Hoyer Supports McAuliffe Commemorative Coin
“Some of you may recall that Christa’s motto as the teacher in space was ‘I touch the future, I teach.’ And she was looking forward with such excitement, not only to leave the bounds of Earth but to return to Earth and engage with her students, to share her experience, to share the excitement and adventure of going into a new frontier that we call space,” Congressman Hoyer (D-Md., 5th) said. “It is so appropriate that we pass this coin bill in her name. Christa was my friend. She was the best of us, as were her fellow astronauts on that fated day at the beginning of 1986 that for a few seconds burned so brightly with so much hope and whose lives were snuffed out in an instant as the Challenger blew up.”
Mr. Hoyer said that during the course of the competition to be the teacher in space she would visit his office that was in the Longworth House Office Building.
“I saw her excitement and her anticipation,” he said. “And obviously NASA saw it as well because out of those 10,000 they chose her to be the representative of the most important profession in our country, the teaching profession, without whom our society cannot succeed.”
“It is so appropriate that this coin bill, as the chairwoman has said, will benefit a program called FIRST … and now we have literally thousands and thousands and thousands of young people all over this world participating in STEM activities and particularly robotics, who will be enable to pursue this program more fully.”
“… We can all be very proud of the fact not only we memorialize an extraordinary fellow citizen, fellow human being, who, as Kennedy said, brought her energy and her faith and her devotion to making her country, her community, and our children better,” he said.
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