[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 80 (Tuesday, June 4, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5705-S5706]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       THE IOWA SESQUICENTENNIAL

  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, today, I begin a series of remarks to 
celebrate the sesquicentennial of my home State of Iowa. It is my 
intention to say something on the history of Iowa, building up to the 
opening of the Smithsonian Institution's Festival of American Folklife 
on June 26. This year the festival celebrates Iowa.
  So, I wish to inform my colleagues that they will shortly be 
receiving an invitation from the Secretary of the Smithsonian and the 
Iowa congressional delegation to attend a birthday party for Iowa. We 
will host the birthday party on June 26 from 6:30 until 8:30 at the 
Centennial Building of the Smithsonian located next to the Smithsonian 
Castle. I hope to see many of you as we enjoy cake and ice cream along 
with the other invited guests, including the President, Vice-President, 
Cabinet members, Supreme Court Justices, and foreign diplomatic corps. 
Many Iowa-based businesses will also be there. As a matter of fact, 
even the Maytag repairman, the loneliest man in town, may be there.
  James K. Polk was our President when, on December 28, 1846, Iowa was 
admitted into the Union as the 29th State. But our history began long 
before that date. Before the coming of settlers from the East, Iowa was 
home to almost 17 different tribes of Indians over the years. Tribal 
names included the Ioway, Sauk, Sioux, Potawatomi, Oto, Missouri, and 
Mesquaki. The Mesquaki still live in Iowa on the Mesquaki Settlement in 
Tama County, which is some of the tribe's original land. This is a 
unique situation because this land is a settlement, not a reservation. 
It is comprised of land, now approximately 3,200 acres, which the tribe 
bought and owns outright.
  Iowa is a very fertile land, with deep black soil and plentiful 
water. Little did the French explorers Louis Joliet and Father Jacques 
Marquette know when they came ashore in eastern Iowa from their 
Mississippi River travels in 1673 that this patch of land would become 
a modern-day international agricultural giant. Mr. President, 323 years 
later, Iowans proudly help to feed the world.
  It is interesting to note that since 1880, Iowa has remained No. 1 in 
pork production in the United States. As Don Muhm, former Des Moines 
Register agriculture writer and very good friend of mine, writes in his 
book ``Iowa Pork & People,'' the peak in Iowa hog farms came in 1935, 
when swine was raised on 185,215 farms in the State. This dropped to 
33,000 farms in Iowa in 1993. As I have proudly stated on this floor 
many times before, 1 in 4 pigs in the United States lives in my home 
State of Iowa. And 78 percent of this country's grain-fed beef is 
raised in Iowa. In 1991, Iowa ranked first in the Nation in the 
production of red meat. Last year, in 1995, Iowa had the honor of 
ranking No. 1 in the Nation in the production of both corn and 
soybeans.

[[Page S5706]]

  The good soil and abundance of good water are key to Iowa's 
agricultural productivity. There are numerous rivers and streams in the 
State. While Iowa ranks 30th in the United States by size of population 
and 23d in terms of size in land area, Iowa ranks 5th in the United 
States in the number of bridges needed to cross those rivers and 
streams. There are 24,844 bridges in Iowa.
  Getting our products, both agricultural and nonagricultural, to 
market takes good roads. Iowa has more miles of road than 40 of the 
other States.
  From the time the first official settlement began in Iowa in June 
1833 to the present day, Iowans have proven themselves to be an 
industrious and blessed people. Our history is as rich as our land. We 
are proud to be Iowans, and we are proud to be Americans. During the 
upcoming days I will continue my talks on Iowa, hoping to impart to you 
and to the Nation a small part of something that is almost too big to 
describe--the Iowa spirit.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Utah, [Mr. Hatch], is now 
recognized to speak for up to 20 minutes.
  The Senator from Utah.

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