[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.

                          ____________________