11144, we will present a gold medal to the honorable john glenn, first american to orbit the earth. neil armstrong, the first human to walk on the moon. michael collins, the pilot of apollo 11's command module. and dr. buzz aldrin, pilot of apollo's lunar module and the second human being to walk on the moon. we're honored to be joined by a number of distinguished public servants and members of the nasa community, including the most recent astronaut class, which graduated not long ago. also with us are members of the crew of the uss hornet, the carrier that recovered the apollo 11 astronauts when they splashed down in the pacific. before we have the presentation of colors, let me draw your attention to the flag here on stage.

senator glenn did so on february 26th, 1962. on september 16th, 1969, the crew of the apollo 11 presented speaker john mccormack with a flag they carried to the moon. today the flag is under the care of the house sergeant of arms, bill livingood. as some of you know, bill has had a great affection for the flag. i've told he has even held birthday parties for it. we appreciate his willingness to part with it for just today. >> ladies and gentlemen, please stand for the presentation of the colors by the united states

armed forces color guard, the singing of our national anthem, and the retiring of the colors. ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ oh say can you see by the dawn's early light ♪ ♪ what so proudly we hailed as the twilight's last gleaming ♪ ♪ whose bright stripes and bright stars through the perilous night ♪ ♪ oer the ramparts we fought

were so gallantly streaming ♪ ♪ and the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air ♪ ♪ gave proof through the night that our flag was still there ♪ ♪ oh say does that star spangled banner yet wave ♪ ♪ for the land free and the home of the brave ♪ >> right.

[ drums ] ♪ ♪ >> ladies and gentlemen, please remain standing as the chaplain

of the united states house of representatives, the reverend patrick conroy gives the invocation. >> let us pray. god of the universe, we give you thanks for the wonder of your creation. a long time ago in a place far, far away, you called forth a common ancestor of faith to leave his home to travel to a place you would show him. by that call and by his obedience to and trust in you, we continued to be challenged to move beyond the limits of our own imagination. on this day, we gather to give you thanks that we are

wondrously made and gifted with the spirit and the will to move beyond the horizon. all of our ancestors at some point left a place familiar to them and to an uncertain future. but that future to them has become our present. we give you thanks for the dreams and hopes of this nation's ancestors, and today for the personal heroism that empowered those being honored today to leave this very planet familiar to them to go to a universe never before visited by our kind. the many advances of science and technology, medicine, and physics, to name only three, have bettered the lives of millions. the advances in the spirit of

our human family, perhaps more importantly have been immeasurable. bless these most heroic americans we honor this day. may they know of our shared pride, and our most grateful esteem for them. and may all those who shared efforts in ingenuity allowed these honored ones to boldly go where no one has gone before know of our gratitude as well. where can we go from your spirit, oh god? where can we flee from your presence? if we go up to the heavens, you are there. thank you for that. amen. >> please be seated.

>> ladies and gentlemen, the ranking member of the united states house of representatives committee on science, space, and technology, and the representative from the 30th district of texas, the honorable eddie bernice johnson. >> thank you, and good morning. thank you for this opportunity to make -- to permit me to make a few remarks as we honor distinguished americans. you know, hero is an overused word. but i think that all who are assembled today would not hesitate to describe our honorees as genuine national heroes. in fact, the only ones who might object to that description are the honorees themselves. in an age of inflated egos and

self-promotion, each of these has distinguished himself and his modest, his competence, his bravery and his dedication to serving this nation. while we ostensibly are honoring them by bestowing gold medals, it is a simple representation of all they have meant to america. as i said to mr. armstrong when he testified before our committee earlier this year, america's space program is as much about inspiration as it is about rockets and space capsules. and the four gentlemen we are honoring today are continuing to inspire our young and old. even though our path making, path breaking missions occurred more than four decades ago, they

led to the way as america ventured into this new ocean of space as president kennedy described it. thank you. [ applause ] >> ladies and gentlemen, the chairman of the united states house of representatives committee on science, space, and technology, and the representative from the fourth district of texas, the honorable ralph hall. >> first, mr. speaker, let me thank you for scheduling today's congressional medal ceremony honoring these brave men. our school children and others will be reading about them for hundreds of years. they hardly need any introduction. all americans young and old take great pride in their nation's manned space program flight and the men and women who had flown as astronauts, the engineers

assigned the technicians who provided the u.s. with the technology to enable safe travel into space. woke up to virtually anyone in the street. and they'll be able to tell you the names of their first president. they can tell you who our current president, the first american to orbit the earth and the first americans to land on the moon, a very select group. 2009 marked the 40th anniversary of the apollo 11 anniversary to the moon. next february 2012 marks the 50th anniversary of john glenn's historic ride into the space on board friendship 7. both of these missions are remarkable for the bravery, if not the audacity of the astronauts to fly spacecraft of first-of-a-kind missions. john glenn's flight in the americay capsule is the first orbital manned mission. apollo 11 was the first to land man on the moon and return. in both cases their missions were the first to fully exercise the many systems and components that made up their rockets and

their capsules. the destroy of difficulty was hard. the risk of failure was arguably still higher. and yet these men were willing to embrace that pearl. one of these men, john being the first as i've stated, was also the only of this group to run for president. i have been allotted four minutes, and i'm taking a minute out to tell one of the great stories that came out of that campaign. john may not want me to tell it. but he was running for president. he came home an hour late for a dinner that his lovely wife annie had prepared. she was little irritated that she was late. at that time, john was worn out. he was tired. his dog was welcoming him and licking his hand and moaning, and john was petting him. and she was on his case. and finally he said, "annie, i'm dead tired, i'm not doing good in the polls. i'm almost out of money. when i come home like this, seems like i ought to have two

friends." so she bought him another dog. it also bears mention that much of the hardware on the early generation space systems, including mercury, gemini and apollo were designed not with components, but with slide rules. and the computers on board the mercury, the gemini and the apollo capsules were very rudimentary by today's standards. several weeks ago and a hearing before the house science committee, neil armstrong made this point by holding up his cell phone and testifying that it had far more capability than the computer that guided the apollo 11 capsule. it's impossible to fully grasp the discoveries and technologies that have sprung from our nation's space flight program. and the innovations and products they spawned. so too it's challenging to measure the effect our space programs had on america's place in the community of nations and on our international prestige. but i can tell you we wouldn't be discussing these outcomes today were it not for john glenn, neil armstrong, mike

collins, and buzz aldrin, and their wives and families who support and sacrifices enabled the success of these missions. congratulations to all of these. your exploits have become integral to our nation's history and its success. and for that i sellerly thank you. [ applause ] >> ladies and gentlemen, the chairman of the united states senate subcommittee on science and space and the senior senator from the state of florida, the honorable bill nelson. >> ladies and gentlemen, the -- it said in the psalms written by david as he peered up into the heavens, "the heavens declare the glory of god. the firment showeth his handy

work." you think of the significance of this congressional gold medal. it has only been awarded to 100. and of those in aviation and space first, think of the wright brothers, charles lindbergh, dr. robert goddard, the father of modern rocketry, and now today's honorees. and i dare say that in future years we will be giving the same ceremony and gold medal to the first crew that will land on the planet mars. ladies and gentlemen, the dream is alive.

as a matter of fact, it's a part of us. it's our character as the american people to be adventurers and explorers. and give that dream up. indeed, in the honoring of these astronauts, we foretell the future, the greatness, the discovery, the expressing of ousts as a people, pioneers, adventurers, and explorers. ladies and gentlemen, the dream is alive. [ applause ] >> ladies and gentlemen, the ranking member of the united states senate's committee on

commerce, science, and transportation, and the senior senator from the state of texas, the honorable kay bailey hutchison. >> we are honoring four brave, determined, resilient men. they and the astronauts who followed took enormous personal risks for our country to venture beyond earth's orbit. their missions into the unknown remind of us what can be achieved, as well as the dangers of not reaching for the stars. america urgently needs to continue our preeminence in manned space exploration. from senator glenn's flight on friendship 7 to astronauts armstrong, collins, and aldrin's lunar mission of apollo 11, to our recent space shuttle program

to the space station, we know that space exploration is a step-by-step process. it will require leadership to get a sustained commitment of resources and a clear sense of purpose over time. look at what space exploration has brought to america. the technology and products in space science, earth science, fundamental aeronautics research have spurred tens of billions of economic activity dollars and hundreds of thousands of productive jobs. the use of satellites that can guide a missile into a window from three miles away has drastically lowered collateral damage and saved countless lives in conflicts and wars. we have all heard the words of

president john kennedy when he spoke in 1962 at rice university. for the eyes of the world now look into space to the moon and and we have vowed that we shall not see it governed by a hostile flag of conquest but by a banner of freedom and peace. the president set america on the course to achieve his vision. the men here today soared into a dark sky and described from afar what they saw. in the process, they contributed to a better world here on earth. they assured america would lead the way. we owe it to them and to our nation not to abdicate our nation's role as the leader in space exploration. what they began, we are summoned to continue. thank you. [ applause ]

>> ladies and gentlemen, the administrator of the national aeronautics and space administration, mr. charles bolden jr. >> mr. speaker, mr. reid, mr. mcconnell, ms. pelosi, members of congress and honored guests, as we embark upon a next chapter of human space exploration, we stand on the shoulders of the extraordinary men we recognize here today. those of us that have had the privilege to fly in space follow the trail they forged. america's leadership in space and the confidence we can go achieve great things as a people rests on the achievements of these men. when 50 years ago this year president kennedy challenged the nation to reach the moon, to

take longer strides toward a great new american enterprise, these men were the human face of these words. from mercury and gemini, on through our landings on the moon and the apollo program, their actions unfolded that the will of a nation for the greater achievement of humankind. today, another new president has challenged us to reach for new heights and plan an ambitious mission to mars. just as we called on the four individuals we honor today to carry out our early achievements in space, we now call on a new generation of explorers to go where we have never gone before. as we honor these heroes, i want to recognize the hundreds of thousands of dedicated nasa employees and industry partners who contributed to the incredible success of the mercury, gemini and apollo programs and all that have followed and all that is yet to

come. i also want to thank congress. our nation is a better place because of more than a half century of strong, bipartisan support for nasa's work. in human exploration, science and aeronautics, five members of the most recent astronaut candidate class of 2009 are with us today to pay tribute to the congressional gold medal honorees and build on their accomplishments to make similar lasting contributions to our nation's space program. this new group of astronauts stands on the shoulders of the giants we recognize and honor here today, and they will redefine space exploration in the years to come and continue to honor the legacy of john glenn, neil armstrong, buzz aldrin and michael collins. it's a lasting legacy. a legacy that continues to unfold and transform our modern world. the inspiration they provided to

generations isn't something we can measure, but we can feel in our hearts. as a nation, we would not be the same without them and their bravery. their sense of duty and dedication to public service. and their great skill at thinking on their feet. they changed the course of history. and helped our nation to achieve the bigger things to which our greater nature aspires. we owe them our humblest gratitude. on behalf of nasa and all astronauts past and present, i congratulate and thank each of you, john, neil, buzz and mike, our congressional gold medal recipients today.

[ applause ] >> ladies and gentlemen, the singer-songwriter norah jones will now sing "america the beautiful." ♪ o beautiful for spacious skies ♪ ♪ for amber waves of grain ♪ for purple mountains' majesty above the fruited plain ♪ ♪ america america ♪ god shed his grace on thee ♪ and crown thy good with brotherhood ♪ ♪ from sea to shining sea

♪ o beautiful for unseen skies ♪ ♪ for amber waves of grain ♪ ♪ for purple mountain majesties ♪ ♪ above the fruited plain ♪ america america ♪ god shed his grace on thee ♪ till souls wax fare as earth and to music hearted sea ♪ till souls wax fair as earth and

air and music heart and sea ♪ [ applause ] >> ladies and gentlemen, the democratic leader of the house of representatives, the honorable nancy pelosi. >> good morning. today's ceremony is a celebration of the imagination and creativity. it is a tribute to america's leadership, to our legacy of exploration, our belief in discovery, our pursuit of scientific excellence, and technological achievement. today we honor four courageous americans who represented and do still the highest hopes of a

generation who inspired our nation to new heights of greatness and knowledge. who ignited the fires of evolution and rekindle the flames of scientific progress. we honor four men who embody the optimism, the energy, the spirit of the new frontier. as president john f. kennedy said more than a half century ago, the new frontier is not a set of promises. it is a set of challenges. and these astronauts not only accepted those challenges, they challenged future generations to explore new horizons, to apply our skills, our effort, our determination to any obstacles before us. indeed, when president kennedy announced his determination to chart a new course into space,

all americans and those of you who -- well, many of you may not have been born then, but for many of us who were there, learned a new word. astronaut. sailors to the stars. a sailor to the stars. in the past age of discovery, the sailors were guided by the stars. in the new age of discovery, the new frontier, these astronauts reached for the stars. as senator john glenn became the first american to orbit the earth, he paved the way for simply not just more missions into space, but for an expanded commitment to science and technology. and he acted upon that commitment with his leadership and the united states senate where he brought honor to the congress and as he and the other recipients of the award today bring honor to this medal. michael collins piloted the