[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 24 (Tuesday, February 27, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E215-E216]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        NATIONAL ENGINEERS WEEK

                                 ______


                       HON. GEORGE E. BROWN, JR.

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, February 27, 1996

  Mr. BROWN of California. Mr. Speaker, I wish to take this opportunity 
to recognize the annual observance of National Engineers Week, which 
has just concluded. Samuel C. Florman, engineer and author, defines his 
profession as ``the art or science of making practical application of 
the knowledge of pure sciences'' in his book. ``The Existential 
Pleasures of Engineering.'' National Engineers Week gives us the chance 
to remember the role of engineers in making real the American dream and 
their legacy in the drama of our Nation's history.
  That National Engineers Week coincides with the celebration of the 
birth of the Father of our Country is no accident, as the profession is 
proud to recognize George Washington as a member. The First President, 
in 1749, worked as the assistant to the surveyor laying out the plan 
for the city of Alexandria. Commissioned a surveyor in his own right, 
Washington undertook the measurement and mapping of the western 
frontier of Virginia. Washington played a central role in the formation 
of the Patowmack Co., which sought to make the Potomac the major route 
for transportation into the burgeoning Northwest Territory. Finally, of 
course, Washington placed the cornerstone for the Capitol in which we 
work and devoted a great deal of his time to managing the development 
of the city that bears his name.
  Engineers appear time and again in American history. The Polish 
military engineer Tadeusz Kosciuszko built the fortifications which 
protected American forces during the Battle of Saratoga; the American 
victory led France to join the war and secured our independence. Civil 
War commanders such as P.G.T. Beauregard, George Meade, Joe Johnston, 
and Robert E. Lee saw service as engineers during the Mexican War. 
Theodore Judah and Grenville Dodge constructed the first 
transcontinental railroad. John A. Roebling and his son Washington 
raised the Brooklyn Bridge. The Wizard of Menlo Park, Thomas Edison, 
fired the imagination with his continuing output of new technologies 
that changed the lives of ordinary people. Engineers were central to 
America's ability to meet one of humanity's ultimate challenges, to 
travel away from the Earth and walk upon the surface of the Moon.
  Engineers are the prime movers behind the economic success Americans 
now enjoy. It is the engineer who recognizes how the science of the 
laboratory can be used or adapted to fill the needs of fellow citizens 
safely and efficiently. Absent the contributions of engineers in 
aerospace, civil, chemical, mechanical, electrical, and other 
disciplines, we would still be awaiting the fruits of the Industrial 
and Information Revolutions. The Federal Government's support for 
scientific research and development has long rested on the view that 
the results from that investment will be repaid by economic growth and 
a better quality of life for our citizens. Without engineers, that 
promise could not be realized.
  Mr. Speaker, I also wish to recognize in these remarks those 
engineers who directly serve the public interest in the agencies of the 
Federal Government. The Committee on Science has jurisdiction over the 
agencies whose ranks include many of the engineers employed by the 
Federal Government. They toil in obscurity trying to protect the public 
health, to advance the state of knowledge in technical fields, and to 
protect the Nation's safety and security. We in Congress have, many 
times, given them contradictory guidance in law or asked them to 
develop regulations that seek to balance incompatible goals. That these 
efforts fail should not be ascribed to their performance but to our 
design. I have no doubt that when Congress can implement the reasonable 
changes to regulatory policies supported by the majority of our Members 
that the engineers in our service will once again justify our trust in 
their commitment to the public good they have sworn to uphold.
  Recognition is due to the sponsors of National Engineers Week: the 
Society of Manufacturing Engineers, Chair of the 1996 Steering 
Committee; the American Association of Engineering Societies; the 
American Consulting Engineers Council; the American Institute of 
Chemical Engineers, the American Society of Civil Engineers; the 
American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning 
Engineers, Inc.; the American Society of Mechanical Engineers; the 
Construction Specifications Institute; the Secretariat of the National 
Society of Professional Engineers; the Society of Automotive Engineers, 
Inc.; the Society of Women Engineers; and the Institute of Electrical 
and Electronics Engineers, Inc. Corporations offering their support 
include 3M; Bechtel Group, Inc.; Chevron Corp.; Eastman Kodak Co.; 
Fluor Corp.; General Electric Co.; IBM International Foundation; 
Motorola; Rockwell; and Westinghouse Electric Corp. Agencies like the 
National Institute of Standards 

[[Page E216]]
and Technology, the Office of the Civil Engineer of the U.S. Air Force 
and the National Academy of Engineering are also supporting this year's 
celebration.
  Mr. Speaker, the President in his message on National Engineering 
Week ``thank[ed] our engineers for their remarkable achievements.'' I 
join him in those sentiments and am pleased to honor with him the 1.8 
million Americans who proudly call themselves engineers.

                          ____________________