Sherwood Boehlert: “Mr. Speaker, with sadness, I want to join my colleagues in memorializing the crew of the Space Shuttle Columbia. All of…”

“Mr. Speaker, with sadness, I want to join my colleagues in memorializing the crew of the Space Shuttle Columbia. All of us on the floor today are trying to do the same thing: we are trying to fill a palpable absence with tangible words. It is quite literally an impossible task and all the more heartrending because we witnessed the moments when the shuttle vanished into thin air. I can only begin to imagine the pain felt by the crew's colleagues and friends and family and those who knew these men and women not just as the brave heroes that we have come, perhaps too late, to fully appreciate, but also as individuals, each with his or her unique personality, accomplishments, and responsibilities. They, much more than us, must live with the absences created by Saturday's tragedy. But it is not just absence we are acknowledging in our remarks. It is also a presence. The names and faces and stories of the Columbia crew are now engraved in our hearts and minds, not just because they died, but because they lived. They were brave, dedicated, and talented; and they set an example for us all. They are as much an inspiration in death as in life, and they join a long line of explorers who have sacrificed their lives charting the future for all of us. We are in their debt.”