One Small Step to Protect Human Heritage in Space Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. CRUZ. Mr. President, this week marks an extraordinary milestone in the history of humanity.

Fifty years ago, on July 16, 1969, the entire world watched in awe as the Apollo 11 mission took off from Cape Canaveral. Four days later, on July 20, again the entire world held its breath as the lunar lander made its descent and as Neil Armstrong and then Buzz Aldrin both stepped onto the surface of the Moon.

As Neil Armstrong famously said, ``It's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.''

On Saturday, 50 years will have passed since man first stepped onto the Moon. We are celebrating that as a nation, and we are celebrating that across the world--the 50 years that have passed since. We are also looking forward, with hope and optimism, to the next 50 years of space exploration and America's continued strong leadership in space.

I thank my friend Senator Peters for his leadership on this legislation that we have just passed through the Senate. It is legislation that ensures that those artifacts, those footprints, made by those historic pioneers for humanity will not be disturbed, will not be violated, will not be destroyed but, rather, that they will be preserved for future generations so that decades and centuries from now those shrines to the incredible imagination and the unstoppable potential of the human spirit will be preserved for all of history.

This is a time of partisan division on many, many issues. Yet I am encouraged when it comes to space and America's leadership in space that we continually see the bipartisan cooperation of Democrats and Republicans working hand in hand.

I also commend NASA, in particular, for announcing the Artemis Project. Artemis, as you know, is the twin sister to Apollo in Greek mythology, and Artemis will be the next journey to the Moon that the United States will be undertaking.

I am particularly grateful that the Administrator of NASA has committed that when we, once again, land on the surface of the Moon in the coming years, among those astronauts to land on the Moon will be the first woman ever to set foot on the surface of the Moon. As the father of two young daughters, after 50 years, I say it is about time that we land a woman on the Moon. I am particularly proud that it will be an American astronaut whose boots will return to the Moon and that we will continue to make history together.

This is a moment to celebrate American leadership, but this is a moment, even more fundamentally, to celebrate what mankind can do--the frontier spirit of discovery and exploration. It is a spirit that should unite us all.

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