Terry Leyden (Fianna Fail)

The Seanad and I express our deepest sympathy to President George W. Bush of the United States of America, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and, especially, the families and loved ones of the seven astronauts on board the shuttle, Columbia, who perished on Saturday, 1 February. The seven astronauts who perished were commander Rick Husband; pilot William McCool; payload commander Michael Anderson; Kaplana Chawla from India; Ilan Ramon from Israel; Dr. David Brown, navy captain pilot; and surgeon Laurel Clark. We wish to convey through the acting American ambassador in Dublin our deepest and heartfelt sadness at this major tragedy for NASA and the USA. We all share in our expression of sympathy to the families involved.