[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 140 (Thursday, September 20, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1946]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   DR. JAMES H. BILLINGTON: TWENTY YEARS OF DISTINGUISHED SERVICE AS 
                         LIBRARIAN OF CONGRESS

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. TOM LANTOS

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 20, 2007

  Mr. LANTOS. Madam Speaker, on September 14, 1987, Dr. James H. 
Billington, who had already distinguished himself as one of this 
nation's most eminent cultural historians, was installed as the 13th 
Librarian of Congress. As one of Dr. Billington's many admirers, I want 
to extend to him my warmest congratulations on his 20th anniversary in 
that distinguished post.
  As a youngster in his native Pennsylvania, Dr. Billington began what 
was to be a life-long pattern of exceptional intellectual 
accomplishment. He was one of those habitual valedictorians--first at 
Lower Merion High School and then, at Princeton University. He next 
went as a Rhodes Scholar to Oxford University, where he completed his 
Ph.D.
  Dr, Billington has been a professor at two of our most famous 
universities--Harvard and Princeton.
  He is the author of several notable books on the cultural and 
political history of Russia--The Icon and the Axe and Fire in the Minds 
of Men, to name just two. Another of his books--The Face of Russia--
became the basis of a three-part television series on PBS.
  At last count, Dr. Billington had been awarded 33 honorary degrees 
from institutions all over the world, including Oxford, Moscow State 
University and Tblisi State University in the Republic of Georgia.
  It is in his present job, however--that of Librarian of Congress--
that Dr, Billington has made truly monumental contributions to our 
nation's cultural and intellectual life.
  ``This place has a destiny to be a living encyclopedia of 
democracy,'' he said in his inaugural address, ``not just a mausoleum 
of culture, but a catalyst for civilization.''
  For two decades, he has worked to fulfill that destiny.
  During Dr. Billington's tenure, the holding of the Library of 
Congress have grown from 86 million to over 135 million items. The 
Library's budget has grown in that same period by over 200 percent.
  In the Billington years, the Library has launched many new services--
THOMAS, for example, is familiar to all of us here in Congress and the 
American Memory Program is being used in schools and libraries around 
the country.
  Just recently, the Library's Packard Campus for Audio-Visual 
Conservation began operations in Culpeper, VA. The Packard Campus, 
which is the result of the largest private gift ever made to the 
Library, is dedicated to transferring the Library's priceless, but 
deteriorating, collection of moving images and recorded sounds to 
digital files and placing these materials in a digital storage archive.
  But of all the Billington era projects, the most-far-reaching is the 
National Digital Library. This massive effort, funded by a public-
private partnership, has already placed 135 million items on the 
Library's web site--with many, many millions more to come.
  In Japan, Madam Speaker, a person who has made exceptional cultural 
contributions can be designated as a living national treasure. We don't 
have that tradition here in America, but if we did, I do not think that 
I would be alone in submitting for that honor the name of James H. 
Billington.
  I congratulate Dr. Billington on his 20th anniversary--and I thank 
him for the great things that he has done for our country.

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