[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 56 (Tuesday, May 7, 2002)]
[House]
[Pages H2122-H2123]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    HARVEY W. WILEY FEDERAL BUILDING

  Mr. BOOZMAN. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 2911) to designate the Federal building located at 5100 
Paint Branch Parkway in College Park, Maryland, as the ``Harvey W. 
Wiley Federal Building.''
  The Clerk read as follows:

                               H.R. 2911

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. DESIGNATION.

       The Federal building located at 5100 Paint Branch Parkway 
     in College Park, Maryland, shall be known and designated as 
     the ``Harvey W. Wiley Federal Building''.

     SEC. 2. REFERENCES.

       Any reference in a law, map, regulation, document, paper, 
     or other record of the United States to the Federal building 
     referred to in section 1 shall be deemed to be a reference to 
     the ``Harvey W. Wiley Federal Building''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Arkansas (Mr. Boozman) and the gentlewoman from the District of 
Columbia (Ms. Norton) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Boozman).
  Mr. BOOZMAN. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  H.R. 2911 designates the Federal building located at 1500 Paint 
Branch Parkway in College Park, Maryland, as the Harvey W. Wiley 
Federal building.
  Harvey Washington Wiley was born in a log farm house in Indiana in 
1844. He served as a corporal in the Civil War and then attended 
Hanover College where he earned a bachelors degree in 1867. He went on 
to study medicine at Indiana Medical College where he received his 
medical degree in 1871. He continued his education at Harvard 
University where he earned a bachelors degree in chemistry.
  Dr. Wiley joined the faculty at Purdue University in 1874 where he 
developed and taught the first laboratory course in chemistry. Taking a 
sabbatical in Europe, Dr. Wiley was elected to the prestigious German 
Chemical Society for his work studying sugar chemistry. Upon his return 
to the United States, Dr. Wiley continued his research in the field of 
sugar chemistry focusing on the adulteration of the domestic sugar 
industry.
  In 1882, Dr. Wiley was named chief chemist at the U.S. Department of 
Agriculture. In this position he was known as the father of the Pure 
Food and Drugs Act when it became law in 1906. And he served as the 
first commissioner of what would later become the Food and Drug 
Administration from 1907 through 1912.
  In 1912, Dr. Wiley took over the laboratories of Good Housekeeping 
magazine where he established the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval 
and continued to work tirelessly on behalf of the consuming public. The 
designation of this Federal building is a fitting tribute to the 
innovative scientist and dedicated public servant. I support the bill 
and urge my colleagues to join in support.
  Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. NORTON. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Dr. Harvey W. Wiley, known as the Crusading Chemist and the father of 
the Federal Food and Drug Act, was born in a log farm house in 1844 
near Kent, Indiana. After receiving his education in local schools, he 
attended Hanover College. And in 1841 he received his medical degree 
from Indiana Medical College. Following a brief assignment at Harvard 
University, Wiley returned to Indiana in 1874 to accept a faculty 
position in chemistry at the newly opened Purdue University. In 1833 he 
was appointed as chief chemist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
  After 29 years at the Bureau of Chemistry, Wiley resigned to accept a 
position at Good Housekeeping Institute's Bureau of Food Sanitation and 
Health. In this position Wiley established the Good Housekeeping Seal 
of Approval. Dr. Wiley was a visionary and pioneer for the necessity of 
safe food and drug supplies and was vigilant in protecting the 
consumer.
  His public career was dedicated to establishing and improving 
government regulations regarding safe food and drug processing. It is 
fitting that Dr. Wiley be honored with this designation at the new FDA 
headquarters in College Park, Maryland. I commend the gentleman from 
Maryland (Mr. Hoyer) for introducing this bill and for his leadership 
in moving this bill through the legislative process.
  Madam Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the 
distinguished gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer), the author of this 
bill.
  Mr. HOYER. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from the District 
of Columbia (Ms. Norton) for yielding me time, and I thank the 
gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Boozman) for facilitating the movement of 
this bill to the floor.
  I rise, of course, Madam Speaker, in strong support of the Harvey W. 
Wiley Federal Building Designation Act. The building which we speak of 
today is the Food and Drug Administration's Center for Food Safety and 
Applied Nutrition, located in my district in College Park, Maryland.
  Harvey Washington Wiley is best known, as has been said, for his 
pioneering work as the chief chemist at the Bureau of Chemistry, which 
of course is now known as the Food and Drug Administration.
  His work in the early 1900s led to the passage of the Pure Food and 
Drug Act. As the head of the Bureau of Chemistry, Wiley served as chief 
enforcer of the act, and his inspection program revolutionized the 
country's food supply by making it healthier and safer. Each of us 
every day benefits from the work of Dr. Wiley. After serving 29 years, 
as was observed by the gentlewoman from District of Columbia (Ms. 
Norton), as the chief of the Bureau of Chemistry, he resigned and later 
established the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval as the director of 
Good Housekeeping Institute's Bureau of Foods, Sanitation and Health, a 
demonstration of his lifelong commitment

[[Page H2123]]

to the purity of our food and our health and our safety.
  The Harvey W. Wiley Building is the result of a strong commitment and 
partnership between the Food and Drug Administration, the General 
Services Administration, the State of Maryland, the city of College 
Park, the city council, the local community, and the University of 
Maryland.
  The Wiley Building, which opened in October of 2001, is the first 
major laboratory completed as part of the Food and Drug 
Administration's consolidation effort. The facility holds over 950 
researchers and other staff doing a critical job for our people and for 
our country. We depend upon them to ensure that the foods we consume 
and the cosmetic products we use are safe and labeled properly.
  The FDA's consolidation effort has been ongoing since 1991 when 
Congress gave authority to the FDA to improve its dilapidated 
facilities and bring its workers closer together for more efficient 
operations. In addition to this facility, the Center for Veterinary 
Medicine in Beltsville was completed in 1996 and work continues on four 
remaining centers at White Oak. When the consolidation is finally 
completed, Madam Speaker, it will consolidate nearly 40 different FDA 
facilities scattered around the metropolitan area. This will not only 
improve the working conditions of employees, it will save the taxpayers 
literally millions of dollars in reduced lease costs.
  These Federal entities in tandem with the University of Maryland's 
world-class academicians and researchers will creates a unique synergy 
in the Washington metropolitan region.
  Naming the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition in College 
Park after Harvey W. Wiley will cap off an already marvelous 
achievement for the FDA and GSA. There are times when we name buildings 
after people because perhaps they got the money for the buildings or 
perhaps they were luminaries in a particular jurisdiction or State or 
nation, but not necessarily involved with the building. This naming is 
as appropriate a naming as I think we have ever done because Dr. Wiley 
was such an integral part of developing food safety, nutritional 
health, and the oversight of that which is manufactured and purveyed 
that we either ingest or put on our bodies, that it will be safe for 
doing so. So I rise in strong support of this legislation. Again, I 
thank the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Boozman) and the gentlewoman 
from the District of Columbia (Ms. Norton) for expediting its 
presentation to the House and urge its unanimous adoption.
  Mr. OBERSTAR. Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 2911. 
H.R. 2911 honors Dr. Harvey W. Wiley, known as the ``Father of the Food 
and Drug Administration (``FDA'')'', by designating the new state-of-
the-art Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition in College Park, 
Maryland as the ``Harvey W. Wiley Federal Building''.
  Dr. Wiley was a pioneer who advocated on behalf of the American 
people for a safe food and drug supply. He fought for federal 
protections from fraudulent drugs and unsafe foods. From 1883 until 
1912, he served as Chief of the Bureau of Chemistry at the U.S. 
Department of Agriculture (``USDA''). As a result of his strong beliefs 
and unwavering efforts, the first comprehensive bill ensuring a safe 
food and drug supply, the Pure Food and Drug Act, was passed in 1906. 
This Act has served as a cornerstone for the modern Food and Drug Acts.
  Harvey Washington Wiley was born near Kent, IN, in 1844. He was an 
honor student at Hanover College and received his medical degree from 
Indiana Medical College in 1871. He also earned a B.S. degree from 
Harvard University after only a few months of intense effort. In 1874, 
Dr. Wiley accepted a faculty position in chemistry at Purdue 
University. In 1882, he was named Chief Chemist at the USDA, a position 
he held for nearly 30 years.
  Under his leadership and perseverance, the Bureau of Chemistry grew 
in both size and stature. The Bureau's staff expanded from 110 to 146 
employers, and their appropriations expanded from $155,00 to nearly $1 
million in 1906.
  In 1912, Dr. Wiley resigned from the Bureau and began a career at the 
Good Housekeeping labs where he established the ``Good Housekeeping 
Seal of Approval''. He died in 1930 and is buried at Arlington National 
Cemetery.
  This bill is a fitting tribute to Dr. Harvey W. Wiley, the Father of 
the FDA.
  I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 2911.
  Ms. NORTON. Madam Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I 
yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. BOOZMAN. Madam Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and 
I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Boozman) that the House suspend the rules 
and pass the bill, H.R. 2911.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds of 
those present have voted in the affirmative.
  Mr. BOOZMAN. Madam Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the 
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be 
postponed.

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