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| 6 | 7 | | R E S O L U T I O N |
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| 7 | 8 | | WHEREAS, Dr. Bernard A. Harris Jr. is being inducted into the |
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| 8 | 9 | | U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame on May 31, 2025; and |
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| 9 | 10 | | WHEREAS, A Temple native, Bernard Harris began dreaming of a |
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| 10 | 11 | | career as an astronaut as he watched the first moon landing on |
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| 11 | 12 | | television; he earned his bachelor's degree in biology at the |
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| 12 | 13 | | University of Houston and went on to earn his medical degree from |
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| 13 | 14 | | Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center School of Medicine in |
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| 14 | 15 | | 1982; after completing his residency in internal medicine at the |
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| 15 | 16 | | Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, he pursued research opportunities related |
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| 16 | 17 | | to the aerospace field at the NASA Ames Research Center in |
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| 17 | 18 | | California and then the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center; and |
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| 18 | 19 | | WHEREAS, Dr. Harris was admitted to the NASA Astronaut Corps |
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| 19 | 20 | | training group in 1990 and served as a mission specialist on the |
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| 20 | 21 | | space shuttle Columbia in 1993; two years later, he returned to |
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| 21 | 22 | | space as the payload commander for STS-63; he became the first |
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| 22 | 23 | | African American to walk in space as he and a fellow crew member |
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| 23 | 24 | | tested the temperature resilience of their spacesuits; during a |
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| 24 | 25 | | decade with NASA, he served at a number of key facilities, including |
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| 25 | 26 | | Moffett Federal Airfield in California and NASA Headquarters in |
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| 26 | 27 | | Washington, D.C.; among numerous accolades, he has received the |
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| 27 | 28 | | NASA Award of Merit, National Space Grant Distinguished Services |
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| 28 | 29 | | Award, the 2000 Horatio Alger Award, and the 2024 Presidential |
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| 29 | 30 | | Lifetime Achievement Award, as well as nine honorary doctorates; a |
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| 30 | 31 | | middle school in San Antonio was named in his honor in 2006; and |
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| 31 | 32 | | WHEREAS, Following his time with NASA, Dr. Harris embarked on |
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| 32 | 33 | | a new path in entrepreneurship, initially as vice president of |
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| 33 | 34 | | Spacehab, Inc.; he earned an MBA from the University of |
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| 34 | 35 | | Houston-Clear Lake and since 2001, he has led Versalius Ventures, a |
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| 35 | 36 | | venture capital firm that invests in early- to mid-stage health |
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| 36 | 37 | | care technologies and companies; in order to encourage minority |
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| 37 | 38 | | students to pursue STEM careers, he established both the ExxonMobil |
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| 38 | 39 | | Bernard Harris Summer Science Camp and the Dream Tour; and |
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| 39 | 40 | | WHEREAS, Bernard Harris has inspired innumerable people |
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| 40 | 41 | | through his outstanding achievements and wide-ranging |
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| 41 | 42 | | contributions, and he is richly deserving of this prestigious |
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| 42 | 43 | | honor; now, therefore, be it |
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| 43 | 44 | | RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 89th Texas |
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| 44 | 45 | | Legislature hereby congratulate Dr. Bernard A. Harris Jr. on his |
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| 45 | 46 | | induction into the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame and that he be |
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| 46 | 47 | | extended sincere best wishes for continued success; and, be it |
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| 47 | 48 | | further |
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| 48 | 49 | | RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be |
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| 49 | 50 | | prepared for Dr. Harris as an expression of high regard by the Texas |
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| 50 | 51 | | House of Representatives. |
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