H.C.R. No. 38HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION WHEREAS, On February 1, 2003, the space shuttle Columbia and its entire crew of seven were lost in the skies over Texas, and this tragic event has brought shock and a profound sense of loss to all Americans and people the world over; and WHEREAS, Columbia's crew, commander Rick Husband, pilot William McCool, payload commander Michael Anderson, payload specialist Ilan Ramon, and mission specialists Laurel Clark, David Brown, and Kalpana Chawla hailed from across the United States, as well as Israel and India, but were united in their willingness to endure the dangers of spaceflight to expand mankind's scientific knowledge; and WHEREAS, Each crew member understood full well the joys of flight as were immortalized by John Gillespie Magee, Jr., in his poem High Flight: "Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of earth And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings; Sunward I've climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth Of sun-split clouds and done a hundred things You have not dreamed of--wheeled and soared and swung High in the sunlit silence. Hov'ring there, I've chased the shouting wind along, and flung My eager craft through footless halls of air. Up, up, up the long, delirious burning blue I've topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace Where never Lark, or even Eagle flew-- And while with silent lifting mind, I've trod The high untrespassed sanctity of space, Put out my hand and touched the face of God."; and WHEREAS, The process of exploring and comprehending the world around us has always been a driving force in human nature, and although often fraught with peril, the fulfillment of that desire continues to be among our most noble aspirations; and WHEREAS, America's space program has witnessed tragedy before with the deaths of three astronauts in the Apollo 1 fire of 1967, and in the 1986 Challenger explosion, which, like the loss of Columbia, claimed the lives of an entire shuttle crew; in spite of the nation's grief in the wake of these accidents, the United States has continued its efforts in this visionary exploration because abandoning them would not only limit our own potential for understanding the universe but would also mean turning our backs on the dreams of those who perished in the belief that man's reach, even into the hostile and seemingly limitless expanse of space, must always exceed his grasp; now, therefore, be it RESOLVED, That the 78th Legislature of the State of Texas hereby pay tribute to the lives of the crew of the space shuttle Columbia and extend sincere condolences to the members of their families and to the many people who mourn their loss around the globe; and, be it further RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be prepared for the members of their families and that when the Texas House of Representatives and Senate adjourn this day, they do so in memory of these heroic men and women, who gave their lives in service to mankind. Eissler Davis of Harris Talton Hochberg Taylor Pena Smith of Harris Flynn Craddick Giddings Merritt Allen Goodman Miller Alonzo Goolsby Moreno of Harris Bailey Griggs Moreno of El Paso Baxter Grusendorf Morrison Berman Guillen Mowery Bohac Gutierrez Naishtat Bonnen Haggerty Nixon Branch Hamilton Noriega Brown of Kaufman Hamric Oliveira Brown of Brazos Hardcastle Olivo Burnam Harper-Brown Paxton Callegari Hartnett Pena Campbell Heflin Phillips Canales Hegar Pickett Capelo Hilderbran Pitts Casteel Hill Puente Castro Hochberg Quintanilla Chavez Hodge Rangel Chisum Homer Raymond Christian Hope Reyna Coleman Hopson Riddle Cook of Navarro Howard Ritter Cook of Colorado Hughes Rodriguez Corte Hunter Rose Crabb Hupp Seaman Crownover Isett Smith of Tarrant Davis of Harris Jones of Lubbock Smith of Harris Davis of Dallas Jones of Bexar Smithee Dawson Jones of Dallas Solis Delisi Keel Solomons Denny Keffer of Dallas Stick Deshotel Keffer of Eastland Swinford Driver King Talton Dukes Kolkhorst Taylor Dunnam Krusee Telford Dutton Kuempel Thompson Edwards Laney Truitt Eiland Laubenberg Turner Eissler Lewis Uresti Elkins Luna Van Arsdale Ellis Mabry Villarreal Farabee Madden West Farrar Marchant Wilson Flores Martinez Fischer Wise Flynn McCall Wohlgemuth Gallego McClendon Wolens Garza McReynolds Wong Gattis Menendez Woolley Geren Mercer Zedler ______________________________ ______________________________ President of the Senate Speaker of the House I certify that H.C.R. No. 38 was unanimously adopted by a rising vote of the House on February 3, 2003. ______________________________ Chief Clerk of the House I certify that H.C.R. No. 38 was unanimously adopted by a rising vote of the Senate on February 12, 2003. ______________________________ Secretary of the Senate APPROVED: __________________ Date __________________ Governor