[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 79 (Wednesday, June 17, 1998)]
[House]
[Pages H4698-H4699]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  TOMORROW'S CAPITOL HILL ROBOTICS INVITATIONAL PROMISES TO BE A REAL 
                                 TREAT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Delahunt) is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. DELAHUNT. Mr. Speaker, if you think ball-playing robots invading 
Congress sounds like a science fiction script, then think again, and 
set your alarm clock for early tomorrow morning, when you and I will 
kick off an unprecedented head-to-head national robotics competition on 
Capitol Hill. It will truly be an exciting time in the halls of 
Congress tomorrow.
  A dozen high school teams from across the country, including students 
from Plymouth North and Quincy and North Quincy High School, many of 
whom are in the gallery here tonight, will cheer on their robots' 
attempts to pivot around mechanical competitors scoring points by 
heaving large balls into 8-foot goals.
  Last summer, when I attended the Rumble at the Rock in America's 
hometown, Plymouth, Massachusetts, a regional robotics competition held 
at Plymouth Rock, I expected something between a chess club 
demonstration and a science fair. What I saw left me stunned and truly 
impressed.
  These competitions create an intense thirst for achievement that is 
usually reserved for the NCAA or NBA finals, proving again what sports 
promoters and parents have long known: We can create demand for 
excellence among the kids themselves.
  Tomorrow's Capitol Hill robotics invitational is designed to 
underscore the work of a unique foundation, called FIRST, which is 
headed by Andrew Allen, a former astronaut who served as commander of 
the Space Shuttle Columbia. The acronym FIRST stands for, and I am 
quoting, For Inspirational and Recognition of Science and Technology.
  Over 20,000 students on 200 teams participated in regional contests 
leading to FIRST's national finals earlier this year at the Epcot 
Center in Florida. Televised by ESPN, and with a crowd of more than 
12,000 screaming from the sidelines, it had all the excitement of a 
national student athletic championship.
  Each team is issued an identical trunkful of raw materials and a $425 
credit to purchase additional supplies, then has 6 weeks to 
collaboratively design and construct a robot capable of competing in a 
designated event. The participating students have built remote control 
robots capable of picking up and maneuvering 20-inch rubber balls 
around a small 6-sided playing field to score goals while competing 
against other robots.
  These projects combine technical sophistication, practical know-how 
and old-fashioned teamwork. A key to FIRST's success is breaking down 
the classroom door by partnering with corporate sponsors like Boston 
Edison and Gillette, and through mentoring from corporate R&D shops and 
academic engineering departments.
  As the Quincy and Plymouth students discussed earlier today with 
senior officials at the Department of Education, these projects are 
national educational models combining on-the-job training with 
competitive adrenaline. How else can you explain that morning during a 
New England storm this past winter when members of the Plymouth North 
robotics team trudged through the snow to attend school, even though 
classes were canceled? Or the many Sunday evenings when Mike Bastoni, 
its devoted robotics teacher, has to shoo students out of the computer 
lab at 10 o'clock at night?
  It is no accident that these kids emerge with a keen sense of their 
own potential and with the tools to succeed in a rapidly changing 
technologically

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advanced work force. The ultimate rewards, as the students in the House 
gallery can attest better than I, are lifelong skills and self-respect.
  I look forward to the competition tomorrow in the Rayburn foyer, and 
I promise all who come a real treat. Thank you, Mr. Speaker, for your 
effort and your assistance in cosponsoring this event.

                          ____________________