Political Quotes

“I rise today on a sad occasion, and that is to talk about the loss of an American icon. He is a fellow Ohioan. He held this seat in the Senate. He is one of our true heroes, as an astronaut, fighter pilot, successful business person, Senator, and later someone who helped young people throughout the State of Ohio by establishing his own school at Ohio State University. I am talking about John Glenn. We lost him today at age 95. I was watching some of the coverage on television about his career, and it focused a lot on his being the first to orbit the Earth on Friendship 7, a capsule you can see at the Air and Space Museum. It is not much bigger than two of these desks put together, but somehow he wedged himself in and did something heroic and important at the time. In a spaceflight competition with the Soviets, he was one who succeeded. What I didn't hear too much about was his career before being a famous astronaut and that amazing flight that ended up with him addressing a joint session of Congress or what he did after that amazing feat. So I want to talk about that for a second and say that I appreciate that tomorrow my colleagues will help me in joining to pay tribute to him through a Senate resolution. But prior to his being a famous astronaut, he was a famous American hero in my mind because he was a fighter pilot who signed up after Pearl Harbor, the 75th anniversary of which we celebrated this week.…”