[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 29 (Tuesday, March 17, 1998)]
[House]
[Pages H1171-H1172]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       SALUTING UNIVERSITY OF RHODE ISLAND MEN'S BASKETBALL TEAM

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 21, 1997, the gentleman from Rhode Island (Mr. Weygand) is 
recognized during morning hour debates for 3 minutes.
  Mr. WEYGAND. Mr. Speaker, I rise this afternoon with great pride, 
because the smallest State in the country, Rhode Island, has one of the 
greatest basketball teams in the country, the University of Rhode 
Island. It won its game just two days ago against one of the 
powerhouses of this country, the University of Kansas, in an 
outstanding game that pitted a very small, some people would say even 
very slow, untalented basketball team against one of the giants. A team 
like Kansas, that had two first-team all-Americans, was unbeatable by 
the critics' viewpoint. Rhode Island did not have a chance. As a matter 
of fact, most of them did not think they had a chance against a smaller 
team called Murray State. But Rhode Island proved them wrong. They 
proved their critics wrong. More importantly, what they brought to our 
small State was great pride.
  I am here this morning because as an alum of the University of Rhode 
Island, my daughter also an alumnus and my son a freshman, we could not 
be more happy. All of the people in the State of Rhode Island, all 1 
million people, are ecstatic about what has happened. We have proven 
that small schools are still alive and doing well in the NCAA. We have 
proven that no matter what the odds may be, no matter how big the task 
may be, no matter how big the obstacle, even a small team in a small 
State can overcome those. We are extremely proud of our university, of 
all the things that they have become, but more importantly of their 
future. We look forward to Friday evening's basketball game against 
Valparaiso, and we join with our colleagues over there to have a 
celebration on Saturday

[[Page H1172]]

morning when we celebrate the victory for the University of Rhode 
Island.

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