Dana Rohrabacher: “On July 20, 1969, all humankind witnessed the greatest technological achievement in history: men setting foot on the…”

“On July 20, 1969, all humankind witnessed the greatest technological achievement in history: men setting foot on the Moon and then successfully returning to Earth. The tremendous accomplishment of those three men and, yes, of the United States of America, is remembered to this day. Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, Mike Collins stand as shining examples of courage and technological genius, along with those many people in NASA that helped them and were on that trip with them every second of the journey. We honor the people of NASA who were responsible for this great achievement, and we honor these three brave astronauts for their heroism in taking that one giant leap for mankind 35 years ago. On reflection, that day in history represented more than man's mastery of science and engineering. Rather, NASA's success in this endeavor has given us a sense of unlimited potential for our Nation and the world. Buzz Aldrin said it best when he observed, 'The significance of what we did was not embodied in the few rocks that we brought back or what we saw . . . But the significance really was the impact we had on millions of people around the world.' And, yes, millions of people in the United States. Now we have the opportunity today to repeat history with President Bush's vision for space exploration. I believe there are young people who will be just as inspired by this great quest as those were by the first Moon landing.”