my honor. The fact that I walked off this floor with him as a staffer in 1980 and walked back on in 2018 in his seat has been one of the greatest honors of my life.

In gratitude for that opportunity the Judge gave me, I have established a fellowship in my office for a recent law school graduate--just like me in 1979--and I look forward to welcoming the first Howell Heflin fellow to my team later this month.

Howell Heflin was sworn into the Senate in 1979, 40 years ago this past January. And it was about 40 years ago this time of year that I joined his staff--fresh out of law school, fresh off of taking the bar exam. He was certainly my mentor and role model in many ways, and each day that I am in the Senate, I strive to continue his legacy--not that I always vote as Howell Heflin would, although, frankly, knowing him as I did, I am absolutely convinced that he would have moderated many of his positions with changing times. He was that kind of leader. But I am certainly guided by the principles of public service to his constituents that he described in his retirement announcement, in which he said:

I have endeavored to represent Alabama in a studied,

impartial, and fair-minded manner. My record certainly

indicates at least an independent streak. I hope Alabamians

know that my decisions were based on what I thought was in

the best interest of my State and Nation. While some may

argue or disagree with my decisions, I was convinced that I

was right. And I believe most Alabamians felt that nothing

more could be expected of me.

I agree with him 100 percent.

Ironically, Judge Heflin passed away 10 years to the day from the day he gave that speech on March 29. I miss him. Alabama misses him. And I can assure my colleagues who didn't know him, the U.S. Senate misses him as well.

The threads that tie Judge Heflin and Giles Perkins together in history are their deeply rooted integrity and their dedication to leaving the State of Alabama better than they found it. Their memories inspire me every day.

Today, following these remarks, I am dedicating the conference rooms in my Senate office to these two men who, through leadership and commitment, made a positive difference in the history of the State of Alabama, as well as in my life.

I am so happy that I am going to be joined by Judge Heflin's son Tom and his wife Cornelia, as well as numerous former Heflin staffers, including his longtime chief of staff, Mike House, who is the one who made that fateful call to me that summer as I was studying for the bar exam to offer me the job here on the Hill.

Also with us will be Drew Perkins and his wife Nelly. Drew is the brother of Giles. They will be here with us as we celebrate both Judge Heflin and Giles Perkins.

I would be remiss if I didn't also mention that in the corner of the Giles Perkins Conference Room will be the large Yoda doll that will be kept in his honor.

As for me, I will strive to continue the work that they began, to fulfill their vision, and to honor their memories as long as I have the privilege of serving here in the U.S. Senate.

I yield the floor.