Colonel Joseph William Kittinger II Post Office Building

Floor Speech

I rise in support of H.R. 5867.

Colonel Kittinger was born and raised in Florida. He joined the U.S. Air Force in 1949 as an aviation cadet and received commission as a command pilot.

From 1959 to 1960, Colonel Kittinger was a member of Project Excelsior, an effort of Aerospace Medical Research Laboratories that pioneered research on safety and survival in high-altitude emergencies. On August 16, 1960, he set the record for the longest free fall from a gondola, 4 minutes and 36 seconds, before deploying his parachute.

Colonel Kittinger went on three tours in Vietnam for the U.S. Air Force. When his plane was shot down, he faced adversity and stayed resilient as a prisoner of war in the infamous Hanoi Hilton. Among many awards, Colonel Kittinger received two Purple Hearts and a Prisoner of War Medal.

After retiring from the Air Force, Colonel Kittinger became the first person to complete a solo balloon trip across the Atlantic. His efforts helped advance developments in spacesuit technology and safety procedures in high-altitude environments.

On December 9, 2022, at the age of 94, Colonel Kittinger passed away. I urge my colleagues to honor the life and valiant service of the colonel by naming a post office in Casselberry, Florida, after him.

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Mr. RASKIN. Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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