Madam President, 2 days ago, the Senate passed by unanimous consent H.R. 672, a bill to rename Guam South Elementary and Middle School after CDR William McCool, the pilot of the Columbia Space Shuttle. Guam has a unique tie to LCDR William…
Madam President, 2 days ago, the Senate passed by unanimous consent H.R. 672, a bill to rename Guam South Elementary and Middle School after CDR William McCool, the pilot of the Columbia Space Shuttle.
Guam has a unique tie to LCDR William McCool. He lived on Guam and attended Dededo Middle School and John F. Kennedy High School in the 1970s while his father served as a Navy and Marine pilot, a veteran of the Vietnam conflict. His father, Barry, is a Las Vegas resident, as is his mother, Audrey. Commander McCool's mother is dean at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. His dad, Barry, after retiring from the military, teaches and is a graduate student at UNLV.
Willie was an exceptional student and a talented athlete in high school. He graduated with good grades in high school, of course, and went to the U.S. Naval Academy. He graduated with a 4.0 grade point average at the Academy in Annapolis, but only finished second in his class because one person had a better grade point average. After he graduated from the Academy, he received advanced degrees in computer science and engineering and became an elite pilot.
He had more than 400 carrier landings and almost 3,000 hours of flight experience in the Navy. Willie McCool was a dedicated father and husband. Due to the tragedy in space, he left behind his wife Lani and their three sons, Sean, Christopher, and Cameron.
As I indicated, Nevada also has a tie with Willie McCool because of his parents. It is traditional in Nevada that every legislative session, the congressional delegation--it used to be very small, of course, with only three members in the Nevada congressional delegation, but now there are five because of our Third Congressional District. We always go to the legislature and speak. When I spoke this February at the State legislature shortly after this tragedy in space, I had his parents there. They traveled from Las Vegas to Carson City for this joint session of the legislature. I said a few things, I am sure, that the members of the legislature agreed and thought was OK when I mentioned and pointed out his parents. Everyone in the Chamber rose and applauded these two very sad but proud parents.
So I am happy that there is a school in faraway Guam named after Willie, who pursued his dream of space with vigor and passion. Teachers on Guam point to his remarkable life to inspire schoolchildren to dare to dream big and believe in themselves and to reach for the stars.
While he was at Dededo Middle School in Guam, young Willie wrote a poem that was published on the front page of the school newspaper that revealed his love of Guam and his early ambition to be an astronaut. This is a poem written by a child in middle school, but I think it really gives insight into this young man's dreams. This is the poem he wrote:
I came to an island in the middle of the sea,
It was so nice that I jumped for glee.
There are palm trees, coconuts, and bananas, too
Plus birds and fish so unbelievable but true.
It is so nice that no one can complain.
But he who does must be insane.
This is such a nice and beautiful place,
You'd think it was heaven--or outer space.
Even back then, Willie was thinking of going into space, and he did, now leaving behind the proud family members and an entire Nation that is aware of the sacrifice he made along with those others on that spacecraft.
I salute Willie McCool and his family and join in applauding and congratulating those school authorities in Guam who will have a school named
after a visionary, talented American hero.
I suggest the absence of a quorum.