Tennessee 2025-2026 Regular Session

Tennessee Senate Bill SJR0309 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
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2	2	<BillNo> <Sponsor>
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4	4	SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION 309
5	5	By Yager
6	6
7	7
8	8	SJR0309
9	9	006066
10	10	- 1 -
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12	12	A RESOLUTION to welcome Captain Barry "Butch" Wilmore and
13	13	Captain Sunita "Suni" Williams back to Earth
14	14	after completing their mission aboard the
15	15	International Space Station.
16	16
17	17	WHEREAS, the members of this General Assembly take great pleasure in recognizing
18	18	two astronauts who served the disciplines of aeronautics and space flight with distinction and
19	19	demonstrated their devotion to their country and their mission during their more than nine-month
20	20	stay aboard the International Space Station (ISS); and
21	21	WHEREAS, after nearly 300 days in orbit, Captain Barry "Butch" Wilmore and Captain
22	22	Sunita "Suni" Williams, the astronauts who flew on Boeing's Starliner for its first crewed mission,
23	23	returned to Earth on March 18, 2025; and
24	24	WHEREAS, Captain Wilmore and Captain Williams arrived at the ISS in June 2024 for a
25	25	scheduled short stay as part of the Starliner's test flight; however, technical issues prevented
26	26	them from returning home on the spaceship; and
27	27	WHEREAS, NASA decided to keep them at the ISS for a few extra months to maintain
28	28	staffing levels, later launching the SpaceX Crew-9 mission with only two astronauts, instead of
29	29	the usual four, to provide Captain Wilmore and Captain Williams with a ride back home; and
30	30	WHEREAS, the average person would probably not relish spending more than nine
31	31	months in space, but these two veterans of space flight enjoyed their extra time in the cosmos,
32	32	modestly referring to their extended stay as "just part of the job"; and
33	33	WHEREAS, in the early morning of March 18, 2025, Captain Wilmore and Captain
34	34	Williams boarded the SpaceX Dragon at the ISS to return to Earth; after a seventeen-hour
35	35	voyage, the Dragon made a water landing off the Florida coast that evening; and
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37	37
38	38	- 2 - 006066
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40	40	WHEREAS, a proud Tennessean, Captain Barry "Butch" Wilmore hails from Mt. Juliet
41	41	and has earned degrees from Tennessee Technological University and the University of
42	42	Tennessee; and
43	43	WHEREAS, selected as an astronaut by NASA in July 2000, Butch Wilmore is a retired
44	44	U.S. Navy captain and a veteran of two spaceflights; he has accumulated more than 8,000 flight
45	45	hours and 663 carrier landings; and
46	46	WHEREAS, Sunita Williams is also a retired U.S. Navy captain; selected by NASA as an
47	47	astronaut in 1998, she has completed two space missions and logged over 3,000 flight hours in
48	48	more than thirty different aircrafts; and
49	49	WHEREAS, Captain Wilmore and Captain Williams are to be greatly commended for
50	50	their dedication to duty in the face of adversity; these two astronauts served an extended stay in
51	51	space without complaint or compunction, and they are worthy of our approbation upon their
52	52	return home; now, therefore,
53	53	BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED FOURTEENTH
54	54	GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE, THE HOUSE OF
55	55	REPRESENTATIVES C ONCURRING, that we welcome Captain Barry "Butch" Wilmore and
56	56	Captain Sunita "Suni" Williams back to Earth after completing their extended nine-month
57	57	mission aboard the International Space Station, thank them for their ongoing commitment to
58	58	space exploration, and wish them all the best in their future endeavors.
59	59	BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that an appropriate copy of this resolution be prepared
60	60	for presentation with this final clause omitted from such copy and upon proper request made to
61	61	the appropriate clerk, the language appearing immediately following the State seal appear
62	62	without House or Senate designation.
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