[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 96 (Wednesday, June 26, 1996)]
[House]
[Page H6974]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   VICE PRESIDENT AL GORE COMMEMORATING THE 40TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE 
                       INTERSTATE HIGHWAY SYSTEM

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Missouri [Mr. Gephardt] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. GEPHARDT. Mr. Speaker, I am submitting a statement I have 
received today from Vice President Gore.

       This week marks the 40th anniversary of the historic 
     legislation that created our nation's Interstate Highway 
     System. Tonight, at the Zero Milestone Marker on the Ellipse, 
     there will be an event to honor the four visionary Americans 
     who made it possible: President Dwight Eisenhower; 
     Congressman Hale Boggs; former Federal Highway Administrator 
     Frank Turner; and my hero, my mentor , one of Tennessee's 
     finest sons and one of America's greatest Senators . . . my 
     father, Senator Al Gore Sr.
       The Interstate Highway System has meant so much to our 
     country. Its creation led to an unprecedented period of 
     national growth and prosperity. It increased safety and 
     dramatically reduced traffic fatalities. And it enhanced our 
     national defense and security.
       The Interstate Highway System has literally changed the way 
     we work and even the way we live. But it has done something 
     else, too--something that can't be measured by statistics or 
     dollar signs.
       The Interstate Highway System unified our great and diverse 
     nation. As President Clinton has said, it ``did more to bring 
     Americans together than any other law this century.'' And by 
     so doing, it gave our citizens--and still gives our citizens 
     40 years and about 44,000 thousand miles later--the very 
     freedom that defines America.
       Inherent in our Bill of Rights--whether the freedom of 
     religion or press--is the freedom of mobility . . . to go 
     where we please, when we please. Families driving to our 
     national parks on vacation, mothers coming home from work, 
     fathers taking their children to baseball games . . . all 
     depend on the Interstate Highway System--a system that has 
     paved the way not only to the next destination, but to 
     opportunity itself.
       A highway to opportunity--that is America. And that is the 
     freedom, I am proud to say, made possible in part by my 
     father's dedication. I'm equally proud to continue that 
     tradition--inspired by him--by working to connect all 
     Americans to the 21st century's highway to opportunity, the 
     information superhighway.
       I was always amazed how the voice that called me to the 
     dinner table or reminded me to do my homework could be the 
     same voice that argued so eloquently in the Senate for what 
     can only be described as the greatest public works project in 
     the history of the United States of America. And on this, the 
     40th anniversary of that accomplishment, I would like to 
     thank my father, Senator Al Gore, Sr.
       On behalf of all Americans, I would like to thank him for 
     the Interstate Highway System that, in his words, is truly an 
     ``object of national pride.'' And I would like to thank him, 
     personally, for teaching me both what it means to be a 
     dedicated public servant and a dedicated father.