January 29, 2020 - Issue: Vol. 166, No. 19 — Daily Edition116th Congress (2019 - 2020) - 2nd Session

[Page H645]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           MARKING ANNIVERSARY OF THE ``CHALLENGER'' TRAGEDY

  (Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania asked and was given permission to 
address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, yesterday marked the 
anniversary of the Challenger space shuttle explosion.
  Mr. Speaker, 34 years ago, President Ronald Reagan addressed the 
Nation from the Oval Office, mourning with the entire country but 
paying special attention to the Nation's young people, telling them: 
``The future doesn't belong to the fainthearted; it belongs to the 
brave.''
  Today, those young people have become the men and women who have 
taken up the mantle of space exploration, who probe the outer limits of 
our solar system and even join NASA to explore space for themselves. 
President Reagan's words are as true for these men and women as they 
were for the Challenger crew.
  As we look back on the tragedy of the Challenger, we must also look 
ahead. Let us recommit ourselves to space exploration by empowering the 
men and women who study it. We can honor our past by making space 
exploration a part of our future.

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