Senate Proceeding on May 4th, 2009 :: 1:09:05 to 1:25:55
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1:09:02 to 1:09:22( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: vital interests. i thank again senator kerry for his partnership and his leadership on this bill. and i yield the floor. i suggest the absence of a quorum. mr. nelson: mr. president? the presiding officer: withhold

1:09:05 to 1:25:55( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Bill Nelson

1:09:23 to 1:09:47( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: the quorum order. mr. lugar: i withhold my request. mr. nelson: i ask unanimous consent, i understand morning minutes so i ask unanimous consent i speak in morning business for ten minutes. the presiding officer: is there objection? mr. nelson: does the senator

1:09:48 to 1:10:12( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: from massachusetts need introduce -- mr. president, america lost a former congressman jack kemp passed away over the weekend at the age of 73. he is survived by his

1:10:13 to 1:10:37( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: joanne, a marriage of 5 his four children; and his 17 jack and joanne have been personal frien of grace's and mine over the years. i'll never forget the time that jack was already a great celebrity when i house of representatives 30

1:10:38 to 1:11:02( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: years the tax bills actually had the they per -- the temerity to take him on and i never forget the chairman of the budget committee walking up to me saying "you better watch out because he is a fierce debater." and indeed, he was.

1:11:03 to 1:11:23( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: he was passionate about what he an advocate of what he believed in. and that, of course, is a quality that all of us admire and was one of the things that drew me to jack and he reciprocated and we had a

1:11:24 to 1:11:47( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: friendship over years. clearly, the record has been set set. he, of coue, was the star quaterback for the buffalo bills; before that he was with the san diego

1:11:48 to 1:12:12( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: he said that his career in football prepared him wl for a career in politics because he had been booed, cheered, cut, sold, traded and hung i in ephighy in football.

1:12:13 to 1:12:33( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: sooner or later those of us in politics will have all of those and how true a statement that he talked about his career in politics. he represented western new york in the house for nine terms. he ran for president.

1:12:34 to 1:12:54( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: he served as secretary of h.u.d. he ran for vice president. and it's a great loss. but the one thing that i want to call to the attention of the senate is the letter that he wrote to his grandchildren upon

1:12:55 to 1:13:15( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: the election of president obama as president. and this letter was posted online on website. and i want you to listen to what he

1:13:16 to 1:13:40( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: face of all these indignities and deprivations dr. martin luther king could say 44 years ago, i have an abiding faith in america and audacious faith in mankind." jack continues to write this

1:13:41 to 1:14:03( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: letter to his describing his vision for america even as he and his people were being did n.i.h.ed hn.i. human rights given under the constitution. real leadership is not just seeing the realities of what we are temporarily faced with but seeing the possibilities and the

1:14:04 to 1:14:24( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: potential that can be realized by lifting people's what they can be. and that's just one snip it that letter that he wrote to his grandchildren and mr. president,

1:14:25 to 1:14:48( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: i ask unanimous consent the entire letter be entered into the record of the u.s. senate. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. nelson: this is "a letter to my gndchildren on november 12, 2008," just a few days after the election of senator obama at president of

1:14:49 to 1:15:10( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: these united states. mr. president, i want to shift gears from that celebratory note because we are approaching the 40th anniversary of the first landing on another body by human beings

1:15:11 to 1:15:32( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: and a number of our colleagues have joi major firsts from the early days of america's space program. one of those firsts is the lunar landing, and so we have introduced legislation to bestow

1:15:33 to 1:15:53( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: the distinguished congressional gold medal, the highest civilian award given crew of apollo 11, kneel armstrong, buzzal drin, were the first and second hughmans to set a footprint on the moon while

1:15:54 to 1:16:15( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: command module pilot mike collins orbited above. and in this legislation which we have termed "the new frontier congressional gold medal," we also would honor the first

1:16:16 to 1:16:38( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: american who orbited the earth, senator john glenn. and today at 87 years old, john glenn is retired from the senate, he lives in his home state of ohio, he retains his home here in the washington, d.c., area,

1:16:39 to 1:17:00( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: to see john from time to time as he comes back and joins his colleagues here on the floor of the senate. now, these are pioneers. they're firsts. glenn first to orbit as an american. and, rember, we got surprised

1:17:01 to 1:17:22( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: by the soviets. they launched yu rhode island gargerin for one orbit and we did not even have strong enough thrust to get into orbi

1:17:23 to 1:17:46( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: thshortly after why you arery gar gare are in, we put someone up followed by a mission with gus grissom. 10 months after gar geren, and by this time, the flown a second cosmonaut tetov. 10 months after that fateful

1:17:47 to 1:18:07( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: first human flight, we took a chance. we took that mercury capsule that john glenn climbed in -- indeed, he had to shoehorn in to get into it it was so small -- put it on top of an atlas rocket

1:18:08 to 1:18:30( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: that we knew had a 20% chance of failure, and the rest is history. and of course you rember that story: there was an indication that john's heat shield was loose, which had it been, he would have

1:18:31 to 1:18:52( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: burned up on reentry, and the last radio communication that we had ase entered that blackout period coming through the 3,000-degree fahrenheit heat of reentry that creates a blackout situation for radio frequents,

1:18:53 to 1:19:15( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: the last thing that we heard from john glenn befe he went into that blackout period was, he of the republic." and o what words those were when suddenly we heard "houston, this

1:19:16 to 1:19:40( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: is and we knew he was alive, and he paved the way for that extraordinary -- that extraordinary message back to earth from neal armstrong i which he said, "this is one

1:19:41 to 1:20:04( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: small step for a man. this is one mankind." this past weekend, i had the occasion to join with a number of our american naughts on the induction of three more space

1:20:05 to 1:20:25( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: explorers into th the astronaut hall of fame. the bill weatherbee. they joined 70 that already include john

1:20:26 to 1:20:47( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: general a armstrong, aldrin and collins. i particularly went particular ceremony because i had the privilege of being a crewmate of pin's and bill shepherd, otherwise kno as shep, was the rookie astronaut

1:20:48 to 1:21:09( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: that actually strapped us in before launch. while i was there meeting with these and seeing these three new astronauts honored by the induction into the hall of fame, i thought about the azing achievements that we have made, how strong leadership and bold

1:21:10 to 1:21:32( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: vion has changed not the space program but of all of our lives. i think about the true american character of exploration, exploration whether it's the space program or exploration into the iran

1:21:33 to 1:21:54( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: mind, exploration of exploration into the climate of this body, exploration of how we cope each da with all the problems that we're facing our space program being one part of our exploration which didn't

1:21:55 to 1:22:15( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: start just recently. we are a nation of explorers. mr. president, i would request two minutes additional time. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. nelson: we didn't just start with exploration. this started way back in our

1:22:16 to 1:22:39( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: history. we had a frontier. then it was westward. now that frontier is in so many other areas, including space. and the space program has given us many things to improve life here on earth from fire-resistant material to weather forecasting equipment to

1:22:40 to 1:23:00( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: scratch-resistant lenses to new kinds of laser surgery. it's also given us selfless heroes who put their lives on the line for the benefit of all the rest of us and for the general rationsgenerations to come. and it was armstrong who made

1:23:01 to 1:23:22( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: that first step onto the lunar dust. it was glenn to paved the way for the rest of mercury and gemini and apollo to believe that all these things happened after president kennedy presented a bold challenge

1:23:23 to 1:23:43( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: before a joint session of the congress in which he said, "we're going to send a man to the moon and return him safely to earth by the end of the decade," and that was within a span of only nine years. and so the space the focal point of the nation

1:23:44 to 1:24:06( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: coming together. it inspired a generation of kids to get excited about science and math and technology and engineering, and it's -- now we're seeing that generation fulfilled kennedy's

1:24:07 to 1:24:29( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: promise, which was science and education have greatly enriched a new knowledge of our universe, and our environment. and life here on earth has improved by leaps and bounds from all of the spinoffs from the space program.

1:24:30 to 1:24:50( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: simply put, harvest of gains because of exploration and the pioneering endeavors of brave americans such as these that we honor with this gold medal, the highest congressional

1:24:51 to 1:25:12( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: honor, they deserve this honor because of their significant contributions to planet earth. mr. president, i ask our colleagues to join me in supporting this resolution. there will be ample opportunity for cosponsorships in addition to those of us who

1:25:13 to 1:25:34( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: introduced the resolutn. mr. president, i yield the floor, and i would suggest -- no, i don't have to suggest the absence of a quorum, because the great senator from the state of want him to know what a delight and pleasure he is to serve with.

1:25:35 to 1:25:55( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: i yield the floor. mr. kaufman: mr. p i'd just like to say it is an honor serving with senator nelson, and i also want to commend him for his tribute to senator glenn and the astronauts. as usual, he's right on point. thank you very much, and i suggest the absence of a quorum. while i set this up. the presidin officer