[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 66 (Tuesday, May 6, 2003)]
[House]
[Page H3660]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      THE OLD MAN OF THE MOUNTAIN

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from New Hampshire (Mr. Bass) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BASS. Madam Speaker, 4 days ago New Hampshire lost an old friend. 
It went unnoticed probably between 2 a.m. in the morning on Saturday. 
The Old Man of the Mountain collapsed and fell a thousand feet off the 
face of Canon Mountain, and I know New Hampshire mourns the loss of 
this great icon as if it were a friend. We all got to know the Old Man 
of the Mountain very well. We take it and took it very seriously. I 
remember as a child driving up through Franconia Notch and always 
stopping to see the Old Man because it was really an extraordinary 
landmark. As recently as a month and a half ago, I drove down through 
Franconia Notch with my two children, ages nine and eleven, and we 
stopped for a moment just to take a look at it and get a quick 
photograph. Indeed, it was an extraordinary symbol of our State.
  I have to say, however, that its loss was not totally unexpected. As 
long ago as 1880, people began to notice that there was some cracking 
and slipping beginning on this face, and it has continued to 
deteriorate over the years, and there have been organizations and 
groups who formed over the years to try to preserve it, but ultimately 
the day came when this 10,000-year-old rock formation which consists of 
over seven different ledges together to create this allusion of a face 
finally perished.
  What does this loss mean for my State of New Hampshire? As I said a 
minute ago, the Old Man of the Mountain was indeed an icon for New 
Hampshire; yet it meant something different to each and every one of 
us. To some it was a tourist attraction, an important part of the local 
economy. As I said a minute ago, it was a childhood memory for me and 
my children and countless millions of other people not only from New 
Hampshire but all over the country. And most importantly, perhaps it is 
a symbol of what New Hampshire is all about and what New Hampshire has 
been for the last 200 years.
  Indeed, those of us from New Hampshire take this symbol very 
seriously. The Old Man of the Mountain is on every single road sign of 
New Hampshire, every single license plate in the State. Highway tokens 
have the Old Man's face on it. The U.S. commemorative quarter for New 
Hampshire has the Old Man on it and the postage stamp which was created 
a couple of decades ago commemorating the Old Man of the Mountain.
  I want to quote Daniel Webster, if I could, who served in Congress 
from New Hampshire over 200 years ago. He once wrote of the Old Man: 
``In the mountains of New Hampshire, God almighty has hung out a sign 
to show that he makes men.''
  We will all miss the Old Man of the Mountain. He is gone. But like 
any loss, his symbol and his memory will live on and New Hampshire will 
be a greater and stronger State as a result.

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