IV 111th CONGRESS 2d Session H. RES. 1253 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES April 14, 2010 Mr. Welch submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on House Administration RESOLUTION Commemorating the 200th anniversary of the birth of Vermont Senator Justin Smith Morrill, who helped create a national system of land-grant colleges.

Whereas Justin Smith Morrill was born on April 14, 1810, in Strafford, Vermont, and was the son of a blacksmith; Whereas Justin Smith Morrill left school at the age of 15 and was not able to attend college because his family was unable to afford tuition; Whereas in 1854, Justin Smith Morrill was elected to represent Vermont’s Second Congressional District in the House of Representatives, and served a total of six terms as a Representative; Whereas in 1857, Justin Smith Morrill introduced a bill in the House of Representatives that changed the course of American higher education by creating a national system of land-grant colleges to promote the liberal and practical education of the industrial classes; Whereas since the enactment of the Act of July 2, 1862 (commonly known as the First Morrill Act or the Land-Grant College Act; 7 U.S.C. 301 et seq.), more than 23 million students have graduated from the resulting 105 land-grant colleges; Whereas in 1866, Justin Smith Morrill was elected to the United States Senate, an office to which he was re-elected five times; Whereas the Justin Smith Morrill Homestead was designated a National Historic Landmark by the Secretary of the Interior in 1960, the first site in Vermont so honored; Whereas in 1969, the Justin Smith Morrill Homestead was donated to the State of Vermont to be open to the public as a Vermont Historic Site; and Whereas the 200th anniversary of the birth of Justin Smith Morrill is celebrated on April 14, 2010: Now, therefore, be it

That the House of Representatives commemorates the 200th anniversary of the birth of Justin Smith Morrill.