[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 142 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. RES. 142

                  Honoring the life of Rachel Carson.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             April 21, 2015

  Mr. Cardin (for himself, Mr. Casey, and Ms. Mikulski) submitted the 
   following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the 
                               Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
                  Honoring the life of Rachel Carson.

Whereas, May 27, 2007, marked the centennial of the birth of Rachel Carson, a 
        longtime Maryland resident, a noted author, and an environmental 
        visionary;
Whereas Rachel Carson was born on May 27, 1907, in Springdale, of western 
        Pennsylvania, where she learned to love nature while exploring the 
        Allegheny River with her family and friends;
Whereas Rachel Carson graduated magna cum laude from Pennsylvania College for 
        Women (now known as ``Chatham University'') in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 
        in 1928, and went on to earn her master's degree in zoology from The 
        Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1932;
Whereas Rachel Carson abandoned her pursuit of a doctorate degree in 1935 when 
        her father died so that she could provide financial support for her 
        aging mother by taking part-time teaching positions at The Johns Hopkins 
        University and the University of Maryland as well as a position as a 
        writer for the United States Bureau of Fisheries (now known as the 
        ``United States Fish and Wildlife Service'');
Whereas Rachel Carson continued her writing career with feature columns in the 
        Baltimore Sun on the marine life of the Chesapeake Bay until she was 
        employed full-time in the Federal Government where she rose to become 
        the editor-in-chief for all Fish and Wildlife Service publications;
Whereas Rachel Carson's first book, ``Under the Sea-Wind'', published in 1941, 
        gave readers across the country a chance to enjoy her poetic style and 
        her careful use of scientific information for the first time;
Whereas Rachel Carson's second book, ``The Sea Around Us'', earned the 1952 
        National Book Award and allowed her to fully devote her time to her 
        writing career;
Whereas Rachel Carson's guide to seashore life, ``The Edge of the Sea'', was 
        published in 1955 and became another best seller;
Whereas in 1962, while a resident of Silver Spring, Maryland, Rachel Carson 
        wrote ``Silent Spring'', a book that detailed how synthetic chemicals 
        accumulate in water, soils, fish, and animals, including birds;
Whereas President John F. Kennedy convened an expert panel of scientists that 
        confirmed Rachel Carson's scientific findings, leading to the domestic 
        ban on the sale of the chemical dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane 
        (commonly known as ``DDT'') in 1972, an action that many individuals 
        credit with saving the bald eagle from extinction;
Whereas in 2015, there are more bald eagles in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed than 
        there were in the entire lower 48 States in 1972; and
Whereas Rachel Carson passed away on April 14, 1964, at her home in Silver 
        Spring, Maryland, leaving behind a history of tireless advocacy on 
        behalf of the natural world, a legacy of scientific rigor coupled with 
        poetic sensibility, and a book that helped launch the modern 
        environmental movement: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the Senate honors the life of Rachel Carson, a 
scientist, writer, and pioneer of the environmental movement.
                                 <all>