[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 131 (Friday, October 1, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2002]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    CENTRAL NEW JERSEY RECOGNIZES WINLAB'S 10TH AND MARCONI'S 100TH

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                           HON. RUSH D. HOLT

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 30, 1999

  Mr. HOLT. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in celebration of Guglielmo 
Marconi's historic radio transmission from the North Tower of the Twin 
Lights Lighthouse in Highlands, NJ. WINLAB, an industry-sponsored 
wireless research laboratory at Rutgers University, is sponsoring a 
``Marconi Day'' celebration at the transmission site in Highlands on 
September 30, 1999.
  Marconi, the inventor of the wireless telegraph, was invited to 
America by James Gordon Bennett, the publisher of the New York Herald, 
to publicize the 1899 America's Cup Races and to demonstrate the 
wireless telegraph. The confident Marconi promised New York reporters 
that, ``We will be able to send the details of the yacht racing to New 
York as accurately and as quickly as if you could telephone them. The 
distance is nothing.'' The first wireless messages actually did not 
report the America's Cup Races but rather followed the progress of 
Commodore George Dewey's victorious return from the Spanish-American 
War along the Hudson River.
  The transmission between Twin Lights Beacon and the Navy's Great 
White Fleet on September 30, 1899 marked the first demonstration of 
practical wireless telegraphy in our history. Marconi became a national 
hero when the wireless telegraph, known simply as a ``Marconi'', was 
required on all sea-going ships and was responsible for saving many 
lives at sea, including 705 survivors of the Titanic. He received the 
Nobel Prize in Physics in 1909.
  The centennial celebration features distinguished speakers, a 
reception and ceremonial reenactment, and a celebration of WINLAB's 10 
year contribution to wireless communication. A ceremony and re-
enactment will take place at the Twin Lights above Sandy Hook. Antique 
radio equipment will be displayed at Twin Lights, which commands a 
magnificent view of Sandy Hook and the entrance to New York Harbor. The 
evening concludes with a river-view dinner in the town of Highlands to 
celebrate WINLAB's 10th anniversary.
  Rutgers WINLAB, the Wireless Information Network Laboratory, is a 
particularly appropriate sponsor for this event. WINLAB is an 
educational institution committed to advancing wireless communications 
through education and research. For ten years, WINLAB, founded by Dr. 
David Goodman, has been a National Science Foundation Industry/
University Cooperative Research Center at Rutgers, the State University 
of New Jersey. WINLAB is renowned for its role in technology creation, 
evaluation, education and information exchange. It serves private 
industry, government agencies, academic and standards organizations. As 
they share both significant anniversaries and missions, WINLAB honors 
Marconi for providing the basis for wireless communications and 
creating the very object of their research.
  I urge all of my colleagues to join me in recognizing WINLAB's 
commitment to Guglielmo Marconi's vision and continued contribution to 
wireless technology throughout the world.

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