[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 151 (Tuesday, November 15, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Pages S12869-S12870]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 BICENTENNIAL ANNIVERSARY OF ARRIVAL OF LEWIS AND CLARK AT THE PACIFIC 
                                 OCEAN

  Mr. SANTORUM. I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the 
immediate consideration of S. Res. 315 submitted earlier today.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the resolution by title.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A resolution (S. Res. 315) to commemorate the bicentennial 
     anniversary of the arrival of Lewis and Clark at the Pacific 
     Ocean.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to the consideration 
of the resolution.
  Ms. CANTWELL. Mr. President, I rise today in support of a Senate 
resolution commemorating the bicentennial of Lewis and Clark's 
remarkable arrival on the Pacific Coast. I am pleased that Senators 
Murray and Wyden are original cosponsors of the resolution.
  Meriwether Lewis and William Clark's epic journey explored and 
charted the western frontier of our fledgling Nation.
  This journey was America's great odyssey. It marked our Nation's 
coming of age and represents its core values: courage, innovation, 
perseverance, and opportunity.
  And two centuries ago, they reached their destination. On Nov. 7 
1805, William Clark wrote in this in his journal:

       Great joy in camp, we are in View of the Ocean, this great 
     Pacific Ocean which we been so long anxious to See and the 
     roaring or noise made by the waves breaking on the rocky 
     Shores may be heard distinctly.

  It's no wonder he was so excited. Their expedition began a year and 
half earlier and 4,000 meandering miles east.
  President Thomas Jefferson had charged them with finding the most 
direct, practical water route across the continent.

[[Page S12870]]

  When Clark wrote that they had seen the Pacific on that day, 200 
years ago, he was slightly off target. They were actually 25 miles 
away, in the Columbia's widening estuary.
  Dangerous storms, wind, rain, and waves battered them without relent. 
They were trapped for 6 days and forced to hunker down at the spot we 
now call Clark's Dismal Nitch.
  When the weather finally cleared, they moved west to Station Camp. 
They set down for ten days and got their first real glimpse of the 
Pacific.
  Expedition-member Sgt. Patrick Gass wrote: ``We could see the waves, 
like small mountains, rolling out in the ocean.''
  Station Camp also marks the spot where Lewis and Clark held a 
historic democratic vote among all of the group's members--including 
Sacagawea and the African American slave, York--to determine where the 
expedition should stay for the winter.
  On November 19, William Clark took 11 expedition members from Station 
Camp on an excursion beyond camp, and for the first time saw a full 
view of the Pacific Ocean.
  That land, now called Cape Disappointment, marks the westernmost 
point of their journey. Its name belies the great hope and joy that 
moment inspired in our travel-worn heroes.
  Today, in Washington State, you can visit these historic locations 
and find that hope again. Dismal Nitch, Station Camp, Cape 
Disappointment: In addition to Oregon's Fort Clatsop and other nearby 
state parks, they comprise America's newest national park.
  I introduced legislation with Representative Brian Baird to create 
the Lewis and Clark National Historic Park: to preserve those beautiful 
and precious lands, to build local tourism, and to educate future 
generations.
  Last November, President Bush signed it into law. This November, we 
celebrate an incredible bicentennial.
  Lewis and Clark produced the first maps and charts of a previously 
undocumented region.
  They created an invaluable record of the native cultures, the flora, 
and the fauna they encountered on their journey.
  Prior to the expedition, the United States' claim to the Pacific 
Northwest, was tenuous at best, based on American sea captain Robert 
Gray's discovery of the Columbia River in 1792.
  And so: Lewis and Clark's expedition, more than a decade later, was 
crucial to securing the claim. It was crucial to the eventual creation 
of all the States in the Pacific Northwest.
  More fundamentally though: their task was to explore the unknown. In 
doing so, they expanded the boundaries of our Nation and pushed the 
limits of what we were capable, as a people.
  It was not easy for them; it rarely is. But many have come after 
Lewis and Clark. Inspired by their spirit, we have transformed our 
great Nation many times over in those 200 years.
  We would be wise to turn to Lewis and Clark again, as we confront so 
many critical challenges before us today.
  Only by truly reaching beyond our grasp, can we make our Nation 
great, as Thomas Jefferson said: ``from Sea to Shining Sea.''
  I yield the floor.
  Mr. SANTORUM. I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed 
to, the preamble be agreed to, the motion to reconsider be laid upon 
the table, and any statements relating thereto be printed in the 
Record, without intervening action or debate.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The resolution (S. Res. 315) was agreed to.
  The preamble was agreed to.
  The resolution, with its preamble, reads as follows:

                               S. Res. 315

       Whereas, on January 18, 1803, President Thomas Jefferson 
     began an extraordinary journey by sending a secret message to 
     Congress requesting approval and funding to establish the 
     ``Corps of Volunteers for Northwest Discovery'' to explore 
     the most direct and practical water route across the 
     continent of the United States all the way to the Pacific 
     Ocean;
       Whereas, on May 14, 1804, the journey up the Missouri River 
     and across the vast and newly acquired Louisiana Territory 
     began at Camp Dubois, Illinois, led by Captain Meriwether 
     Lewis and Second Lieutenant William Clark;
       Whereas after a long year and a half and 4,133 arduous 
     miles, the expedition endured a dangerous storm of wind, 
     rain, and waves for 6 days at Clark's Dismal Nitch;
       Whereas, on November 13, 1805, the Corps of Discovery moved 
     further west to Station Camp and beheld their first 
     comprehensive view of the Pacific Ocean, and thereby began 
     the realization of the vision of President Jefferson of a 
     country ``from sea to shining sea'';
       Whereas Station Camp also marks the occurrence of a 
     historical democratic vote to determine where to stay for 
     winter that included all members of the expedition, including 
     Sacagawea, an Indian woman, and York, an African American 
     slave;
       Whereas, on November 19, 1805, Clark and 11 of his men set 
     out on an ocean excursion, hiking 25 miles to Cape 
     Disappointment to get a complete view of the Pacific Ocean 
     and reach the furthest western point of the expedition;
       Whereas the expedition built their winter camp on the south 
     side of the Columbia River at Fort Clatsop, Oregon, named in 
     honor of the friendly local Clatsop Indians, and the 33 
     member party spent 106 days among lush old-growth forest, 
     wetlands, and wildlife preparing for their long journey back 
     to St. Louis, Missouri;
       Whereas Lewis and Clark's Corps of Discovery produced 
     detailed journals with maps, charts, samples, and 
     descriptions of the previously undocumented western 
     geography, climate, plants, animals, and native cultures from 
     which the Nation continues to benefit today;
       Whereas the Lewis and Clark Expedition marks a significant 
     benchmark in American history and a crucial step in securing 
     the claim and the eventual creation of all the States in the 
     Pacific Northwest;
       Whereas the exploration of the western frontier of our 
     fledgling Nation was the great odyssey of America, symbolic 
     of the core values of teamwork, courage, perseverance, 
     science, and opportunity held by the United States;
       Whereas, on October 30, 2004, President George W. Bush 
     signed into law legislation creating the Lewis and Clark 
     National Historical Park which preserves these 3 Washington 
     State sites integral to the dramatic arrival of the 
     expedition at the Pacific Ocean, and incorporates Fort 
     Clatsop of Oregon and important State parks for the benefit 
     and education of generations to come; and
       Whereas, during November 2005, Washington and Oregon are 
     hosting, ``Destination: The Pacific'', a unique commemoration 
     of the 200 year anniversary of the arrival of the Corps of 
     Discovery in the Pacific Northwest: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) commemorates the bicentennial anniversary of the 
     arrival of Lewis and Clark at the Pacific Ocean; and
       (2) recognizes that by exploring the unknown frontier, 
     Lewis and Clark expanded the boundaries of our great Nation 
     and pushed the limits of what we are capable of as citizens.

                          ____________________