Floor Statements

I thank the gentleman.

I'd just like to build on a point that the gentleman from New Jersey was making. We need investments into our economy. This is an opportunity for us to get private investments into our economy. And the gentleman from California was talking about 96 percent of the globe is outside of the United States.

What's happening now with the currency manipulation is China is artificially making their products cheaper so that they can ship them here to the United States, and because of that, our products trying to go into China are more expensive.

Now, we had dozens and dozens and dozens of Republicans vote for this last year at the end of the session. The Senate has passed this. This is a simple measure where we can send a signal to the country and to the world that if we play fairly with China and China plays fairly with us, we all can benefit. And that will drive investment back into the United States and manufacturing.

We had two cases at the International Trade Commission on tires and steel tubing in which China was cheating. The Americans, we put tariffs on these products, we saw job creation come, over $2 billion worth, in the steel tubing industry of investments that have been made since that decision. We've seen tire manufacturers expand in places in northwest Ohio.

So if we level off the playing field with these guys, we can compete. With transportation costs going up, we can compete. We have the productivity. We have the workforce. We just need a level playing field.

So I ask, Mr. Speaker, that this Congress, this House of Representatives, brings this bill up and let's make some progress with China and set the tone and reclaim the mantle for manufacturing here in the United States.

I thank the gentlelady.

A few weeks ago, we had the opportunity of having Congressman Lewis in Youngstown and then up into Cleveland. And to sit here and listen to him talk about it, it's not words on a piece of paper. As he said, it's not history; it's his experience. And for us in any way, shape, or form to listen to him and to remember the struggles that a lot of people went through in order for Americans to have the right to vote--all Americans to have the right to vote--this seems so petty and so ridiculous that there would be a movement among a conservative group of people across the country to literally try to disenfranchise American citizens.

Now, we all get caught up in the political games, but my goodness gracious, how far are you going to go? You've got Citizens United that says you can spend money left and right in corporations, unlimited funding, and we're seeing it in Ohio now. And then they take this money and they start pushing initiatives like this one, where you are going to literally carve out a part of the electorate that doesn't necessarily vote for your interests because you'll win the game that way. And so these provisions in Ohio now, we're coming up on an election on Tuesday, you can't vote in person stopping Friday night, the weekend before the election. That doesn't make any sense.

Come on, guys. This is not a game. This is an essential right that we have in the United States of America. And you're going to say, well, one in four African Americans doesn't have a government ID; let's carve them out. This fits that category. Oh, if you make under $35,000 a year, you're twice as likely to not have a government ID; let's put you over there. If you're a senior citizen, if you're elderly and you don't drive anymore, you fit into that category, too. All right, let's put this in 38 different States--or however many--and figure out how we lock them out of the political process or put barriers up.

This is not right. Come on. These people have served the country, worked in the country, served in the military, and all of these other things, contributed, and now you're going to say, well, we're going to put up a few more barriers for you not to be able to vote. It's not right.

I'm getting the sense in Ohio and back in my district that people are really starting to understand that there is a movement to stack the deck against the working class people to reduce their ability to participate in the political system, and I'm not making this up. Right in Ohio, we have a huge initiative right now on Issue 2 that is about taking collective bargaining rights away from police, fire, teachers, nurses, and public employees, a bunch of corporate money coming in to support it. You have this initiative in Ohio to limit people's right to vote--primarily people who would vote Democratic--national money coming in to support it; cuts being made to make college more expensive; cuts being made to mental health and all of the programs that would lift up these very people.

So I'm happy to join the gentlelady here from Cleveland to say that, one, I'm thankful for you doing this and, two, the work is not yet done. And the American people who have no other choice, now they're taking to the streets. And that may be the only way to get it done, because you can't compete with the hundreds of millions of dollars that are being spent on these initiatives, coordinating these initiatives, and pushing them in States without us, the average folks, trying to push back a little bit. That's what this is about. And I will guarantee you, at the end of the day, when you look at the poll results for Issue 2, for example, people are waking up to see that they're trying to stack the deck against them further, and we're not going to allow that to happen.

I thank the gentlelady.

That is correct, the northeastern part, and I'm happy to be joined by my colleague from the northwestern part, Ms. Kaptur, to talk about these issues.

I think, as I sat here and I listened, whether it was California or whether it was Connecticut or whether it's Ohio, I think the number one issue facing the country right now is the income inequality. It is now just starting to percolate up as the number one issue, the greatest inequality in this country since the Great Depression.

I know many of us have been talking about this for a long, long time--we've had 30 years of stagnant wages in the United States. There is no way that we're going to be able to continue to be the leader of the free world, or really even have the kind of country that we want, if we have this kind of level of inequality.

There are issues that come before the House of Representatives. There are issues that the President is continuing to push that will help rectify this problem that is not getting any attention at all in the House of Representatives, whether it's the American Jobs Act, which would put people back to work, infrastructure, roads, bridges, get that 20 percent unemployment within the construction trades, or 18 or 19 percent, or whatever it may be, and drive it down.

The China currency bill, passed by the Senate with well over 60 votes, passed the House of Representatives last year, had 99 Republicans, 350 total votes, and we can't get a vote in the House of Representatives to take on the Chinese.

Well, they're manipulating their currency. They're devaluing it so that the exports coming into the United States are artificially cheaper than they would normally be, already with benefits of no EPA, no OSHA, no regulations. But in addition to that, they manipulate their currency, devalue it to make those exports landing on the shores of the United States even cheaper.

Now, all of these unfair trade practices have cost the United States 2.8 million jobs in the last 10 years; 1.9 million of those are manufacturing, and 100,000 in Ohio. When manufacturing jobs pay more, there's more intellectual property spinoff, better benefits, better pension.

All of this comes together with an issue that we're facing back in Ohio, and a philosophy in the country that is basically saying, if the middle class just made a little bit less, the country would be better off; we'd finally fix these problems. That's what's happening with S.B 5 and S.U. 2 in Ohio, where we have a Republican administration taking on the teachers, the police and the fire, and saying they make too much money, and it's because of them that we have these huge budget issues, when really, they're the last bastion of the middle class, and they run into burning buildings, and they go out and they take care of us when we're in a dangerous situation, or they teach our kids, or they clean the public restrooms, or they clean the restrooms in the schools.

These are people who serve us, all of us as a country. For us to continue to go down the path of, we've got to dismantle the middle class, we've got to dismantle the unions, we've got to cut programs like Pell Grants or food stamps or things that help us invest, or keep interest rates high on student loans, or cut funding for the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, this is not a recipe for success. This is a recipe for the destruction of the middle class.

These are investments we've always made as a country that have benefited us. And to say to these police and fire and teachers and public employees, you're making too much money, you're part of the problem, when they're making $30,000, $35,000 a year, is ridiculous.

The policies coming out of Washington and the House of Representatives, we don't even have the courage

to take on China to say maybe we'll drive some manufacturing jobs back into the United States, create some wealth back in the United States so these local communities have money to fund their police and fire. This is what we've always done.

One final point. You're starting to see it percolate. You saw it in Wisconsin. The coalition in Ohio, now, against this issue too, is incredible. Police, fire, teachers, public employees, building trades, auto workers, machinists, average people, all coming together to say, this is the middle class, and we've had it up to here. With Occupy Wall Street, it's the same thing. Income inequality. High levels, it's been going on for a long time. People are up to here.

And for a while, my friend, they have said, go get Washington, D.C. Look at them. Look, it's the Democrats, get them. It's their fault. But the reality is it's where the money is, and that concentration of wealth you were talking about, that's driving the policies here.

Somebody explain to me how we can pass a China currency bill last year, with 350 votes, 99 Republicans, and we can't get a vote in the House of Representatives on it now. The Senate just passed it. Because there are some very powerful interests that don't want it on the floor. They don't want to vote on this. They like the system just the way it is. They can locate over in China and ship their product back and the Americans will buy it.

But what's coming home to roost now is that the Americans aren't making the wages they were in the last 20 or 30 years.

In the last 20 or 30 years, consumer spending is down, consumer confidence is down, wages are stagnant, and there are high levels of poverty even in the suburbs. And so it's all coming home to roost.

I think it's time for our country and all of these disparate groups to now come together--police, fire, teachers, building trades, and working class people. I'm telling you, in Ohio they're coming together and they're saying: We are the middle class, we are working America, and we are going to set the agenda.

I just think we're competing directly now with China in such a significant and direct way. So we put, say, $8 billion in the stimulus package for high-speed rail. I think China is spending tens of billions of dollars----

I think it's $120 billion, maybe, on high-speed rail. They're going to have more tracks in China than in the rest of the world combined in the next 5 or 10 years; and we're sitting here saying we're not going to do anything because we're not for high-speed rail. Ohio gave back $400 million, and Florida gave back a few hundred million dollars. We know from conversations we've had with businesspeople that that would have lured companies into the State of Ohio because they want to build railcars, but they're not going to build them if we don't have a high-speed rail program. These are investments that we have made.

We've gotten into the mind-set that the government can't do everything, but it has to do something. What it has to do is make sure our roads and our bridges and our infrastructure are up to speed.

I was just talking with Congressman Doyle from Pittsburgh. He said $3 billion in sewer projects need to get done--EPA-mandated in Pittsburgh. I think Cleveland is $2 billion to $3 billion and that Akron is about $1 billion. It's hundreds of millions in places like Youngstown and in smaller cities. I'm sure Toledo is up there in the hundreds of millions in these older cities.

I saw Rahm Emanuel, the Chicago mayor. He was saying these are 100-year-old systems in Chicago. Do we really think that Pittsburgh and Cleveland and Akron and Youngstown and Toledo have $1 billion to go make these investments? But if we say collectively as a country we're going to rebuild the country and that right now we're going to use the power that we have to go out and get the money and make these investments and put all these people back to work, they'll be working for a decade.

Mr. Speaker, last year we passed a bill in this House with 350 votes--99 Republicans--to address the issue of currency manipulation around the world, primarily China. Unfair trade practices in China have cost America 2.8 million jobs in the last 10 years--1.9 million of those, manufacturing.

If we have the strength in this body, in the House of Representatives, to take on the Chinese, we can have a major jobs package right here in the United States and put small and medium-sized manufacturers on a level playing field, put average workers back to work and reclaim the mantle of manufacturing in the United States. But this House has denied us the opportunity to take on the Chinese. The Senate passed it with over 60 votes just a week or 2 ago. Last year, we passed it in this House, 350 votes--99 Republicans.

We cannot be appeasers to the Chinese. We need to take them on, drive that investment back into the United States, and reclaim the mantle of manufacturing around the world.

I thank the gentleman, and I'd like to thank the gentlelady from Florida for making this recognition and the gentleman from North Carolina for all of his leadership in the House on this issue and a variety of others; and I just rise here to say that I want to be in support of not only this resolution but the eventual awarding of the Congressional Gold Medal to the Montford Point Marines.

I think this is a great example of how we in America, sometimes it takes us too long, but we try to rectify these problems. I hope that this is an opportunity for us to recognize discrimination when it's happening anywhere else in the military or across our country, that we shouldn't have to wait to honor these marines 70 years later because of their commitment that they made. They were dedicated to this country. They fought racism. They fought segregation. They fought humiliation, all to try to serve this great country. I think they really embody what the Marines stand for, the honor, the courage, and the commitment that is exactly what it takes to be a marine. So let us learn this lesson and also honor these gentlemen here today.

I thank the gentleman.

These are the same promises that we heard during NAFTA and during the Most Favored Nation trade status debate with China.

We hear a lot of statistics about job creation. We don't need statistics. Come to Ohio. Go to Toledo. Go to Pittsburgh. Go to Fayetteville, North Carolina. Go to Youngstown, Ohio. Go to Akron. Go down the Ohio River. All

these promises were made before, and it didn't pan out. It didn't work.

And these trade issues are sideshows. The number one issue facing this Congress is whether or not we're going to deal with China and their currency manipulation. That bill came to the floor, this floor, last year. We had 99 Republicans vote for it. It passed with 350 votes. It just passed the Senate.

We need to bring that bill to the floor and take on the beast in the middle of the room, and that's the Chinese, and drive investment back.

When we put a tariff on oil country tubular goods in China, countervailing duties and anti-dumping, we had $2 billion of investment that now came into the United States in steel mills.

We know what to do. We just need the courage to do it. And to all my friends here who are going to help all these multinational corporations, they're going to get the money that they made, and they're going to utilize the Citizens United case, and they're going to invest it in your campaigns to beat you.

It's time we have the courage to take on the beast and do what's right.

Mr. Speaker, on the occasion of its Centennial National Day on October 10, 2011, I wish to extend to the Republic of China (Taiwan) my sincerest congratulations and best wishes.

Taiwan has been a staunch ally of the United States and demonstrates that friendship in myriad ways, ranging from the healthy trade relationship we share to education and even popular culture. For example, Taiwan regularly sends its agricultural procurement mission to purchase U.S. products. Taiwan's mission, currently visiting the United States, plans to purchase more than $5.6 billion in wheat, corn, soybean and other agricultural products. For its defense needs, Taiwan seeks to purchase advanced weapons from us, including F-16s fighters and possibly submarines in the future. Further, our Taiwanese friends have long appreciated many facets of U.S. culture, to include our system of education, our democratic values and even our regional culinary traditions. We return that admiration in kind and are proud to share so many cultural and political values with the people of Taiwan.

The Republic of China is a shining example of a democratic, open society in the region. The advancements and development achieved over the last century are laudable and, for these reasons, I offer heartfelt congratulations on this very special occasion.

Mr. Speaker, I rise tonight to recognize Congresswoman Carrie Meek and her lifelong devotion to public service.

For over a decade, Congresswoman Meek served in the Florida State House of Representatives and Senate. In 1993, Congresswoman Meek became the first African American since Reconstruction to be elected to the United States House of Representatives from the state of Florida.

Congresswoman Meek fought against cuts to social welfare programs throughout the 1990s. Instead, she worked to expand federal programs that could create jobs and make it easier for minorities to open and own their own businesses.

During her career, she worked tirelessly to stand up for the underprivileged; making sure that the elderly were able to live comfortably, that minorities were accurately counted in the Census, and that disaster stricken areas had adequate funding.

I am honored to join my distinguished colleagues to pay tribute to the great work and achievements of Congresswoman Meek. She is, and always will be a shining example of how we, as Members of Congress, should conduct ourselves in public office.

Mr. Speaker, I stand before you this evening in recognition of a truly great American, Rex Ferry, who has served as President of Valley Electrical Consolidated, Inc. and Evets Electrical, both headquartered in Girard, Ohio. I wish to recognize him for his extraordinary service, for the past 3 years, serving as President of the National Electrical Contractors Association, NECA.

There are many things that impress and amaze me about Rex Ferry. First among them is that he grew up in the trade and worked hard to build up the necessary resources and assets to eventually own his own company and become an electrical contractor. He began his career as an apprentice with the IBEW Local 573 in Warren, Ohio. He worked in many areas of electrical construction and purchased Valley Electrical in 1990 and later added Evets Electric to his management portfolio in 2006.

Also high on the list of Rex's strong attributes are his family and his faith. He has been married to Mary, his high school sweetheart, for over 30 years. Additionally, his company is family-owned and operated as his daughter and sons-in-law all work for his company.

There is an old saying that leaders rise up in times of crisis and if that saying holds true, there is no one I know who has demonstrated a capacity to lead through difficult times quite like Rex Ferry. NECA and its member companies were not and are not immune to the challenging economic times with construction nearly grinding to a halt. I know this has weighed on him tremendously during his tenure. But as I've grown to enjoy Rex's company over the past years, I've known him to be one of the most optimistic business leaders around.

I know he has appeared at many local and national NECA meetings where he has been called upon to deliver one of his infamous `pep' talks where groups became accustomed to his legendary ``Magic Wand.'' He welcomes the opportunity to report on the significant challenges not only facing his company, but also, the electrical contracting industry. He has challenged business leaders from around the country to adapt to a changing economic environment. He has implemented a variety of changes at NECA including, but not limited to, creation of focus groups to bring out the youth movement, what he refers to as future leaders, and to encourage women, through installation of a women's peer group, to learn about opportunities in the electrical industry.

Mr. Speaker, I recognize that his tenure will expire at the end of this year where the leadership reins will turn over to another capable Ohioan, Dennis Quebe, of Dayton. I'm honored to recognize Rex this evening for his incredible leadership, his passion, his vision, and for his continued friendship.

Mr. Speaker, there's something missing in this entire debate. Over the course of the last 30 years, in the 1970s, if you would have seen the real income for the top 1 percent, it accounted for about 9 percent of real income. Today the top 1 percent accounts for 25 percent of real income. The top 400 wealthiest people in the United States of America pay a tax rate of 17 percent, while the fellow in Youngstown, Ohio, is paying a much higher tax rate.

The sky is falling, and the Republican Party wants to make all these huge decisions about how we need to fix our country. We need the wealthiest in our country to become patriots and step up to bat and help us solve this problem. Everyone here is being asked to sacrifice. The military, the middle class, the parents trying to send their kids to college with Pell Grants, the schools that get title I, all are being asked to sacrifice but for the top 1 percent of the wealthiest people in this country. It is absent from this debate.

It is irresponsible for us to continue this process without asking the wealthiest in the United States of America, who have been blessed to live in this country, to help us solve this problem.

I thank the gentleman for yielding.

One of the issues we want on the table here is revenue. The top 400 wealthiest people in the United States of America pay a 17 percent tax rate. My constituents in Youngstown and Akron, Ohio, pay a heck of a lot more than 17 percent.

We hear our friends on the other side say how all of these changes need to occur, how all of these problems need to be solved. But heaven forbid, Mr. Speaker, we ask the 400 wealthiest families in the United States of America to maybe be a little bit patriotic and help us out. And you'll say, Well, these are the job creators. These taxes aren't going into place for another year or two. We've got to get through this downturn.

But we need to send the message to the bond market that we are serious. And for us to be this irresponsible and not ask the wealthiest--what are they being asked to sacrifice here? The top 1 percent, what are we asking them to sacrifice?

One final point.

The debt that we now are debating was run up by our friends on the other side--two wars, the Bush tax cuts, and a prescription drug plan all on the credit card. And now the same people who've worked their way up in the leadership positions are saying, We're not going to pay the bill. This is irresponsible.

Let's solve this in a balanced way, and let's ask for some shared sacrifice.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the memory of Pete Mollica, a fixture of Niles and the Mahoning Valley, who passed away on July 14th. Pete fought a long, hard battle with cancer, and the loss of his voice in our community is a void that will be impossible to fill.

A graduate of Niles McKinley High School, Pete was himself an athlete, competing on the football and baseball fields. Sports was in his blood, whether it be as a player, coach or official. Fortunately for the people of Northeast Ohio, he made his love of competition a career as a sports writer.

He leaves behind his high school sweetheart, Bonnie, two children, and six grandchildren. They will continue his legacy of kindness, generosity and optimism, but no one can ever fully replace what he brought to our community.

As a Valley athlete, I grew up reading Pete's writing. He covered it all with heart--high school, college, football, golf, softball, you name it. His uplifting stories of competition and athleticism helped inspire local children and adults alike.

Being named in one of Pete's columns was a badge of honor; you could be certain friends, family, and the community would take notice. And therein was Pete's true gift, his understanding of how sports bring communities together. Through his craft, for just a moment, we could forget about our differences and embrace our shared excitement and appreciation of sports.

I thank the gentlelady, and I would also like to thank Representative Fudge for her leadership.

I thank the gentlelady. I would also like to thank Representative Fudge and the Congressional Black Caucus.

This issue of voter identification and voter suppression goes to the heart of our Constitution in this country. Eleven percent of adults would not have a qualified identification to be able to go and vote; 25 percent of African Americans would not have a qualified ID to be able to vote.

And I have one question: Where's the Tea Party on this issue? Where's the Tea Party with all the placards about freedom and liberty and we're losing our country? We have an issue that is fundamental to what it means to be an American, the right to vote. The question I have is: Where's the Tea Party on the voter suppression issue?

I thank the gentleman.

I would also like to thank our ranking member for carrying the flag here on our side and combating some of the misinformation that's coming out from the other side. And I know the other side certainly feels the same way.

But it's not the President saying all these things are going to happen if we do not address this issue. It's every economist on the planet, except for a few that may get paid by somebody who wants them to come up with another solution or another answer. So to pin this all on the President, to say that he's somehow hyping this, I think is not exactly true.

I think what the American people are seeing and what we're seeing now is that as we come to the end, as we get close to a solution to this problem, the House Republican Caucus says, Wait, we've got a solution. Let's change the Constitution. That is not a sincere effort to try to address this problem. We have had people negotiating this day in and day out. And to come in within days of us destabilizing the markets and say, Our solution is to change the Constitution of the United States, I think is inadequate.

I have heard several Members get up and talk about this debt in the last couple of years and everything else, completely ignoring the fact that our economy collapsed just 2 years ago. Just 2 years ago, the economy completely collapsed and collapsed, in part, because of the recklessness and the deregulation of Wall Street, taking the cops off the beat and letting all of these financial machinations continue to happen without any regulation at all. So to put up a placard that says, We need to reduce regulations on Wall Street, is a recipe to implement the same policies that got us into trouble in the first place.

And, lastly, I would just like to say I know this is called a balanced budget amendment, but the one thing that is not included is balance. When you look at the last 30 years, and you look at the accumulation of wealth that went from the middle class, wages being stagnant over 30 years, and the fact that in the late seventies, the top 1 percent of people in the country, the top 1 percent of the wealthiest, had 9 percent of real income in the late seventies. The top 1 percent now has 25 percent of real income in the country. The average CEO in the late sixties made $48 for every $1 the worker made. Today it's $280.

To try to put into the Constitution of the United States an additional hurdle to try to ask those people who have benefited so greatly for being born in America and for generating wealth in America and having a court system and a military and transportation system available to them to make it harder to ask them to contribute to solve some of these problems, I think, is a real problem because at the same time you're making it easier, with your GDP number of 18 percent, to cut Medicare and to cut those programs that are investments here in the United States that keep this great system going.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to extend my very best birthday wishes to the Honorable John Glenn of Ohio on the occasion of his 90th birthday.

John Glenn is an American hero and a true legend. It is difficult to believe that today he is celebrating his 90th birthday. He is a hero in war, a hero in peace and remains a hero in the hearts of his countrymen.

Growing up in New Concord, Ohio, and attending Muskingum College, he was on his way to his girlfriend Annie's organ recital at Brown Chapel when he heard the news that Pearl Harbor had been attacked. That changed their lives and changed America forever.

His incomparable life of service began as a Marine Corps fighter pilot flying the F4U Corsair in the South Pacific in World II and the F9F Panther and F-86 Sabrejet in Korea. In 1957, as part of Project Bullet, he made the first supersonic transcontinental flight from California to New York in a F8U Crusader.

In 1959, he was chosen by the recently established National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as one of the original seven astronauts for Project Mercury. Next February will be the 50th Anniversary of John Glenn's orbital flight aboard Friendship Seven. Just last month John Glenn and Scott Carpenter, the only two surviving Mercury Astronauts reunited at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C., to recollect and discuss their historic flights and America's Space program.

Of course we all know that John Glenn did not end his public service at that point. In 1974 he became a U.S Senator from Ohio and served for 24 years. In 1997, John Glenn announced his retirement from the Senate stating that there was no cure for the common birthday. Nonetheless, in 1998, he returned to space aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery at age 77 to study the effects of space flight on seniors.

You can be sure that John Glenn doesn't stand still. He worked to establish the John Glenn School of Public Affairs at The Ohio State University and he served as Chairman of the National Commission on Math and Science Teaching for the 21st Century.

I have been honored to join him on many occasions at public events in Ohio. He is clearly on the side of maintaining our commitment to the manned space program and disappointed with the decision to end the Space Shuttle Program.

At 90 he is recovering from a knee replacement but still pilots his own plane and admits that his greatest success was not war, space, or politics but 68 years of marriage to his childhood sweetheart, Annie.

Happy Birthday John Glenn. We wish you and Annie all the best.

Mr. Speaker , I ask unanimous consent that a column by Connie Shultz of the Cleveland Plain Dealer be printed following my remarks.

[From the Cleveland Plain Dealer, July 18, 2011]

John Glenn Turns 90: An Appreciation

(By Connie Schultz)

Happy birthday, John Glenn

Two summers ago, John and Annie Glenn loaded up their

Cadillac, pulled out of their driveway in Columbus and headed

west for 8,400 miles of unscheduled adventure.

``We'd seen the Northwest from the air, but we'd never

experienced it on the ground,'' John said. ``We wanted to

explore from the road.''

For a month, they stopped when they felt like it. They

took detours whenever the spirit moved them. They made hotel

reservations one day at a time, from the road.

``It was like one long date,'' Annie told me after their

return. ``We just enjoy each other's company so much.''

John was 88 at the time. Annie was 89. They'd been married

66 years by then.

John Glenn--World War II veteran, the first American to

orbit the Earth and Ohio's U.S. senator for 24 years--turns

90 today.

He seems unmoved by the milestone.

``Well, you know what they say,'' he said from his

hospital room, where he is recovering from knee surgery. ``If

I'd known I was going to live this long, I would have taken

better care of myself.''

If there is any person whom Americans--particularly

Ohioans--expect to be hale and hearty at 90, it's John Glenn.

He was 77, after all, when he launched into space for the

second time, on the space shuttle Discovery. Not the normal

retirement trajectory for a septuagenarian.

To commemorate John's 90th birthday, LIFE.com has posted

an online gallery of 25 previously unpublished photos of

Glenn. It is worth a visit, for the photographic glimpses

into a fascinating life, and time, in America, and for the

narrative that unfolds through the captions, such as this one

from a 1964 interview with John:

A lot of people ask . . . why a man is willing to risk

[everything] on something like this. Well, we've got to do

it. We're going into an age of exploration that will be

bigger than anything the world has ever seen. I guess I'm

putting my family up against some risks. I could do other

jobs, which might increase my life expectancy. But this could

help my kids, too. I want them to be better off than I was as

a young man. With risks, you gain.

John Glenn is still a champion for space exploration. I

talked to him on Saturday, four days after his surgery. He

was still in the hospital, in some discomfort but refusing to

complain.

Until I asked how he felt about the recent end of the U.S.

space shuttle program, that is.

``I could talk to you for three hours about that,'' he

said. ``The space station is the most unique laboratory we've

ever built. The reason we have it is to do research on

materials, people, medical matters, pharmaceuticals--the

possibilities are nearly endless.

John Glenn dots the ``i'' in Script Ohio.

John Glenn dots the i Former Ohio Senator John Glenn dots

the i with the alumni

band at halftime of the Ohio State-Navy game on Sept. 5.

``People keep talking about how we have to go to Mars. We

may want to go to Mars sometime. But we should . . . maximize

the research return for our efforts [on the Space Station]

for people here on Earth.''

I first met John in 1979, when I was an intern in

Washington, D.C. He does not remember our first encounter, of

course, which I can hardly hold against him. He was a busy

U.S. senator. I was a 22-year-old college kid who couldn't

wait to call her dad, who had admired John Glenn all his

life.

Twenty-five years later, John and Annie became my friends

after I married then-U.S. Rep. Sherrod Brown. In January

2007, John escorted Sherrod on the Senate floor for his

swearing-in ceremony. Annie, whose gentle advice during the

campaign sustained me, held my hand in the Senate gallery.

It would be wrong to commemorate the remarkable life of

John Glenn without also celebrating this woman who has been

his wife through all of it. They are virtually inseparable

these days, and John is the first to acknowledge that Annie

makes life worth living.

Annie is as engaging as she is generous, full of opinions

earned by living life at full throttle, even when she was

scared to death. And that is a crucial truth about Annie

Glenn. Americans rightly ``ooh'' and ``ahh'' over John

Glenn's courage in space, but let us never forget the hero of

a wife who gave her public blessing, and then privately

prayed until his safe return.

You don't set out to create a myth or some sort of hero

worship around yourself or your colleagues, Glenn told

LIFE.com of his years as a test pilot and, especially, as an

astronaut. But as it happens, you do become aware of it. Of

course you're aware of it. You'd be numb if you weren't aware

of it. But honestly, we just tried to live up to it as well

as we could.

The Glenns are planning to hit the road again soon. This

time, they want to drive through the American Southwest.

``We want to take our time,'' John said. ``We want to see

where the road will take us.''

I am reminded of what his fellow astronaut Scott Carpenter

said to John as he lifted off toward the heavens in 1962:

Godspeed, John Glenn.

And Annie, too.