Political Quotes

“I wish to join in and echo the comments of the Democratic leader, Senator Reid, about the passing of John Glenn. I was just in high school when he was the famous astronaut who risked his life to prove that we could move forward in the space program. It wasn't just an achievement that came to science. It was an achievement America was hungry for. We were so afraid, after launching the Sputnik and two Russian cosmonauts, that we were falling behind in the space race. All of the astronauts, especially John Glenn, risked their lives to move us forward in the space program that ultimately landed a man on the Moon. I read this morning in the obituary columns about the risk that was attendant to this launch after it was scrubbed over and over because of mechanical problems and weather and the fact that 40 percent of the time the efforts to use this rocket had failed. Yet John Glenn put his life on the line in Friendship 7, in that tiny little capsule that was only 7 feet across and was launched into space. He almost died on the reentry when the tiles that were to protect him started failing and, as he termed it, there was a fireball as he came back into Earth. He made it. He was greeted with a hero's welcome all across the United States, and he addressed a joint session of Congress. That was the man I knew. He was also the man who then volunteered to come to Springfield, IL, in 1982 and campaign for me when I ran for Congress.…”