[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 96 (Tuesday, July 16, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1276]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          PERSONAL EXPLANATION

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                          HON. MARK E. SOUDER

                               of indiana

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 16, 2002

  Mr. SOUDER. Mr. Speaker, due to a series of visits to national parks 
in Colorado and New Mexico, I was not in Washington on July 8, 2002 
when the Fort Clatsop National Memorial Expansion Act of 2002 passed 
the House. If I had been here, I would have voted for the bill.
  I was a cosponsor of this bill and worked closely with Representative 
Wu and Representative Baird to help this nationally significant 
legislation pass through the Subcommittee on National Parks, 
Recreation, and Public Lands, and the full Resources Committee.
  The Fort Clatsop bill is time-sensitive because the important 
celebration of the Bicentennial of the Lewis and Clark Expedition is 
just about to begin. This celebration is not only historically 
significant for celebrating what the Corps of Discovery accomplished, 
but also for recognizing its part in creating the spirit of what being 
an American is all about. The expansion of Fort Clatsop lends credence 
not only to the importance of the completion of the expedition's 
journey, but also to the beginning of the growth of a nation. This new 
trail will enable visitors to the inland campsite to experience, as the 
expedition did, the walk to the beautiful Oregon coast. The members of 
the expedition regularly hiked to the salt works, as well as to 
experience their first views of a whale, that was beached. This 
proposal also calls for further consideration of the important 
Washington State side of the Columbia River, where the Lewis and Clark 
Expedition first explored a wintering site and first saw the Pacific 
Ocean. Developing these sites for future Americans to appreciate will 
be an enduring legacy of this Congress.

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