[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 336 Agreed to Senate (ATS)]







110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. RES. 336

 Recognizing and honoring the 20 years of service and contributions of 
         Dr. James Hadley Billington as Librarian of Congress.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           September 27, 2007

 Mrs. Hutchison (for herself, Mrs. Feinstein, Mr. Specter, Mr. Leahy, 
 Mr. Lugar, Mr. Webb, Mr. Reid, Mr. Conrad, Mr. Dodd, Mr. Allard, Mr. 
Durbin, Mr. Nelson of Nebraska, Mr. Alexander, Mr. Dorgan, Mr. Stevens, 
   Mr. Lott, Mr. Kennedy, Mr. Roberts, Mr. Bennett, Mr. Cochran, Mr. 
Coleman, and Mr. Bunning) submitted the following resolution; which was 
                        considered and agreed to

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
 Recognizing and honoring the 20 years of service and contributions of 
         Dr. James Hadley Billington as Librarian of Congress.

Whereas Dr. James H. Billington was nominated to be the 13th Librarian of 
        Congress by President Ronald Reagan in 1987, and was confirmed by the 
        Senate and sworn in as Librarian of Congress on September 14, 1987;
Whereas the world renowned collections of the Library of Congress, the largest 
        and most comprehensive in history, have grown by almost 50,000,000 items 
        since Dr. Billington became Librarian, totaling more than 135,000,000 
        today;
Whereas, during Dr. Billington's tenure, the Library of Congress modernized its 
        collection through the creation of the National Digital Library Program, 
        the American Memory program, THOMAS, and the World Digital Library;
Whereas the Librarian created the first ever private sector philanthropic and 
        advisory group, The Madison Council, to spearhead countless programs for 
        the Library and assist in its funding efforts;
Whereas the Library of Congress has successfully acquired the 1507 Martin 
        Waldseemuller map, the Martin Carson collection of early Americana, the 
        Jay Kislak early Americas collection, and has also continued the 
        preservation of Library collections and promoted cultural and 
        educational outreach programs through the added assistance of private 
        contributions and in-kind gifts collected during Dr. Billington's 
        tenure;
Whereas, during James Billington's Librarianship, the Library of Congress has 
        displayed its treasures and those of other Nations in more than 300 
        spectacular and enriching exhibitions at the Library and on its Internet 
        website;
Whereas, during Dr. Billington's tenure, the Library of Congress has been a 
        leader in the library world in establishing systems to protect vast 
        collections such as the National Recording Registry and the National 
        Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation Program, developing 
        cutting edge preservation developments to maintain and protect multiple 
        format collections for future generations, and also ensuring the 
        security of staff, researchers, and visitors;
Whereas the Kluge Center at the Library of Congress was established during the 
        Librarian's tenure to foster mutually enriching interaction between the 
        scholarly world and policy makers and supports the $1,000,000 Kluge 
        Prize honoring lifetime achievements in the humanities;
Whereas the Library of Congress Thomas Jefferson and John Adams buildings were 
        restored by Congress over a multi-year period and reopened to the public 
        in 1997, restoring in particular the century-old Jefferson Building to 
        its former glory as one of the most beautiful buildings in America;
Whereas Dr. Billington has overseen the consolidation of the Library's recorded 
        sound and moving images in a large-scale digital storage archive at the 
        Packard Campus for Audio-Visual Conservation, which was constructed 
        through a unique private-public partnership with the Packard Humanities 
        Institute;
Whereas the Library of Congress and First Lady Laura Bush instituted and have 
        co-sponsored the very popular National Book Festival annually since 
        2001, celebrating the joy of reading and the creativity of America's 
        writers and illustrators;
Whereas the programs of the Library of Congress, including the National Digital 
        Library which processed over 5,000,000,000 transactions in 2006 alone, 
        have made freely available to the American people millions of historical 
        items in the Library's incomparable collection through online databases, 
        including 11,000,000 rare primary source materials from its collection, 
        to invigorate and promote lifelong learning in every locality in the 
        United States: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the Senate recognizes and honors the 20 years of 
service and contributions of Dr. James Hadley Billington as Librarian 
of Congress.
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