III 109th CONGRESS 2d Session S. RES. 502 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES June 6, 2006 Mr. Lautenberg (for himself and Mr. Menendez) submitted the following resolution; which was considered and agreed to RESOLUTION Congratulating all of the contestants of the 2006 Scripps National Spelling Bee.

Whereas the Scripps National Spelling Bee is the largest and longest-running educational promotion in the United States, and is administered by the E.W. Scripps Company and 268 local sponsors, most of whom publish daily and weekly newspapers; Whereas the 2006 Scripps National Spelling Bee began with 275 competitors from across the United States, American Samoa, the Bahamas, Canada, Europe, Guam, Jamaica, New Zealand, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands, each of whom had qualified for the contest by winning locally-sponsored spelling bees; Whereas Miss Katharine Kerry Close is an 8th-grade student at the H.W. Mountz School in Spring Lake, New Jersey; Whereas the 13-year-old Miss Close first competed in the Scripps National Spelling Bee as a 9-year-old, tied for 7th place in 2005, and competed for the 5th time this year, sponsored by the Asbury Park Press and the Home News Tribune; Whereas Miss Close has spent between 1 hour and 2 hours a day looking up words and their origins during the previous 5 years, yet has still found time for sailing, playing soccer, and going to the mall and the movies with her friends; Whereas Miss Close survived 19 rounds of fierce competition this year and won the 2006 Scripps National Spelling Bee in the 20th round by correctly spelling ursprache, which is defined as a parent language, especially one reconstructed from the evidence of later languages; and Whereas the achievement of Miss Close brings an immense sense of pride to H.W. Mountz School, her hometown of Spring Lake, and the entire State of New Jersey: Now, therefore, be it

That the Senate— (1)congratulates all of the contestants of the 2006 Scripps National Spelling Bee; and (2)respectfully requests the Secretary of the Senate to transmit an enrolled copy of this resolution to the H.W. Mountz School, located in Spring Lake, New Jersey.