first in security for our country and around the world. and we still must be first today. we must sustain the spirit of those flights when americans no longer feel bound by the limits of the past but inspired by the possibilities of the present and the frontiers of the future. and that same address at rice university, which senator hutchison referenced as well, president kennedy reminded us. the united states was not built by those who waited and rested and wished to look behind them. this country was conquered by those who moved forward, and so will space. end of quote. senator john glenn, neil armstrong, michael collins, buzz aldrin, these astronauts of the new frontier did not wait or rest or wish. they did not look back or behind. they moved forward and our country moved forward with them, into space, into new generations

of exploration, and into a new frontier of discovery, progress and hope for our future. for their spirit, for their actions, for their inspiration in this time of thanksgiving season, we thank them. we honor them, we congratulate them for receiving the highest civilian honor this country can bestow -- the congressional gold medal. congratulations to our leaders. thank you. >> ladies and gentlemen, the republican leader of the united states senate, the honorable mitch mcconnell. >> in early 1959, about six months after congress formally

created the national aeronautics and space administration, a group of test pilots was summoned to a top secret briefing at the pentagon. once there, they were told that nasa was developing a program aimed at putting a man in orbit, and that it needed volunteers. the training would be long, dangerous, and unlike anything anyone had ever experienced. and those who were chosen would be called astronauts. a 37-year-old marine and father of two named john glenn was among those who attended that meeting. he volunteered without hesitation.

three februarys later, john glenn found himself circling the earth from the heavens at 13,000 miles an hour staring at the sunset that was even more spectacular than he ever imagined as the nation looked on. in new york, thousands of commuters stood still in grand central station to watch the takeoff. and even walter cronkite allowed himself a little show of national pride from the broadcaster's chair as glenn's rocket lifted from the earth, cronkite rooted for the home team saying, go, baby, go. the context of all this was important. five years earlier, the soviet union had beaten us into space with an unmanned satellite. an achievement that prompted nikita khrushchev to quip that now the u.s. slips under a soviet moon.

and that's where the other three men we honor today come in. seven years after glenn circled the earth, neil armstrong, buzz aldrin and michael collins put to rest any doubts about the position of the united states in the world. the cold war was now being fought in space and these men proved that the u.s. was winning. it wasn't easy. as president eisenhower stated at the outset, america's space program would be civilian rather than military led so no one would doubt our intentions. but it also meant that this would be conducted in the open. so every hitch and holdup could be seen and scrutinized. and this is just as it should have been. these missions spanning two democratic and two republican administrations showed not only the power of the four men we honor today, they showed the power of the collective efforts

of a nation united in a common purpose. it took vision. it took will. it took leadership. it took guts. and it took the remarkable courage of john glenn, neil armstrong, buzz aldrin and michael collins. now they will tell you they're not heroes. don't listen to them. america is only as strong as the citizens we produce, and here are four of the best. >> ladies and gentlemen, the majority leader of the united states senate, the honorable harry reid. >> a couple points of personal privilege. first of all, norah jones, i'm one of your big fans.

and it's such a pleasure to be able to listen to you in such close proximity with your beautiful voice and your wonderful presentation. >> secondly, i've been so impressed with what this man has done in space and what he's done on earth. could we all give a round of applause to mark kelly. >> mark, you could at least stand so we could all see you. >> it's been a pleasure over the

years to meet neil armstrong, michael collins and buzz aldrin. but i'm going to spend some time today talking about someone i not only met but had the good fortune of serving with in the united states senate, john glenn. barbara murkowski is here and she will remember as i have, as a couple of new, young senators, that we were going on a congressional delegation trip led by john glenn and ted stephens. it was a wonderful trip. so to be with these two fine senators, i was so happy that i could go. i can remember many things about that trip. and i'll talk just about a couple of things. we left vienna to go to czechoslovakia and when we came to that border, the iron curtain was still down. and they stopped our train. they brought out the dogs and all the security personnel with the rifles.

and they were looking around and under the train, and we were asked to get out of the train. as things calmed down a little bit, one of the soldiers looking around so no one would see what he was doing came over to john glenn quickly and said, could you give me an autograph? we then went to prague and had a meeting with some government officials there. as we were walking up the street, someone came out of an apartment building with an encyclopedia and had it opened to john glenn's picture and said would you autograph over your picture? we focus on how important these astronauts are to us here in the united states. but keep in mind how important they have been to people all around the world. a soviet soldier on a train

going into czechoslovakia. a person of minimal status, i guess we could say, in prague, who wanted to be able to look at john glenn and say, i have this picture. would you sign it for me? but john glenn's prowess has been more than just this trip to czechoslovakia and the other places we went. i've been so impressed with who he is and what he's done. his personal life, but, also, one story i have to tell, because it's one of my favorite all-time -- we had some people come to visit me, and my office was that time in the hart building.

and my -- there were people young teenagers from nevada who had been in the double dutch jump roping championship nationwide. and so they were in one of the hallways there of the hart building, a big wide, spacious area. and they were jumping. there were two ropes going at the same time. and these kids looked so great jumping in and out. they said, try it. to me? i tried it and i made a small fool of myself. but i didn't realize this. john glenn had been watching these kids do the double dutch jump roping. and he came over. he was just a kid then. he was probably about 75. he came over and he said, do you mind if i try this? he was just like one of the teenagers, double dutch jump roping. so i have so many fond memories of john glenn and the role model that he has been for me as a senator. sometimes it seems the more we

learn about the great reaches of the heavens, the more we have left to learn. so much left to learn. but space travel has taught us as much about the planet we call home as it has about the mystery that lies beyond. and for that we have these four pioneers to thank. thank you very much. >> ladies and gentlemen, the speaker of the united states house of representatives, the honorable john boehner. >> well, i think i'm going to go ahead and say what i think everybody here is thinking. this is pretty cool. when the prime minister of australia addressed the congress

last march, she said that as a little girl watching the men land on the moon proved to her that americans could do anything. she grew up in adelaide, east of perth. whose residents turned all their lights on to greet john glenn the night that he flew back across australia. now, the world looks to america because we are free, and it's to our values to which people aspire. along those values is humility. the idea that you're part of a cause greater than yourself that nothing in life is a do it yourself project. though an often unsung virtue,

humility figured prominently in the pinnacle of human hi to this day john glenn insists he was no hero. just a patriot serving his country, which in those days was gripped by the notion that america and democracy itself had fallen behind. these were daring missions but they were vital missions as well. neil armstrong wase why did you, this one man, choose to speak for all when you set your foot on the lunar surface? as it turns out, there was no script. there were no notes. when the moment came, neil and his thoughts turned to the 400,000 people who worked on the project. the designers, the testers, the engineers, the navigators, all

who devised that one small step. he said and i qu " would be a big something for all those folks and a lot of others who weren't even involved in the project." and so it was. buzz aldrin, far from being caught up in the adrenaline paused to reflect. he took out a wafer and then wine and observed communion on the moon just as columbus had done when he reached the new world. buzz invited everyone to give thanks in his or her own way and when neil and buzz planted the stars and stripes on the moon, there wasn't -- there was one person who couldn't observe this scene live. that's all right. i don't mind said michael collins from apollo 11's command module. his attention focused on making sure that pioneers would get home. two years ago mike said this, "a

heroes abound but don't count astronauts among them. we work very hard. we did our jobs to near perfection. but that's what we've been hired to do." when americans take on our work with humility and dedication, there truly is nothing that we can't accomplish. we can do anything if we humble ourselves and if we've got the right stuff. gentlemen, heroes or not, your acts were heroic. and today we add you to the many honors, two of your many honors with respect and gratitude, the congressional gold medal.

>> ladies and gentlemen, please remain seated for the unveiling and presentation of the gold medals by the united states congress. [ applause ]

[ applause ] >> ladies and gentlemen, the first person to land a spacecraft upon the moon and set foot upon the surface, mr. neil armstrong. >> thank you.

thank you so much. mr. speaker, mr. reid, mr. mcconnell, ms. pelosi, members, distinguished guests, we gather in this remarkable monument to american history. this room, connecting the houses of congress. this room where ideological differences fade in the presence of the overpowering force of pride in what we do and what americans have achieved. it's a privilege to be in this

rotunda. high above us, just below the windows, stretches a phrase with 19 panels depicting important events in american history. the most recent of them, number 19, just above me here. it depicts the first successful flight of a man in a powered aircraft by the brothers wright, 108 years ago. the depiction in addition to the craft and the responsible individuals, includes an american bald eagle carrying an olive branch.

wilbur and orville wright were the recipients of the 45th congressional gold medal and the first in the achievements in the world of flight. subsequently, congressional gold medals have been awarded nine times for aviation and rocketry achievements. today, for the first time, they are being given for achievements in space flight. in an appropriate coincidence, apollo 11's mission and crew patch also featured an american bald eagle carrying an olive branch. the apollo 11 crew is honored to receive the congressional gold medal and accept on behalf of

our fellow "apollo" teammates all those who played a role in expanding the human presence outward from earth and all those who played a role in expanding human knowledge of the solar system and beyond. we thank congress very much. [ applause ] >> ladies and gentlemen, the former united states senator from the state of ohio and the first american to orbit the earth, the honorable john glenn. [ applause ]

>> thank you. thank you all very, very much. leaders of the house and senate, members of the congress, ladies and gentlemen, first thanks to each of you for being here today to share this very, very special occasion with us. from our founding days, americans have been motivated by curiosity about the new and unknown, whether it was geographical exploration that's pushed back the frontiers of a continent or microexploration in our laboratories. that curiosity and research coupled with an education system

that let all of our citizens benefit and contribute were the twin engines of progress that catapulted america into world pre-eminence. but there were other frontiers never before believed to be approachab and and for many, many thousands of years people have looked up and wondered and been curious about what was up there. and we must consider ourselves among the most fortunate of all generations for we have lived at a sometime when the dream became a reality, when we could finally travel above the atmosphere around the earth, where we could establish laboratories in space, and do research, and for the very first time in history, leave human footprints on

someplace other than earth as neil and buzz and mike made their epic journey. the message they left on the lunar surface could be said of all our manned space travels. we came in peace for all mankind. these dreams were brought to life by one of the most dedicated and capable teams ever put together, workers, technicians, engineers, scientists. honored as we are today, we certainly share this recognition with that great team. almost 50 years ago following the orbital flight of friendship 7, i was very privileged to attend a joint session of congress and aisle close wit--

with remarks which i'll repeat today with the knowledge, may god grant us the wisdom and guidance to use it wisely. thank you. [ applause ] ladies and gentlemen, please remain standing as we're given the benediction. >> let us pray. o lord of hosts, you stretched out the heavens like a curtain.

thank you for this opportunity to honor four pioneers. lord, you empowered them to enter a new frontier, flipping the surgically bonds of earth to reach out and touch your sovereign face. may the inspiration we receive from these well lived lives save us from the love of ease, which chooses the comfortable way, and from the procrastination which puts things off until it's too late. bless and keep us in all of our tomorrows, in our going out and coming in, in our rising up and lying down, from this time

forth, even for ever more. amen. and gentlemen, please remain at your seats for the departure of the official party.

>> ladies and gentlemen, this concludes today's ceremony. thank you and have a nice day. . ♪

♪