[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 14 (Monday, January 27, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E71-E72]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           MUSIC PRESERVATION

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. KAREN McCARTHY

                              of missouri

                    in the house of representatives

                        Monday, January 27, 2003

  Ms. McCARTHY of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to celebrate the 
preservation of American creative culture. Librarian of Congress James 
H. Billington announced today the first annual selection of 50 
recordings to the National Recording Registry. I am proud to 
congratulate my colleagues who supported the National Recording 
Preservation Act of 2000, legislation that made this historic moment 
possible. I worked diligently in shepherding this legislation through 
Congress with the help of then House Administration Ranking Member 
Steny Hoyer, now Minority Whip.
  Under the terms of the National Recording Preservation Act of 2000, 
the Librarian of Congress is charged with selecting recordings annually 
that are ``culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.'' 
And the list of offerings is just that: cultural, historical, and 
aesthetic jewels that tell the story of our beloved America. Congress 
created the registry to celebrate the richness and variety of our audio 
legacy and to underscore our responsibility to assure long term 
preservation of that legacy so that it may be appreciated and studied 
by generations to come. The creation of the registry, inspired by the 
National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences (NARAS), is one part of 
the legislation that charges the Library of Congress with developing a 
comprehensive national recording preservation program, and first of its 
kind.
  The National Sound Recording Preservation Act of 2000, Public Law 
106-474, created an advisory National Recording Preservation Board 
appointed by the Librarian of Congress, and consists of experts from 
organizations representing composers, musicians, musicologists, 
librarians, archivists and the recording industry. The National 
Recording Preservation Board in turn makes the selections of works to 
be included in the National Recording Registry. The National sound 
Recording Preservation Act of 2000 also created a fund raising 
foundation to restore and preserve the Library's music collection. All 
three components are conducted under the auspices of the Library of 
Congress, providing the necessary elements of a comprehensive program 
to ensure the survival, conservation, and increased public availability 
of America's sound recording heritage.
  William Ivey was named Chairman of the Board of Directors of the 
National Recording Preservation Foundation and was instrumental in 
creating the National Recording Registry when he was President of the 
National Endowment for the Arts. The foundation is a charitable and 
nonprofit corporation created by the Preservation Act to promote and 
ensure public accessibility of the nation's sound recording heritage. 
The foundation will accept gifts and administer a grants program to 
support sound preservation in archives throughout the United States. 
Ivey is past chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts and 
presently the Branscomb Scholar at Vanderbilt University. His work in 
this tireless effort is appreciated.
  Included in the 50 releases are masterful brushstrokes on the canvas 
that is American cultural history. The list includes such 
groundbreaking recordings as the Edison Exhibition Recordings (Group of 
three cylinders): ``Around the world on the Phonograph;'' ``The 
Pattison Waltz;'' ``Fifth Regiment March.'' (1888-1889); ``Stars and 
Stripes Forever'' Military Band. Berliner Gramophone disc recording 
(1897); Lionel Mapleson cylinder recordings of the Metropolitan Opera 
(1900-1903); Scott Joplin ragtime compositions on piano rolls. (1900s); 
Booker T. Washington's 1895 Atlanta Exposition Speech (1906 
recreation); ``Vesti la giubba'' from Pagliacci-Enrico Caruso (1907); 
``Casey at the Bat'' DeWolf Hopper, reciting (1915); ``Down-Hearted 
Blues'' Bessie Smith (1923); President Franklin D. Roosevelt's radio 
``Fireside Chats'' (1933-1944); Billie Holiday's ``Strange Fruit'' 
(1939); Bob Dylan's Freewheelin' (1963); and Precious Lord: New 
Recordings of the Great Gospel Songs of Thomas A. Dorsey-Thomas Dorsey, 
Marion Williams, and 38 others (1973).
  Great American poet Walt Whitman noted that: ``Perhaps the best of 
songs heard . . . is the resume of them, or any of them, long 
afterwards, looking at the actualities away

[[Page E72]]

back past, with all their practical excitations gone. How the soul 
loves to float amid such reminiscences!'' Mr. Speaker, with the release 
of these, the first 50 of the sound recordings preserved in the 
National Recording Registry, my soul is floating atop the marvel of 
what is to become of the National Recording Registry and the 
possibilities of cultural awakening for coming generations. 
Congratulations to all who are making this dream come true.

                          ____________________