Mike Garcia: “I thank my distinguished colleague from Texas for yielding. Madam Speaker, I stand here this evening inspired. More…”

“I thank my distinguished colleague from Texas for yielding. Madam Speaker, I stand here this evening inspired. More specifically, I am proud, and I am in awe of our American space program and the monumental step that they took this morning with the launch of the Perseverance Mars rover on the back of an Atlas V rocket. But the rover is just one element of this amazing story. While humans have lived on this planet for millions of years, it was a mere 117 years ago when Americans were the first to solve the mystery of sustained, powered flight in our own atmosphere. That is a mere blink of an eye in the long arc of our planet and our own species' history. Now, just a few hours ago, besides the rover vehicle, we also launched a small helicopter named Ingenuity that will ultimately fly in the atmosphere of another planet. Madam Speaker, we will operate a helicopter on Mars. We will also collect samples of the Martian terrain and eventually return those samples back to Earth in about 6 years for further study. However, even while I and so many others applaud and celebrate these American successes, others question our pursuit of such endeavors amid the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting economic challenges thereof. They see this endeavor as unnecessary to our survival. My response to those individuals is simple: You haven't been paying attention. You haven't been paying attention to what makes this country the greatest country this world has ever seen.…”