Olympia Snowe: “I rise to pay tribute to the life and legacy of Dr. Sally Ride, the first American woman to enter space and who passed…”

“I rise to pay tribute to the life and legacy of Dr. Sally Ride, the first American woman to enter space and who passed away, sadly, this week. A truly extraordinary woman and an American icon and hero, Sally was a trailblazer who, with a steadfast fortitude and an insatiable spirit of exploration, accomplished what no other female in American history had before. When she rocketed into the heavens aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger on June 18, 1983, she also soared into the hearts of millions of Americans, including myself. Indeed, we recognized in her landmark achievement the realization of the quintessential American dream--that anyone, regardless of their gender, can succeed to even the greatest of heights, even if it is the stars. I was fortunate enough to have been present at Cape Canaveral--along with my good friend and colleague then-Congresswoman Barbara Mikulski-- on that historic June morning when Sally took to the skies. I can vividly recall the palpable optimism and unabated excitement that saturated the air. At that point, I had been a member of the House of Representatives for 4 years and was 1 of only 23 women in Congress. You can imagine the tremendous amount of pride we all felt in witnessing such a watershed moment. Indeed, it was a triumphant pinnacle in the fight to topple gender barriers and a progressive stride in the movement to shatter oppressive social norms.…”