Ranking Member Johnson’s Statement on House Vote to Establish Apollo 1 Memorial

(Washington, DC) - Today, the House of Representatives voted to establish a memorial at Arlington National Cemetery to honor the crew of the Apollo 1 mission, who perished in a spacecraft fire 50 years ago. It was included as an amendment by Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX) in H.R. 2810, the “National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2018” (NDAA).  The House approved NDAA this morning by a vote of 344-81.

Ranking Member Eddie Bernice Johnson made the following statement after the amendment’s passage.

“I’m deeply grateful that the House has accepted my amendment to establish a memorial at Arlington Cemetery to honor astronauts Virgil I. “Gus” Grissom, Edward H. White II, and Roger B. Chaffee, who perished 50 years ago while preparing for the Apollo 1 mission.  It is both right and long overdue that we honor the memory of these heroes by means of a memorial, as was done for the crews of the Challenger and Columbia Shuttle missions.  Each of these individuals made the ultimate sacrifice in the pursuit of a noble and inspiring goal—the peaceful exploration of outer space.  I am grateful to all my colleagues on both sides of the aisle for supporting this amendment, and I hope that the Senate will join us in making the Apollo 1 memorial a reality.”