Congressional Gold Medal Ceremony
Remarks of Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell
The United States Capitol
Washington, D.C. – “In early 1959, about six months after Congress formally created the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, a group of test pilots was summoned to a top secret briefing at the Pentagon.
“Once there, they were told that NASA was developing a program aimed at putting a man in orbit, and that it needed volunteers. The training would be long, dangerous, and unlike anything anyone had ever experienced. And those who were chosen would be called astronauts.
“A 37-year old Marine and father of two named John Glenn was among those who attended that meeting.
“He volunteered without hesitation.
“And three Februaries later, Glenn found himself circling the earth from the heavens at 17,500 miles an hour, staring at a sunset that was even more spectacular than he ever imagined as the nation looked on.
“In New York, thousands of commuters stood still in Grand Central Station to watch the takeoff. And even Walter Cronkite allowed himself a little show of national pride from the broadcaster’s chair. As Glenn’s rocket lifted from the earth, Cronkite rooted for the home team, saying ‘Go, Baby, Go!’
“The context of all this was important.
“Five years earlier, the Soviet Union had beaten us into space with an unmanned satellite, an achievement that prompted Nikita Khrushchev to quip that now, ‘the U.S. sleeps under a Soviet moon.’
“And that’s where the other three men we honor today come in. Seven years after Glenn circled the earth, Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins put to rest any doubts about the position of the United States in the world. The Cold War was now being fought in space — and these men proved that U.S. was winning.
“It wasn’t easy.
“As President Eisenhower had stated at the outset, America’s space program would be civilian, rather than military-led, so no one would doubt our intentions.
“But this also meant that it would be conducted in the open, so every hitch and hold-up could be seen and scrutinized. And this is just as it should have been.
“These missions, spanning two Democratic and two Republican administrations, showed not only the power of the four men we honor today.
“They showed the power of the collective efforts of a nation united in common purpose.
“It took vision. It took will. It took leadership. It took guts.
“And it took the remarkable courage of John Glenn, Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins.
“They’ll tell you they’re not heroes. Don’t listen to them.
“America is only as strong as the citizens we produce.
“And here are four of the best.”
