Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the memory and incredible accomplishments of Katherine Johnson, a brilliant mathematician whose trailblazing work was instrumental in America's space exploration. Ms. Johnson passed away earlier this week at the age of 101 leaving behind a legacy not only of genius and dedication, but also of vitally important advancement in STEM fields for women and African Americans. Ms. Johnson's affinity for numbers was evident from an early age. She graduated from high school early and went on to study math and French at West Virginia State College. Later, she became the first African American woman to attend graduate school at West Virginia University. In 1953, Katherine Johnson accepted her first computing job with the agency that would become NASA. Despite intense discrimination throughout her years at NASA, she remained committed to advancing America's space program and broke barriers where she could. Eventually, she hand-calculated the flight path for America's first crewed space mission in 1961 and also helped calculate the trajectory for the famed Moon landing. When astronaut John Glenn prepared for his orbit around the Earth in 1962, he asked for Johnson to verify the calculations in NASA's new computer tracking system. He said: ``If she says the computer is right, I will take it.'' The impact of Katherine Johnson's groundbreaking work in math and science can hardly be overstated.…”