[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 97 (Wednesday, July 17, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Page S6944]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      DR. WILLIS HAVILAND CARRIER

 Mrs. CLINTON. Mr. President, I rise today to honor the 
accomplishments of a great New Yorker, Dr. Willis Haviland Carrier, who 
invented air-conditioning 100 years ago today.
  Dr. Carrier was a man of humble background. Born in 1876 in Angola, 
NY, he delayed his education for 2 years to work on the family farm 
during the Depression of the mid-1890s. After finishing high school in 
Buffalo, he won a scholarship to attend Cornell University in Ithaca. 
While at Cornell, he founded a cooperative student laundry agency, the 
first of its kind. He graduated in 1901 with a degree in electrical and 
mechanical engineering, and went to work for the Buffalo Forge Company.
  When the Sackett-Wilhelms Lithographing and Publishing Company of 
Brooklyn was looking for a solution to the problem of paper expansion 
due to heat and humidity, Carrier was assigned to the task. On July 17, 
1902, he presented his design for a system to control temperature, 
humidity, air quality, circulation, and ventilation. The modern era of 
air conditioning was born.
  Dr. Carrier had the business acumen to make his invention a success, 
and in 1915 he founded the Carrier Corporation in Syracuse. Movie 
theaters were among the first adopters of the new technology, soon to 
be followed by department stores, airplanes, and cars. Air conditioning 
came to the House of Representatives in 1928 and here to the Senate in 
1929. After World War II, air conditioning became affordable for 
private homes, forever changing the American lifestyle.
  Dr. Carrier held 80 patents at the time of his death in 1950. His 
company has continued his tradition of innovation, with the 
introduction in the 1950s of rooftop systems for skyscrapers 
eliminating the need for large and costly basement rooms. Today, 
Carrier Corporation is an industry leader in environmental 
responsibility, with chlorine-free alternative refrigerants in use 
across its entire product line.
  Dr. Willis H. Carrier used his creativity and entrepreneurship to 
change the way we live and the way we work. We are fortunate to benefit 
from the contributions of this great New Yorker.

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