IB 

Union Calendar No. 96 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3196 

[Report No. 116–132] 

To designate the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope as the ‘‘Vera Rubin Survey 

Telescope’’. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 11, 2019 

Ms. JOHNSON of Texas (for herself and Miss GONZA ́LEZ-COLO ́N of Puerto 

Rico) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Science, Space, and Technology 

JUNE 27, 2019 

Additional sponsors: Mr. COHEN, Mr. LIPINSKI, Mr. CASTEN of Illinois, and 

Ms. KENDRA S. HORN of Oklahoma 

JUNE 27, 2019 

Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union 

and ordered to be printed 


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•HR 3196 RH

A BILL 

To designate the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope as the 

‘‘Vera Rubin Survey Telescope’’. 


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•HR 3196 RH

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Vera Rubin Survey 

5 Telescope Designation Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) Dr. Vera Rubin was born July 23, 1928, to 

9 Philip and Rose Applebaum Cooper. 

10 (2) Dr. Rubin pursued her graduate studies at 

11 Cornell University and Georgetown University, earn12 ing her Ph.D. in Physics in 1954. 

13 (3) Dr. Rubin’s Ph.D. thesis on galaxy motions 

14 provided supporting evidence that galaxies are not 

15 uniformly distributed, but exist in clusters. 

16 (4) Dr. Rubin continued to study the motions 

17 of galaxies, first as research associate and assistant 

18 professor at Georgetown University, and then as a 

19 member of the staff at the Carnegie Institution of 

20 Washington Department of Terrestrial Magnetism. 

21 (5) Dr. Rubin faced barriers throughout her ca22 reer because of her gender. 

23 (6) For instance, one of the world’s leading as24 tronomy facilities at the time, the Palomar Observ25 atory, did not permit women. Dr. Rubin persisted 


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1 and was finally allowed to observe at Palomar in 

2 1965, the first woman officially allowed to do so. 

3 (7) In 1970, Dr. Rubin published measure4 ments of the Andromeda galaxy showing stars and 

5 gas orbiting the galaxy’s center too fast to be ex6 plained by the amount of mass associated with the 

7 light output of the stars. 

8 (8) In the years that followed, Dr. Rubin and 

9 her collaborators used their observations, in conjunc10 tion with the work by earlier astronomers on the ro11 tation of stars in spiral galaxies, to provide some of 

12 the best evidence for the existence of dark matter. 

13 (9) This work contributed to a major shift in 

14 the conventional view of the universe, from one 

15 dominated by ordinary matter such as what pro16 duces the light of stars, to one dominated by dark 

17 matter. 

18 (10) Dr. Rubin was elected to the National 

19 Academy of Sciences in 1981, the second woman as20 tronomer to be so honored. 

21 (11) Dr. Rubin was awarded the President’s 

22 National Medal of Science in 1993 ‘‘for her pio23 neering research programs in observational cos24 mology which demonstrated that much of the matter 

25 in the universe is dark, and for significant contribuVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:37 Jun 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3196.RH H3196

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1 tions to the realization that the universe is more 

2 complex and more mysterious than had been imag3 ined’’. 

4 (12) Dr. Rubin was an outspoken advocate for 

5 the equal treatment and representation of women in 

6 science, and she served as a mentor, supporter, and 

7 role model to many women astronomers throughout 

8 her life. 

9 (13) The Large Synoptic Survey Telescope, 

10 funded jointly by the National Science Foundation 

11 and the Department of Energy, will honor the legacy 

12 of Dr. Rubin and her colleagues to probe the nature 

13 of dark matter by mapping and cataloging billions of 

14 galaxies through space and time. 

15 SEC. 3. DESIGNATION. 

16 The Large Synoptic Survey Telescope shall be known 

17 and designated as the ‘‘Vera Rubin Survey Telescope’’. 

18 SEC. 4. REFERENCES. 

19 Any reference in a law, map, regulation, document, 

20 paper, or other record of the United States to the facility 

21 described in section 3 shall be deemed to be a reference 

22 to the ‘‘Vera Rubin Survey Telescope’’. 


pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS
Union Calendar No. 96 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3196 

[Report No. 116–132] 

A BILL 

To designate the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope 

as the ‘‘Vera Rubin Survey Telescope’’. 

JUNE 27, 2019 

Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the 

State of the Union and ordered to be printed 


pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS