[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 37 (Tuesday, April 9, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2381-S2382]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
CONGRATULATING THE UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT'S WOMEN'S BASKETBALL TEAM
ON WINNING THE NCAA NATIONAL TITLE
Mr. DODD. Mr. President, I send to the desk a resolution, S. Res.
232, and ask for its consideration.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the resolution by title.
The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:
A resolution (S. Res. 232) congratulating the Huskies of
the University of Connecticut for winning the 2002 NCAA
Division I women's basketball championship.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Corzine). Without objection, the Senate
will proceed to consider the resolution.
The junior Senator from Connecticut is recognized.
Mr. LIEBERMAN. Mr. President, it is with profound pride--and I
suppose I should add provincial pleasure--that I join Senator Dodd and
all of our colleagues from Connecticut in the House of Representatives
in introducing this resolution, which is the legislative equivalent of
wagging our tails and howling like huskies at the Capitol dome.
We are very proud to salute the 2002 national champion University of
Connecticut women's Huskies basketball team, who, on March 31, capped a
39-to-0 season--a perfect season--the ninth undefeated run in the whole
history of college basketball, with a victory over Oklahoma in the
title game. I suppose we should pay some respect and give some sense of
congratulations, even in defeat, to our former colleague, David Boren,
who is now the president of the University of Oklahoma.
This fantastic season leads me to repeat a pressing question that
opponents of the UConn women's basketball team must have been asking
all year, which is: Who let the Huskies out? I think the answer might
be the great Coach Geno Auriemma and his superb staff, who not only
coached but led, inspired, and mentored this extraordinary group of
women to this extraordinary season. This marks the third time that
UConn women have leapt above the rim of college basketball and the
first time in NCAA history that any school has gone unbeaten on two
separate occasions.
Mr. President, you may remember--and I certainly do--a similar swell
of pride when Rebecca Lobo and Jenn Rizzotti and company ran the table
on the way to the national championship in 1995. For years to come,
student athletes around the Nation will be striving to approach the
perfection of this program, and we in Connecticut are so proud of it.
As Senator Dodd indicated, five of these great basketball players won
All-American notice. They poured in more points than any other team in
the Nation and racked up an NCAA record average margin of victory of
more than 35 points a game--a remarkable achievement.
But the true measure of the team, as Senator Dodd indicated, can't be
distilled in numbers or records. You have to look at the humans
involved. The legendary Geno Auriemma, one of the winningest coaches in
college basketball history, once again brought together a great group
of talented and hard-working young women and imbued that team not just
with the skills but with the team spirit and the togetherness that we
saw on the court perfectly and gracefully executed time and time again.
Senator Dodd referred to the four seniors who are legendary and will
remain legendary in Connecticut for a long time to come: Sue Bird,
Asjha Jones, Tamika Williams, and Swin Cash; and a great sophomore
sensation, Diana Taurasi. They became an unstoppable combination. I
will say with pride that the surge of success is starting to feel
happily familiar to us, and we are very grateful for that. Over the
last 4 years, the UConn women's team has gone 136 and 9, made three
Final Four appearances, and claimed four Big East tournament titles in
4 years, along with the Huskies men's basketball team, which this year
earned its 15th consecutive trip to national post-season play on the
way to the Elite Eight. The two make a truly triumphant tandem, that
Huskies men or women have now won the national college basketball
championship in 1995, 1999, 2000, and 2002.
This is a great program, and we owe a particular thanks and
expression of pride to the athletic director of the University of
Connecticut, Lou Perkins, to coaches Geno Auriemma and Jim Calhoun, and
to all their staffs.
Mr. President, this may give you some small sense of why Connecticut
residents are as loyal to our Huskies as huskies are to their owners.
We love the way this team came to play. We love the way they brought
out the best in our State. If I may say so, as Americans, every day we
pledge allegiance to the red, white, and blue; but during basketball
season in Connecticut, we have a special place in our hearts for the
white and blue alone. We are proud that the rest of the Nation is
catching on. A record crowd of nearly 30,000 fans turned out at the
Alamodome in San Antonio to watch the Huskies win the national title.
That growing popularity is helping women's college basketball ascend to
truly new heights.
I am proud to join with Senator Dodd and our colleagues in the House
in introducing this resolution and in congratulating the UConn players
and coaches on their singular accomplishment and asking the Senate to
do the same. We are filled with pride over the honor the Huskies have
brought to Connecticut.
Two years ago, when Senator Dodd and I were here and I was honored to
give a similar speech saluting the UConn men's Huskies, I closed with
the
[[Page S2382]]
UConn cheer. I believe if I don't do it today, there will be objections
raised under various Federal statutes. So here it is: U-C-O-N-N, UConn,
UConn, UConn.
Thank you. I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, the resolution and the
preamble are agreed to.
The resolution (S. Res. 232) was agreed to.
The preamble was agreed to.
The resolution, with its preamble, reads as follows:
S. Res. 232
Whereas the University of Connecticut women's basketball
team won its second national championship in 3 years by
defeating the University of Oklahoma by the score of 82-70;
Whereas NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Coach of the
Year Geno Auriemma's team finished the 2002 season with a
perfect 39-0 record, becoming only the fourth NCAA Division I
women's basketball team to go undefeated;
Whereas Sue Bird was chosen as the national women's player
of the year;
Whereas Swin Cash was named the Final Four Most Outstanding
Player;
Whereas Sue Bird, Swin Cash, Diana Taurasi, Asjha Jones,
and Tamika Williams were selected as All-Americans;
Whereas the Huskies' 35-point average margin of victory
during the regular season was the largest in NCAA Division I
women's basketball history;
Whereas the Huskies dominated this year's NCAA Division I
women's basketball tournament, averaging 83.3 points and a
27-point margin of victory en route to the championship;
Whereas the high caliber of the Huskies in both athletics
and academics has significantly advanced the sport of women's
basketball and provided inspiration for future generations of
young men and women alike; and
Whereas the Huskies' season of unparalleled accomplishment
rallied Connecticut residents of all ages, from New London to
New Haven, from Hartford to Hamden, behind a common purpose,
and triggered a wave of euphoria across the State: Now,
therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Senate commends the Huskies of the
University of Connecticut for--
(1) completing the 2001-2002 women's basketball season with
a 39-0 record; and
(2) winning the 2002 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball
Championship.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Texas is recognized.
____________________