Expressing Condolences Of The House To The Families Of The Crew Of The Space Shuttle ``Columbia''
Mr. Speaker, people in Georgia's Second District tell me they felt a deep personal loss when they learned about the fate of Columbia and her crew of seven. From what I've read and observed on television, this is the way people felt…
Mr. Speaker, people in Georgia's Second District tell me they felt a deep personal loss when they learned about the fate of Columbia and her crew of seven. From what I've read and observed on television, this is the way people felt throughout the country and around the world--not only in India and Israel where two of the crew members were from, but also in places that have no direct connection with the international space program.
People, everywhere, felt as if they had lost members of their own family.
And, of course, we did.
Although those of us who serve together in Congress may not always want to claim each other as relatives, we are, in fact, all part of one family--as American citizens . . . and as children of God.
The Columbia was on a scientific mission.
The magnificent men and women who flew in her risked their lives to explore the unknown and expand the boundaries of understanding.
Their cause was the cause of humanity.
As we mourn their loss, let us pledge to keep their cause alive.
Mr. HOBSON, Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this resolution to express my sincere condolences to the families of the crew members of the Space Shuttle Columbia.
It is with great sorrow that the U.S. House of Representatives is considering this resolution. It is rare that the United States, as a whole, experiences such a sense of loss, and I have not personally known it since the events of September 11. There is not one American who has not been affected by this sad and terrible accident. This tragic loss does not, however, end with the United States. With a diverse crew aboard the shuttle, this loss is truly being felt around the world.
Last Saturday morning as I began my day as routine as anyone else in America, seven brave astronauts began their triumphant return home from space. Their mission had been one of scientific research and experimentation, and had been highly successful. So many missions before them had ventured into the great mystery known as space, and helped put the United States at the cutting edge of space exploration. Most have returned to us safely. In the coming weeks, NASA and a team of investigators will determine exactly what happened last Saturday morning, and why Columbia did not return safely.
We will go back to space. Every time a shuttle mission launches into space, everyone aboard the orbiter knows they are putting themselves into harms way, and have chosen one of the most dangerous professions known. While we have been visiting space for several decades, and safety has always been our number one priority, each astronaut knows the dangers associated. It is now times to reassess our safety measures, insure that never happens again, and press forward with our manned space flight program as those seven brave souls would want us to do.
This tragedy has so profoundly impacted our public consciousness because space travel resonates with the human desire to move forward and to learn more about our existence and our place in the universe. The men and women of the space shuttle Columbia were pioneers just like the members of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, the Wright Brothers, the expedition to the North and South Poles, the Apollo Moon landings and other great exploits in human exploration and discovery.
We will always mourn the loss of the crew of the shuttle Columbia but we will never give up our quest for knowledge.
Mr. Speaker, I join today with my colleagues, the families and friends of all those in the NASA family, and people across the globe in support of this resolution.