Political Quotes

“Mr. President, on a final matter, today marks a solemn anniversary for our country. Twenty years ago today, the Space Shuttle Columbia was making its return to Earth on the heels of a mission dubbed STS-107. After 16 days in orbit, the shuttle was bound for Kennedy Space Center in Florida, where members of the astronauts' families and countless spectators gathered to watch its landing, which is always an exciting and inspiring sight. The shuttle was traveling across the southern part of the United States, and as it crossed Texas on a beautiful Saturday morning, something terrible happened. Folks along the flight path stood in their yards, excited to watch a glimpse of Columbia returning from its 28th mission. They watched the orbiter streak across the sky at some 12,000 miles an hour, when, suddenly, they heard a loud noise and saw the shuttle begin to come apart. We soon realized that the worst had happened: The shuttle broke into several pieces as it reentered Earth's atmosphere, and all seven astronauts aboard lost their lives. The crew of Columbia included two Texans: Rick Husband and Willie McCool, along with Michael Anderson, Kalpana Chawla, David Brown, Laurel Clark, and Ilan Ramon. They were scheduled to land at Kennedy Space Center just 15 minutes after passing over Texas. The disaster left a field of wreckage that stretched from Fort Worth, across East Texas, and into Louisiana.…”