[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 138 (Tuesday, September 29, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2386]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        IN RECOGNITION OF THE U.S.S. COD'S 50 YEARS IN CLEVELAND

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                        HON. DENNIS J. KUCINICH

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                      Tuesday, September 29, 2009

  Mr. KUCINICH. Madam Speaker, I rise today in recognition of the 
U.S.S. Cod's 50 Years in Cleveland celebration on August 14th, 2009. 
The celebration featured a special free admission day for the public 
and ceremony to mark the golden anniversary and restoration of the 
Cod's Cleveland-built diesel engines. The ceremony concluded with a 
salute to the people of Cleveland with the firing of the Cod's deck 
gun.
  On March 21, 1943 the U.S.S. Cod was launched and its engines, built 
in a General Motors plant on Cleveland's west side, powered the 
submarine around the globe. According to Dr. John Fakan, president of 
the non-profit U.S.S. Cod Submarine Memorial, ``GM built Cod's five 
diesels right here in Cleveland, but it didn't end there. Much of the 
steel plate that forms her hull was made in Cleveland and Youngstown 
steel mills from Great Lakes ore.'' Through her heroic missions in 
World War II, Cleveland-based training programs during the Cold War, 
and place as a historic site and submarine memorial in Cleveland, the 
U.S.S. Cod has become a national symbol.
  After her successful WW II service in the Pacific Ocean, the Cod 
continued to protect America in the Cold War by training NATO anti-
submarine forces in the Atlantic Ocean. In 1959 the Cod was brought to 
Cleveland to serve as a dockside trainer for reservists, and instantly 
became popular with the public. Citizens were allowed to tour the sub 
when the Navy wasn't conducting training aboard, and these civilian 
tours continued even after the Navy declared the Cod obsolete in 1971 
and began the scrap process.
  Despite the Navy's decision, the people of Cleveland saved the Cod 
from being scrapped. School children, veterans groups, Scouts and 
``Save the Cod,'' a group formed by local business leaders in 1972, all 
banded together to raise money and save the historic and symbolic 
submarine. In 1976 the Navy turned the Cod over to her civilian 
caretakers, who immediately began restoring the Cod to the original 
beauty that she was while defending America. In 1986 these efforts were 
recognized by the Federal Government which declared the Cod a National 
Historic Landmark. The Cod's world-class restoration continues today, 
focusing on her Cleveland-built engines.
  The Cod's caretakers estimate that more than a million people have 
toured the Cod in the 50 years she has called Cleveland home. In 
addition to being a popular attraction on Cleveland's lakefront, the 
Cod has also helped bring revenue into downtown by hosting television 
and film documentaries as well as military reunions and other special 
projects.
  Madam Speaker and colleagues, please join me in recognizing the 
celebration of the U.S.S. Cod's 50 Years in Cleveland. The U.S.S. Cod 
(SS 214) is both a floating memorial to U.S. submariners who gave their 
lives defending freedom as well as a unique piece of Cleveland's 
industrial history.

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