[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 159 (Thursday, October 29, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Page S10911]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    40TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE INTERNET

  Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, I rise today to celebrate the 40th 
anniversary of an event that is referred to as the ``birthday'' of the 
Internet.
  On October 29, 1969, Dr. Leonard Kleinrock of the University of 
California, Los Angeles, and his team successfully transmitted the 
first message to their counterparts at Stanford University, led by Dr. 
Douglas Engelbart, via a network system that was the predecessor of 
today's Internet.
  I wonder if Drs. Kleinrock and Engelbart ever imagined the full 
impact and transformative nature of their experiment, not only on 
California and the United States, but also the world?
  From those original tubes between UCLA and Stanford, the Internet has 
grown into a global network, facilitating important communication, 
commerce and services around the world. The Internet allows scientists 
to share research and findings. Consumers can shop almost anywhere in 
the world via the Internet and have their purchases delivered to their 
doorstep. Government services, from emergency information to 
registration of motor vehicles, can be accessed through the Internet.
  The Internet has also been an important economic engine for our 
country, and I am proud that my state of California has been home to 
many innovators, such as Google and eBay, who transformed ideas into 
successful multinational businesses.
  This anniversary also serves to remind us of the importance of 
collaborative research efforts between our government and universities, 
like the UCLA and Stanford. The first network system used by Drs. 
Kleinrock and Engelbart, called ARPANET, was developed through funding 
and collaboration between the universities and the Department of 
Defense.
  Today, we must remember that universities and their researchers 
remain a vital resource in facing and solving the challenges of the 
future.
  I want to close by congratulating the UCLA, Stanford University, and 
Drs. Kleinrock and Engelbart, for their hard work and contributions to 
the development of the Internet over the years. Forty years after that 
first successful message, the Internet continues to transform our lives 
and the world.

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