[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 87 (Tuesday, June 22, 2004)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7193-S7195]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         SUBMITTED RESOLUTIONS

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   SENATE RESOLUTION 387--COMMEMORATING THE 40TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE 
                             WILDERNESS ACT

  Mr. FEINGOLD (for himself, Mr. Sununu, Mr. Hagel, Mr. Durbin, Mrs. 
Boxer, Mr. McCain, Mrs. Murray, Mr. Lugar, Mr. Warner, Mr. Chafee, Ms. 
Snowe, and Ms. Collins) submitted the following resolution; which was 
referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources:

                              S. Res. 387

       Whereas September 3, 2004, will mark the 40th Anniversary 
     of the enactment of the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1131 et 
     seq.), which gave to the people of the United States an 
     enduring resource of natural heritage as part of the National 
     Wilderness Preservation System;
       Whereas great American writers such as Ralph Waldo Emerson, 
     Henry David Thoreau, George Perkins Marsh, and John Muir 
     joined poets like William Cullen Bryant, and painters such as 
     Thomas Cole, Frederic Church, Frederic Remington, Albert 
     Bierstadt, and Thomas Moran to define the United States' 
     distinct cultural value of wild nature and unique concept of 
     wilderness;
       Whereas national leaders such as President Theodore 
     Roosevelt reveled in outdoor pursuits and sought diligently 
     to preserve those opportunities for molding individual 
     character, shaping a nation's destiny, striving for balance, 
     and ensuring the wisest use of natural resources, to provide 
     the greatest good for the greatest many;
       Whereas luminaries in the conservation movement, such as 
     scientist Aldo Leopold, forester Bob Marshall, writer Howard 
     Zahniser, teacher Sigurd Olson, biologists Olaus and Adolph 
     Murie, and conservationist David Brower believed that the 
     people of the United States could have the boldness to 
     project into the eternity of the future some of the 
     wilderness that has come from the eternity of the past;
       Whereas Senator Hubert H. Humphrey, a Democrat from 
     Minnesota, and Representative John Saylor, a Republican from 
     Pennsylvania, originally introduced the legislation with 
     strong bipartisan support in both bodies of Congress;
       Whereas with the help of their colleagues, including 
     cosponsors Gaylord Nelson, William Proxmire, and Henry 
     ``Scoop'' M. Jackson, and other conservation allies, 
     including Secretary of Interior Stewart L. Udall and 
     Representative Morris K. Udall, Senator Humphrey and 
     Representative Saylor toiled 8 years to secure nearly 
     unanimous passage of the legislation, 78 to 8 in the Senate, 
     and 373 to 1 in the House of Representatives;
       Whereas critical support in the Senate for the Wilderness 
     Act came from 3 Senators who still serve in the Senate as of 
     2004: Senator Robert C. Byrd, Senator Daniel Inouye, and 
     Senator Edward M. Kennedy;
       Whereas President John F. Kennedy, who came into office in 
     1961 with enactment of wilderness legislation part of his 
     administration's agenda, was assassinated before he could 
     sign a bill into law;
       Whereas 4 wilderness champions, Aldo Leopold, Olaus Murie, 
     Bob Marshall, and Howard Zahniser, sadly, also passed away 
     before seeing the fruits of their labors ratified by Congress 
     and sent to the President;
       Whereas President Lyndon B. Johnson signed into law the 
     Wilderness Act in the Rose Garden on September 3, 1964, 
     establishing a system of wilderness heritage as

[[Page S7194]]

     President Kennedy and the conservation community had so 
     ardently envisioned and eloquently articulated;
       Whereas now, as a consequence of wide popular support, the 
     people of the United States have a system of places wild and 
     free for the permanent good of the whole people of this great 
     Nation;
       Whereas over the past 40 years the system for protecting an 
     enduring resource of wilderness has been built upon by 
     subsequent Presidents, successive leaders of Congress, and 
     experts in the land managing agencies within the Departments 
     of the Interior and Agriculture;
       Whereas today that system is 10 times larger than when 
     first established;
       Whereas the Wilderness Act instituted an unambiguous 
     national policy to recognize the natural heritage of the 
     United States as a resource of value and to protect that 
     wilderness for future generations to use and enjoy as 
     previous and current generations have had the opportunity to 
     do;
       Whereas since 1964, when the first 9,000,000 acres of 
     wilderness were included by Congress, more than 110 
     additional laws have been passed to build the National 
     Wilderness Preservation System to its current size of 
     106,000,000 acres;
       Whereas wild places protected in perpetuity can currently 
     be found and enjoyed in 44 of the Nation's 50 States;
       Whereas this wealth of the heritage of the United States 
     can be seen today from Alaska to Florida in over 650 units, 
     from Fire Island in New York's Long Island South Shore and 
     Ohio's West Sister Island in Lake Erie, to far larger Mojave 
     in eastern California and Idaho's River of No Return;
       Whereas President Gerald R. Ford stated that the National 
     Wilderness Preservation System ``serves a basic need of all 
     Americans, even those who may never visit a wilderness area--
     the preservation of a vital element of our natural heritage'' 
     and that, ``wilderness preservation ensures that a central 
     facet of our Nation can still be realized, not just 
     remembered''; and
       Whereas President Gerald R. Ford has joined with President 
     Jimmy Carter and more than 100 other prominent United States 
     citizens as honored members of Americans for Wilderness, a 
     committee formed to celebrate this national achievement: Now, 
     therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) commemorates the 40th Anniversary of the Wilderness Act 
     (16 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.);
       (2) recognizes and applauds the extraordinary work of the 
     individuals and organizations involved in building the 
     National Wilderness Preservation System; and
       (3) is grateful for the tremendous asset the United States 
     has been able to pass along as a gift to future people of the 
     United States.
  Mr. FEINGOLD. Mr. President, as founder of the Senate Wilderness 
Caucus, I am submitting a Senate resolution today to commemorate the 
40th anniversary of the Wilderness Act of 1964, which was signed into 
law on September 3, 1964, by President Lyndon B. Johnson. I thank the 
following colleagues for their support as cosponsors: Senator Sununu, 
Senator Hagel, Senator Durbin, Senator Boxer, Senator McCain, Senator 
Murray, Senator Lugar, Senator Warner, Senator Chafee, Senator Snowe, 
and Senator Collins.
  The Wilderness Act became law seven years after the first wilderness 
bill was introduced by Senator Hubert H. Humphrey of Minnesota. The 
final bill, sponsored by Senator Clinton Anderson of New Mexico, passed 
the Senate by a vote of 73-12 on April 9, 1963, and passed the House of 
Representatives by a vote of 373-1 on July 30, 1964. The Wilderness Act 
of 1964 established a National Wilderness Preservation System ``to 
secure for the American people of present and future generations the 
benefits of an enduring resource of wilderness.'' The law gives 
Congress the authority to designate wilderness areas, and directs the 
Federal land management agencies to review the lands under their 
responsibility for their wilderness potential.
  Under the Wilderness Act, wilderness is defined as ``an area of 
undeveloped Federal land retaining its primeval character and influence 
which generally appears to have been affected primarily by the forces 
of nature, with the imprint of man's work substantially unnoticeable.'' 
The creation of a national wilderness system marked an innovation in 
the American conservation movement--wilderness would be a place where 
our ``management strategy'' would be to leave lands essentially 
undeveloped.
  The original Wilderness Act established 9.1 million acres of Forest 
Service land in 54 wilderness areas. Now, after passage of 102 pieces 
of legislation, the wilderness system is comprised of over 104 million 
acres in 625 wilderness areas, across 44 States, and administered by 
four federal agencies: the Forest Service in the U.S. Department of 
Agriculture, and the Bureau of Land Management, the Fish and Wildlife 
Service, and the National Park Service in the Department of the 
Interior.
  As we in this body know well, the passage and enactment of the 
Wilderness Act was a remarkable accomplishment that required steady, 
bipartisan commitment, institutional support, and strong leadership. 
The United States Senate was instrumental in shaping this very 
important law, and this anniversary gives us the opportunity to 
recognize this role.
  As a Senator from Wisconsin, I feel a special bond with this issue. 
The concept of wilderness is inextricably linked with Wisconsin. 
Wisconsin has produced great wilderness thinkers and leaders in the 
wilderness movement such as Senator Gaylord Nelson and the writer and 
conservationist Aldo Leopold, whose A Sand County Almanac helped to 
galvanize the environmental movement. Also notable is Sierra Club 
founder John Muir, whose birthday is the day before Earth Day. 
Wisconsin also produced Sigurd Olson, one of the founders of the 
Wilderness Society.
  I am privileged to hold the Senate seat held by Gaylord Nelson, a man 
for whom I have the greatest admiration and respect. Though he is a 
well-known and widely respected former Senator and former two-term 
Governor of Wisconsin, and the founder of Earth Day, some may not be 
aware that he is currently devoting his time to the protection of 
wilderness by serving as a counselor to the Wilderness Society--an 
activity which is quite appropriate for someone who was also a co-
sponsor, along with former Senator Proxmire, of the bill that became 
the Wilderness Act.
  The testimony at congressional hearings and the discussion of the 
bill in the press of the day reveals Wisconsin's crucial role in the 
long and continuing American debate about our wild places, and in the 
development of the Wilderness Act. The names and ideas of John Muir, 
Sigurd Olson, and, especially, Aldo Leopold, appear time and time again 
in the legislative history.
  Senator Clinton Anderson of New Mexico, chairman of what was then 
called the Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs, stated that his 
support of the wilderness system was the direct result of discussions 
he had held almost forty years before with Leopold, who was then in the 
Southwest with the Forest Service. It was Leopold who, while with the 
Forest Service, advocated the creation of a primitive area in the Gila 
National Forest in New Mexico in 1923. The Gila Primitive Area formally 
became part of the wilderness system when the Wilderness Act became 
law.
  In a statement in favor of the Wilderness Act in the New York Times, 
then-Secretary of the Interior Stewart Udall discussed ecology and what 
he called ``a land ethic'' and referred to Leopold as the instigator of 
the modern wilderness movement. At a Senate hearing in 1961, David 
Brower of the Sierra Club went so far as to claim that ``no man who 
reads Leopold with an open mind will ever again, with a clear 
conscience, be able to step up and testify against the wilderness 
bill.'' For others, the ideas of Olson and Muir--particularly the idea 
that preserving wilderness is a way for us to better understand our 
country's history and the frontier experience--provided a justification 
for the wilderness system.
  In closing, I would like to remind colleagues of the words of Aldo 
Leopold in his 1949 book, A Sand County Almanac. He said, ``The 
outstanding scientific discovery of the twentieth century is not the 
television, or radio, but rather the complexity of the land organism. 
Only those who know the most about it can appreciate how little is 
known about it.'' We still have much to learn, but this anniversary of 
the Wilderness Act reminds us how far we have come and how the 
commitment to public lands that the Senate and the Congress 
demonstrated forty years ago continues to benefit all Americans.
  Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I am pleased to join my colleagues in 
cosponsoring this resolution to honor and celebrate the 40th 
Anniversary of the Wilderness Act, and the contributions of those who 
have created a glorious wilderness system throughout the United States 
for all Americans to enjoy.

[[Page S7195]]

  This anniversary provides a time for personal reflection on what wild 
places mean to us as individuals and society as a whole. As I consider 
the fact that this July 4 our country will celebrate her 228th year of 
independence, I marvel at the great changes she has seen. America has 
seen wars, the Industrial Revolution, the Great Depression, the 
Technology Age, times of prosperity and times of challenge. With all of 
these changes, much of America's landscape has been transformed.
  I also think back to America as I knew her as a child and how she has 
rapidly grown and changed during my 77 years. I feel indebted to those 
whose foresight resulted in the Wilderness Act legislation, and whose 
tireless efforts saw this act signed into law. In addition, I recognize 
all those who have championed the expansion of the wilderness system 
which now encompasses 106,000,000 acres nationwide.
  During my 26 years in the U.S. Senate, I have worked to pass three 
Virginia wilderness bills through Congress. In fact, I recently 
introduced the Virginia Ridge and Valley Wilderness and National Scenic 
Areas Act of 2004 which, if passed, would create an additional 29,000 
acres of wilderness in southwest Virginia. With 177,214 acres of 
wilderness, Virginia's wild and beautiful landscapes will remain 
untouched by civilization. Visitors from across America can experience 
Virginia's wilderness and enjoy great beauty, solitude, primitive 
recreation, and nature in its true form.
  I feel very strongly that the Wilderness Act is a vehicle whereby we 
can pay tribute to our great country by preserving some of her heritage 
and history. Though development, growth and change continue, we will 
have pockets of undisturbed lands for solitude, reflection, and 
recreation. In these areas we can keep America's natural diversity, 
wildlife habitats, and vegetation intact. Through the efforts, passion, 
and vision of many, we will leave a natural legacy of wildlands to 
future generations of America.
                                 ______
                                 

   SENATE RESOLUTION 388--COMMEMORATING THE 150TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE 
             FOUNDING OF THE PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY

  Mr. SANTORUM (for himself and Mr. Specter) submitted the following 
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary:

                              S. Res. 388

       Whereas in 1854, the Farmers' High School was founded in 
     Centre County, Pennsylvania in response to the State 
     Agricultural Society's interest in establishing an 
     educational institution to bring general education and modern 
     farming methods to the farmers of the Commonwealth of 
     Pennsylvania;
       Whereas in 1855, the Farmers' High School was granted a 
     permanent charter by the Pennsylvania General Assembly;
       Whereas the Morrill Land-Grant Act of 1862 provided for the 
     distribution of grants of public lands owned by the Federal 
     Government to the States for establishing and maintaining 
     institutions of higher learning;
       Whereas in 1863, the Commonwealth accepted a grant of land 
     provided through such Act, establishing one of the first two 
     land-grant institutions in the United States, and designated 
     the Farmers' High School, renamed the Agricultural College of 
     Pennsylvania, as the Commonwealth's sole land-grant 
     institution;
       Whereas in 1874, the Agricultural College of Pennsylvania 
     was renamed The Pennsylvania State College and in 1953, such 
     was renamed The Pennsylvania State University;
       Whereas with a current enrollment of 83,000, The 
     Pennsylvania State University consists of 11 academic 
     schools, 20 additional campuses located throughout the 
     Commonwealth, the College of Medicine, The Dickinson School 
     of Law, and The Pennsylvania College of Technology;
       Whereas 1 in every 8 Pennsylvanians with a college degree, 
     1 in every 720 Americans, 1 in every 50 engineers, and 1 in 
     every 4 meteorologists are alumni of The Pennsylvania State 
     University;
       Whereas formed in 1870, The Pennsylvania State University 
     Alumni Association is the largest dues-paying alumni 
     association in the nation;
       Whereas The Pennsylvania State University has the largest 
     outreach effort in United States higher education, delivering 
     programs to learners in 87 countries and all 50 States;
       Whereas The Pennsylvania State University consistently 
     ranks in the top 3 universities in terms of SAT scores 
     received from high school seniors;
       Whereas The Pennsylvania State University annually hosts 
     the largest student-run philanthropic event in the world, 
     which benefits the Four Diamonds Fund for families with 
     children being treated for cancer;
       Whereas the missions of instruction, research, outreach and 
     extension continue to be the focus of The Pennsylvania State 
     University;
       Whereas The Pennsylvania State University is renown for the 
     following: the rechargeable heart pacemaker design, the 
     heart-assist pump design, 4 astronauts to have flown in space 
     including the first African-American, and the first 
     institution to offer an Agriculture degree; and
       Whereas The Pennsylvania State University is one of the 
     most highly regarded research universities in the nation, 
     with an outreach extension program that reaches nearly 1 out 
     of 2 Pennsylvanians a year and an undergraduate school of 
     immense scope and popularity: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate commemorates the 150th 
     anniversary of the founding of The Pennsylvania State 
     University and congratulates its faculty, staff, students, 
     alumni, and friends on the occasion.

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