[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 551 Engrossed in House (EH)]


                 In the House of Representatives, U.S.,

                                                        March 16, 2004.
Whereas C-SPAN (Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network) is a nonprofit 
        educational organization created in 1979 through the vision of Brian 
        Lamb in order to provide live, gavel-to-gavel coverage of the House of 
        Representatives to the American people;
Whereas on March 19, 1979, the House of Representatives turned on its cameras, 
        and for the first time C-SPAN and its staff of just 4 people brought the 
        live proceedings of the House into 3.5 million American homes;
Whereas in 1980, C-SPAN covered its first Presidential election and created one 
        of the first nationwide viewer call-in programs;
Whereas by 1982, C-SPAN's schedule expanded to 24 hours a day, 7 days a week;
Whereas in June 1986, C-SPAN2 was created to broadcast live coverage of the 
        Senate;
Whereas by 1990, C-SPAN broadcast to 50 million American households, and this 
        number expanded to 60 million households just three years later in 1993;
Whereas in January 1997, C-SPAN launched live web coverage of the House and 
        Senate proceedings on the Internet;
Whereas today, C-SPAN has a staff of 275, its around-the-clock programming is 
        available to 86 million households via 7,900 cable systems, and an 
        estimated 28,000,000 people watch C-SPAN each week; and
Whereas while only 51 percent of Americans voted in the 2000 election, surveys 
        show that percentage of regular C-SPAN viewers who voted in the election 
        was 90 percent: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) expresses the thanks of the House of Representatives to the 
        Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network (C-SPAN) for its service to the 
        House on the 25th anniversary of its first coverage of the proceedings 
        of the House;
            (2) recognizes that for 25 years C-SPAN has met, and continues to 
        meet each day, its mission of providing the Members of the House with a 
        direct, unfiltered conduit to the American people on whose behalf they 
        go to work every day, and in turn has provided direct access for the 
        American people to their elected officials through call-in and other 
        programs;
            (3) recognizes that since its inception 25 years ago, C-SPAN has 
        forever changed the face of American political life, provided tremendous 
        benefits to the American people and their elected officials, and has had 
        a significant positive impact on the American democracy;
            (4) expresses its deep gratitude to Brian Lamb and the more than 275 
        C-SPAN employees who bring the proceedings of the House into the homes 
        of tens of millions of Americans each day; and
            (5) commends C-SPAN and its employees for a tremendous 25 years of 
        service to the American people and the Federal Government.
            Attest:

                                                                          Clerk.