[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 132 (Thursday, October 19, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1826]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              TRIBUTE TO FORMER CONGRESSMAN ROMAN PUCINSKI

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. HENRY J. HYDE

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, October 18, 2000

  Mr. HYDE. Mr. Speaker, despite the Vice President's claim to have 
invented the Internet, a strong case can be made that former 
Congressman Roman Pucinski (D-Chicago) had a lot to do with this 
development. A Chicago Sun-Times article from the Casual Friday Column 
of Friday, October 29, 1999, referred to this interesting fact, and I 
am pleased to share it with my colleagues.

                   ``Pooch'' May be the Father of Net

       On October 20, 1969, history was made when the first e-mail 
     was sent on ARPANET, the predecessor of today's Internet.
       So if you think presidential hopeful Al Gore ``invented'' 
     the Internet, you're sadly mistaken.
       Another pol can lay claim to inventing the Net. None other 
     than Chicago's own Roman C. Pucinski, 80, the retired 
     Democratic congressman, one-time Chicago alderman and 
     longtime Chicago Sun-Times reporter.
       Roman's daughter, Aurelia, Cook County Circuit Court clerk, 
     let us know the other day that the elder Pucinski was the 
     real father of the Internet. She shared old press releases 
     and speeches on the subject with Casual Friday. We even saw 
     ``Pooch's'' original notes.
       On Jan. 17, 1963, Pucinski proposed a national scientific 
     computer network. He chaired the House Education and Labor 
     Committee, which voted a sum ``not to exceed $7,000'' to 
     begin studies on the computer network. Proud daughter Aurelia 
     suggests that Roman proposed National Information System 
     ultimately evolved into today's Internet. Maybe it did.
       In a speech in 1965, Pucinski said he foresaw scientists 
     having pocket-size TVs that tied in with the world. Shades of 
     Palm Pilots.
       ``In a matter of seconds, a scientist will be able to 
     communicate and interrogate the world's storehouse of 
     information and reproduce instantly any article or portion he 
     may need,'' Pucinski said.
       Sounds like Yahoo! And other Web directories and search 
     engines!
       Back in the days when computer punch cards were symbols of 
     high tech, Pucinski predicted that the computer industry 
     someday would ``stand beside steel, transportation, auto 
     production and building construction as one of this nation's 
     basic industries--holding out great hope for employment not 
     only among the young but also among the old.'' What a master 
     of understatement.

  Footnote: Chicago booster Pucinski wanted the university-based data 
center to be based here. If it has unfolded that way, maybe Silicon 
Prairie would have put the Silicon Valley in its shadow, maybe it still 
will. Let's win one for the Pooch.

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