Pelosi Statement on 40th Anniversary of Apollo 11 Astronauts Landing on the Moon

Pelosi Statement on 40th Anniversary of Apollo 11 Astronauts Landing on the Moon

Monday, July 20, 2009

Contact: Brendan Daly/Nadeam Elshami/Drew Hammill, 202-226-7616

Washington, D.C. - Speaker Nancy Pelosi issued the following statement today on the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 astronauts landing on the moon.

â€Å"In 1961, President Kennedy set a truly daring goal for this nation by declaring that before the decade was over, an American would land on the moon and return safely. In that moment, there were far more skeptics than believers. But eight years later, the brave astronauts of Apollo 11 - Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins - made believers of us all.

â€Å"The Apollo landing sparked the American imagination. It stirred an unparalleled interest in science and technology. And in the generations since, Americans built the world's most vibrant economy and became the world leader in scientific discovery and innovation.

â€Å"We all owe a great debt of gratitude to those who ensured that first safe moon landing, and in so doing, inspired generations of American scientists and engineers to take on similar challenges in other areas of human achievement and human understanding. With that same spirit of innovation, Americans will confront the challenges of today, while building a stronger economic foundation for the future and a more prosperous tomorrow.”