[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 135 (Thursday, September 26, 1996)]
[House]
[Pages H11334-H11336]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
W. EDWARDS DEMING FEDERAL BUILDING
Mr. GILCHREST. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent for the immediate
consideration of the bill (H.R. 3535) to redesignate a Federal building
in Suitland, MD, as the ``W. Edwards Deming Federal Building.''
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Maryland?
Mr. TRAFICANT. Mr. Speaker, reserving the right to object, I will not
object, and I would ask the gentleman from Maryland for an explanation
of the bill.
Mr. GILCHREST. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
Mr. TRAFICANT. I yield to the gentleman from Maryland.
Mr. GILCHREST. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 3535, a bill
designating the Federal building in Suitland, MD, as the W. Edwards
Deming Federal Building.
Dr. William Edwards Deming was a renowned expert on business
management. He began his public service career with the Department of
Agriculture as a physicist, in 1927. He then moved to the Bureau of
Census to become the mathematical advisor to the chief of the
population division, where he developed and designed statistical
sampling techniques for use in the national census. His interest in
quality and management led him to introduce sampling as a quality
measurement technique for punch card verification and other processing
in the 1940 census.
It is a fitting tribute to name this Census Bureau facility in his
honor.
This bill has bipartisan support and I would like to thank my
colleagues on both sides of the aisle for their assistance in bringing
this measure forward.
I urge my colleagues to support this bill.
Mr. TRAFICANT. Mr. Speaker, under my reservation of objection, I
yield to the ranking member of our committee, the gentleman from
Minnesota [Mr. Oberstar].
(Mr. OBERSTAR asked and was given permission to revise and extend his
remarks.)
Mr. OBERSTAR. Mr. Speaker, I support H.R. 3535, a bill to designate
the Federal building in the Suitland Federal Center, 4700 Silver Hill
Rd., Suitland, MD as the W. Edwards Deming Federal Building.
Mr. Deming, who died in 1993, was honored throughout the world as the
quality management guru. Dr. Deming began his career as a
[[Page H11335]]
physics teacher at the University of Colorado, and from 1928 to 1939
held a Federal position as a mathematical physicist at the U.S.
Department of Agriculture. He also presented special lectures on
mathematics and statistics at the Graduate School of the National
Bureau of Standards.
In 1931 Dr. Deming was inspired by the book ``Economic Control of
Quality of Manufactured Products'' and he subsequently undertook the
task of improving quality in manufacturing. His work in this area, as
we are aware, strongly contributed to the economic renaissance of
Japan.
Dr. Deming was a prolific writer, teacher, and lecturer. He has
received numerous awards, honorary doctorates, and honors including the
Second Order Medal of the Sacred Treasure, awarded by the Emperor of
Japan.
It is fitting and proper to honor the distinguished career of this
truly outstanding American by designating the Federal building in
Suitland, MD as the W. Edwards Deming Federal Building. I thank Mr.
Wynn of Maryland for introducing H.R. 3535 and urge support for its
passage.
Mr. TRAFICANT. Mr. Speaker, this designation would honor the
contributions and career of an outstanding American. It is fitting and
proper to designate the Census Bureau facility in Suitland in Dr.
Deming's honor. I want to commend the gentleman from Maryland,
Congressman Wynn, for his work on this bill and urge support of this
bill.
Mr. Speaker, I offer my statement in its entirety for the Record:
Mr. Speaker, reserving the right to object. However, I will not
object and yield to the gentleman for an explanation of the bill.
Thank you, Mr. Gilchrest. H.R. 3535 is a bill to designate the
Federal building at the Suitland Federal Center, Suitland, MD, as the
W. Edwards Deming Federal Building. This designation would honor the
contributions and career of an outstanding American.
Dr. Deming's career included work at the Department of Agriculture,
and the Bureau of Census, as well as statistical consulting work for
many foreign countries such as Austria, France, India, and most notably
Japan, where he is often cited as a leader in the Japanese renaissance.
Dr. Deming's work supported the thesis that most product defects were
the result of poor management practices not careless workers. He argued
that motivated workers working with proper tools produced quality
products.
Mr. WYNN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express my support for H.R.
3535, legislation to redesignate Federal office building No. 3, located
in Suitland Federal Center, 4700 Silver Hill Road, Suitland, MD as the
William Edwards Deming Federal Building.
By way of background, Dr. Deming received his B.S. degree from the
University of Wyoming, his M.S. degree from the University of Colorado
and his Ph.D. from Yale University. In 1927, he became a faithful civil
servant joining the Department of Agriculture as a physicist and then
moved on to the Bureau of the Census to become the mathematical adviser
to the chief of the population division. In that position he developed
and designed statistical sampling techniques for use in the census. His
interest in quality management led him to introduce sampling as a
quality measurement technique for punch card verification and other
processing activities in the 1940 census.
After leaving the Census Bureau in 1945 he began a second
distinguished career as a consultant on statistics and management to
several foreign governments, including those of Austria, France,
Germany, India, Turkey, and most famously Japan.
Dr. Deming's theories were based on the premise that most product
defects resulted from management shortcomings rather than careless
workers, and that inspection after the fact was inferior to designing
processes that would produce better quality. He argued that enlisting
the efforts of willing workers to do things properly the first time and
giving them the right tools were the real secrets of improving
quality--not teams of inspectors.
His successes with industrial leaders in Japan, with Ford Motor Co.
and Xerox Corp. are unmatched. As a civil servant he dedicated his life
to designing innovative methods of statistical gathering.
I urge the Members of the House to support this legislation to rename
the Federal office building in Suitland, MD after this renowned expert
on business management, Dr. W. Edwards Deming.
I would also like to ask unanimous consent to include in the Record
additional material detailing the life of Dr. Deming.
W. Edwards Deming--1900-1993
William Edwards Deming, who was born in Sioux City, Iowa,
on the 14th of October 1900, has been honored throughout the
world as a ``quality-management guru.'' Yet, until the end of
his life he insisted upon being known as a ``Consultant in
Statistical Studies,'' the title that appeared on his
letterhead. His path to the eminence that he attained as a
statistician was circuitous and full of serendipity.
After Ed Deming's graduation from the University of Wyoming
in 1921 as an engineer, he remained there another year to
study mathematics. If was during that time that, as he once
told me, he received a letter from the Colorado School of
Mines informing him that he was known to be a good flute
player and that the professor of physics wanted to have a
band and therefore would like him to come to teach. He
accepted the invitation and, after a year, decided to get a
master's degree in mathematics and physics from the
University of Colorado. Just before he completed his degree,
one of his professors who had studied at Yale with Willard
Gibbs, a famous mathematician and physicist recommended him
to his alma mater. Yale subsequently offered him free tuition
and a job as a part-time instructor, both of which were
eagerly accepted.
Upon finishing the requirements for his Ph.D. at Yale in
1928, Ed Deming began his career in government as a
mathematical physicist in the Fixed Nitrogen Research
Laboratory of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), and
he remained in that position until 1939. His 38 publications
during the period had to do principally with the physical
properties of matter, but there were several that reflected
his interest in statistical methodology. I once asked him why
he, a mathematical physicist, became a statistician. His
answer was quite involved.
``Courses in engineering and surveying led me to the theory
of errors, and in studying physics and mathematics, I learned
a lot of probability. Kinetic theory of gases is a theory of
probability. So are thermodynamics and astronomy. And so is
geodesy, involving measurement of the earth's surface for the
purpose of figuring the curvature or other characteristics of
the earth. It makes use of `least squares,' And I had very
good teachers in least squares.
``When people had problems with experimental data. I just
worked on them and found myself able to make a contribution,
of thought anyway. And I suppose that's the way I got eased
into it.''
Analysis of results of experimental work in bacteriology
and chemistry gave him a chance to learn more about the
statistical adjustment of data. There were three papers on
``The Application of Least Squares,'' published in the
``Philosophical Magazine.'' In his book ``Statistical
Adjustment of Data,'' published in 1943, he brought together,
in readily usable form, the substance of these papers and of
the earlier literature and his own studies on the subject.
This text is still frequently consulted for guidance on the
application of the method of least squares in various
different situations.
From 1930 through 1946, Ed Deming was a special lecturer on
mathematics and statistics in the Graduate School of the
National Bureau of Standards. His courses, given from 8 to 9
a.m. at the Bureau, later inspired many lectures and articles
by his students. These paved the way for the establishment in
1947 of the Statistical Engineering Laboratory within the
Bureau of Standards. During an overlapping period that
extended from 1933 through 1953, he was head of the
Department of Mathematics and Statistics of the Graduate
School of the USDA and made major contributions to the
mathematical and statistical education of a whole generation.
In 1936, he went to London to study the theory of statistics
with Ronald Fisher at University College, the University of
London.
While at University College, Ed Deming met and attended
lectures by Jerzy Neyman, who had been Head of the Biometrics
Laboratory of the Necki Institute in Warsaw, Poland. Neyman
read, at a meeting of the Royal Statistical Society, a
revolutionary paper: ``On the Two Different Aspects of the
Representative Method: The Method of Stratified Sampling and
the Method of Purposive Selection.'' As a result of the
lectures and particularly this paper, which marked the
beginning of a new era in sampling, arrangements were made
for Neyman to visit the USDA Graduate School in 1937 and
lecture there.
Ed Deming took pains to ensure that Neyman's lectures in
Washington were well attended by U.S. Government
statisticians, and he worked an entire year to produce the
book, Lectures and Conferences on Mathematical Statistics.
The lectures and the book together had a tremendous impact on
sampling theory.
The staff of the Bureau of the Census was already planning
in the late 1930s for the 1940 Population Census. Users of
census data have always wanted more information than can
possibly be provided with a normal budget. Many of them were
willing to accept sample results, but some of the old timers
at the Bureau were opposed to the idea of sampling.
``Sampling was abhorred,'' Ed Deming told me, ``because the
census had always been complete. It couldn't be anything
other than complete. But sampling was in the air.''
The final decision rested with Secretary of Commerce Harry
Hopkins. After listening to the arguments pro and con,
Hopkins decided in favor of sampling procedure that would be
used in the 1940 population census. ``Well,'' Ed told me,
``one day in 1939 the telephone rang, and it was Dr. Philip
Hauser, the Assistant Director of the Census Bureau, wanting
to talk with me about a job. I said `Right Away!' and joined
the Bureau of the Census as Head Mathematician and Advisor in
Sampling.''
[[Page H11336]]
After leaving the Census Bureau in 1946, Ed Deming began
his practice as a Consultant in Statistical Studies from an
office in the basement of his home in Washington, DC. For the
remainder of his life, he conducted his consulting from this
office, aided for many years before her death in 1986 by his
wife Lola, a distinguished mathematician in her own right.
During the final nearly four decades of his life he was
assisted by his extraordinary secretary, consultant and
confidant, Cecelia Kilian, known to hundreds of people
throughout the world as ``Ceil.''
At the same time that he began his consulting practice Ed Deming
joined the Graduate School of Business Administration at New York
University as a full professor. Before he ``retired'' from NYU in 1975
to become Professor Emeritus, he regularly taught two courses in survey
sampling and one in quality control; and, moreover, he served as
advisor to about 100 students who earned their master's and doctoral
degrees. I asked him on one occasion if NYU didn't have some sort of
policy concerning retirement of academic and other personnel at age 65
or 70. His response was, ``Well, if they did have, they didn't tell me
about it.''
The fact is that until a few months before his death, Ed Deming
continued to teach at NYU every Monday afternoon during the academic
year and to direct studies of graduate students. He also taught Monday
mornings during the last few years of his life as a ``Distinguished
Lecturer' at Columbia University, where a Deming Center has recently
been established.
Ed Deming's entrance into the world of quality improvement was
inspired by the 1931 book Economic Control on Quality of Manufactured
Product, written by his friend and mentor Walter Shewhart, the father
of statistical process control. In 1938, he arranged for Shewhart to
deliver a series of four lectures entitled ``Statistical Method from
the View point of Quality Control'' at the USDA Graduate School. These
lecturers were published by the Graduate School in 1939 ``with the
editorial assistance of W. Edwards Deming.''
The crusade that Ed Deming subsequently undertook for the improvement
of quality resulted, as we know, in the economic Renaissance of Japan
and eventually in his own world-wide prominence as a ``prophet of
quality'' and philosopher of management. This aspect of Ed Demings'
life was highlighted by the media in the hundreds of commentaries upon
his death. The present tribute to his memory therefore, has emphasized
only what is pertinent to statisticians and was not mentioned in those
commentaries.
Ed Deming's extensive contributions to statistical thinking are too
voluminous to suit the present purpose. It suffices to say, that
throughout his life, he championed the belief that statistical theory
shows how mathematics, judgment, and substantive knowledge work
together to the best advantage. Thus he, himself, was a master as
logician and architect of statistical studies. This was more than
evident at the Deming Seminar for Statisticians held annually at NYU
beginning in 1987.
Ed Deming died quickly in his sleep on December 20, 1993 at is home.
His daughters, Diana and Linda, their husbands, and Diana's five
children, along with their own spouses and children (16 in total), were
to assemble at his home for what they feared might be his last
Christmas. Most of them had arrived in Washington by the time of his
passing
Mr. TRAFICANT. Mr. Speaker, I withdraw my reservation of objection.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Maryland?
There was no objection.
The Clerk read the bill, as follows:
H.R. 3535
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. DESIGNATION.
Federal Office Building No. 3, located in the Suitland
Federal Center at 4700 Silver Hill Road in Suitland,
Maryland, shall be redesignated and known as the ``W. Edwards
Deming Federal Building''.
SEC. 2. REFERENCES.
Any reference in a law, map, regulation, document, paper,
or other record of the United States to the Federal building
referred to in section 1 shall be deemed to be a reference to
the ``W. Edwards Deming Federal Building''.
The bill was ordered to be engrossed and read a third time, was read
the third time, and passed, and a motion to reconsider was laid on the
table.
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