Congratulating NASA and the "Discovery" Crew

CONGRATULATING NASA AND THE ``DISCOVERY'' CREW -- (House of Representatives - September 20, 2005)

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

Today, we are paying tribute to real American heroes, the crew of the return-to-flight STS-114 Discovery shuttle mission and the NASA team and community on the ground. These heroes have the right stuff that inspires a Nation, from kids studying math and science, to all of us who are awed and inspired by NASA, and our astronauts.

When I introduced this resolution less than a week ago, we had such enthusiastic support that we quickly secured 55 bipartisan cosponsors who represent communities across the Nation. When we pass this resolution today, we plan to present a copy to each member of the Discovery crew as a token of the Nation's gratitude for their heroism.

We all worry about the competitiveness of this great Nation and the fact that our schoolchildren are less competitive in math and science than many of their international peers. Currently, the U.S. share of undergraduate and graduate degrees in sciences and engineering has been falling behind those of Asia and Europe. Intuitively, we know that we need to encourage our youth to study these challenging subjects, and with heroes like Commander Eileen Collins, Pilot Jim Kelly, Mission Specialists Charlie Camarda, Wendy Lawrence, Soichi Noguchi, Steve Robinson, and Andy Thomas, it is much easier to inspire American students to devote their time and studies to science, as we saw during the Apollo program.

The NASA family and this Discovery crew have initiated the first step of the Nation's Vision for Space Exploration. Last year, the President announced the Vision for Space Exploration which states that NASA will complete the International Space Station, will return to the Moon no later than 2020, and will extend human presence across the solar system and beyond. This week, NASA released its Exploration Architecture for this vision, which outlines the steps NASA plans to take in order to return to the Moon and explore our solar system over the next 13 years.

In the first space age, our Nation invested in the space program to gain global leadership during the Cold War. Now we are in the second space age, with our global competitiveness worldwide at stake. We must have the United States at the forefront in the exploration of our solar system and the global leader in the high-technology industries. Our preeminence in the world is dependent on our leadership in space.

We honor the STS-114 Discovery crew as true American heroes. They are strong men and women who motivate our children and inspire our Nation and the world. They have taken the historic first step of the Vision for Space Exploration and have brought us one step closer to our Nation's destiny.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

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