[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 38 (Tuesday, March 16, 2010)]
[House]
[Pages H1485-H1487]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      CONGRATULATING UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND MEN'S BASKETBALL TEAM

  Ms. SHEA-PORTER. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree 
to

[[Page H1486]]

the resolution (H. Res. 1184) congratulating the 2009-2010 University 
of Maryland Men's Basketball Team, Greivis Vasquez, and Coach Gary 
Williams on an outstanding season.
  The Clerk read the title of the resolution.
  The text of the resolution is as follows:

                              H. Res. 1184

       Whereas the University of Maryland Terrapins completed the 
     2009-2010 regular season with 23 wins and 7 losses;
       Whereas the Terrapins completed the 2009-2010 Atlantic 
     Coast Conference (ACC) season with 13 wins and 3 losses, 
     sharing first place with Duke University;
       Whereas on June 15, 2009, Greivis Vasquez elected to forego 
     the National Basketball Association draft and play his senior 
     year with the Terrapins;
       Whereas on February 27, 2010, Greivis Vasquez scored a 
     career-high 41 points;
       Whereas during the 2009-2010 season, Greivis Vasquez 
     averaged 19.6 points per game;
       Whereas during the 2009-2010 season, Greivis Vasquez became 
     the only player in ACC history to record 2,000 points, 700 
     assists, and 600 rebounds;
       Whereas during the 2009-2010 season, Greivis Vasquez 
     received ACC Player of the Week honors four times;
       Whereas for the 2009-2010 season, Greivis Vasquez was 
     unanimously selected first team All-ACC by the Atlantic Coast 
     Sports Media Association;
       Whereas on March 9, 2010, Greivis Vasquez was named ACC 
     Player of the Year;
       Whereas Greivis Vasquez is a finalist for the Bob Cousy 
     Award, which honors the Nation's top collegiate point guard;
       Whereas Coach Gary Williams played for the Terrapins and 
     served as team captain in 1967;
       Whereas Coach Williams graduated from the University of 
     Maryland in 1968 and returned to coach the men's basketball 
     team of his alma mater in 1989;
       Whereas on November 13, 2009, Coach Williams began coaching 
     his 21st season with the University of Maryland;
       Whereas in 2002, Coach Williams led the Terrapins to win 
     the national title;
       Whereas with 441 wins, Coach Williams is the Terrapins' 
     all-time winningest head basketball coach, having surpassed 
     Charles ``Lefty'' Driesell who accrued 348 victories in 18 
     seasons with the University of Maryland;
       Whereas in 2005, Coach Williams was inducted into the 
     University of Maryland Alumni Hall of Fame; and
       Whereas on March 9, 2010, for the second time in his 
     career, Coach Williams was named ACC Coach of the Year: Now, 
     therefore, be it
       Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of 
     Representatives that--
       (1) the University of Maryland Men's Basketball Team is 
     congratulated on an outstanding season;
       (2) Greivis Vasquez is congratulated on being named the 
     2009-2010 Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year; and
       (3) Coach Gary Williams is congratulated on being named the 
     2009-2010 Atlantic Coast Conference Coach of the Year.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from 
New Hampshire (Ms. Shea-Porter) and the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. 
Guthrie) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from New Hampshire.


                             General Leave

  Ms. SHEA-PORTER. Mr. Speaker, I request 5 legislative days during 
which Members may revise and extend and insert extraneous material on 
House Resolution 1184 into the Record.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentlewoman from New Hampshire?
  There was no objection.
  Ms. SHEA-PORTER. I now yield such time as she may consume to the 
gentlewoman from Maryland (Ms. Edwards).
  Ms. EDWARDS of Maryland. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to support this 
resolution congratulating Greivis Vasquez and Coach Gary Williams on an 
outstanding season for the University of Maryland Men's Basketball 
Team. Their home is in Prince Georges County--my home county--and I 
congratulate the Terrapins men's basketball team on a season that came 
to a close just last week, ending the season with monumental victories, 
including a double overtime game win against the Virginia Tech Hokies. 
The season-ending victory over the University of Virginia placed the 
Terrapins as the number two seed going into the Atlantic Coast 
Conference Quarter-Finals.
  The Terrapins completed their regular 2009-2010 Atlantic Coast 
Conference season with an impressive 13 wins and 3 losses, earning 
first place honors, along with the top-ranked Duke University Blue 
Devils. I'd like to point out as a point of personal privilege and note 
that one of the three losses that Maryland faced this year was to the 
Demon Deacons of Wake Forest University, my alma mater, but I stand 
here nonetheless in support of our hometown Maryland Terrapins.
  The season got off to a promising start with star player Greivis 
Vasquez electing to forgo the National Basketball Association draft and 
play his senior year with the Terrapins. It proved to be a wise 
decision for him because Greivis went on to average 19.6 points per 
game during the season. He even scored a career-high 41 points in a 
single game. That was a rare feat for any basketball star. I know I was 
a fan. Throughout the season, Vasquez received the Atlantic Coast 
Conference Player of the Week honor four times and was unanimously 
selected first team All-ACC by the Atlantic Coast Sports Media 
Association. He led his team into the quarter-finals of the ACC 
tournament as the honored Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year, 
which he was named on March 9, 2010.
  In 1967, while attending the University of Maryland, Coach Gary 
Williams played for the Terrapins--he wasn't coach then--and served as 
team captain. He returned to the University in 1989 to coach for the 
same team he once played for. It's been an honor to watch him, as Coach 
Williams has led his alma mater from a period of troubled times to an 
era of national prominence. He helped bring 13 NCAA tournament berths 
in the last 16 seasons, seven Sweet Sixteen appearances, and in 2002, 
led the Terrapins to win the national title in the National Collegiate 
Athletic Association Championship. I know I, along with other Maryland 
Terrapin fans, followed that season and all the others, watching Gary 
Williams and sitting through the nail-biters in the stands. The opening 
of the 2009-2010 college basketball season marked the 21st season as 
head coach with the University of Maryland for Gary Williams. As a 
member of the University of Maryland's Alumni Hall of Fame, Coach 
Williams was named Atlantic Coast Conference Coach of the Year for the 
second time in his career, on March 9, 2010.
  I wish to heartily congratulate Greivis Vasquez on being named the 
2010 ACC Player of the Year; Coach Gary Williams on being named the 
2010 ACC Coach of the Year; and the entire University of Maryland men's 
basketball team on a truly outstanding season. I wish them and my other 
favorite team, Wake Forest University, great success in the 2010 NCAA 
Tournament--the University of Maryland facing the University of 
Houston, and another Texas team, Texas, facing Wake Forest University. 
We all look forward to that, and we'll be cheering them on their way.
  Again, congratulations to Coach Gary Williams and to Player of the 
Year Greivis Vasquez. Go Terps!
  Mr. GUTHRIE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  I rise today in support of House Resolution 1184, congratulating the 
2009-2010 University of Maryland Men's Basketball Team, Greivis 
Vasquez, and Coach Gary Williams on an outstanding season. The 
University of Maryland Terrapins have had an outstanding season. The 
Terrapins completed the regular season with a 23-7 record and completed 
the Atlantic Coast Conference season with a 13-3 record. This year will 
mark its 24th tournament appearance, and I extend my congratulations to 
the University of Maryland; Head Coach Gary Williams and his staff; the 
hardworking players, especially Greivis Vasquez; and the fans. I wish 
them all well and wish them continued success, except there are several 
Kentucky teams that will be playing, so I obviously have to support my 
team.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. SHEA-PORTER. I yield 1 minute to the House majority leader, the 
gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer).
  Mr. HOYER. I thank the gentlewoman for yielding. Go Terps! And they 
did. I'm a graduate of the University of Maryland. Like so many others, 
I am very proud of my alma mater. I went there many, many years ago. I 
have owned a number of homes throughout my life, but one of them was 
three doors from Gary Williams. I've known Gary Williams for all the 
time he's been at the University of Maryland, which is now over 20 
years. Gary Williams is an extraordinary individual, an extraordinary 
coach, and has

[[Page H1487]]

had great success at every school he's coached at throughout this 
country. He's been at Maryland for, as I said, over two decades. He's 
the most winning coach in Maryland history. Lefty Driesell was his 
predecessor--not immediate predecessor, but in terms of holding that 
record. Lefty did a great job at the University of Maryland.

                              {time}  1800

  Maryland was picked very low in the ACC standings at the beginning of 
this season. The expectations were not high. The University of Maryland 
team had a freshman strong forward. So it was perceived that inside, 
they wouldn't have the kind of game they needed to compete in a 
conference like the Atlantic Coast Conference, which we, of course, in 
the ACC believe is the best conference in the United States, although I 
want to observe, it may not have been the best conference this year in 
the United States; but over the years, it certainly has been. But there 
were some very strong conferences. Not to forget to mention the Big 
East, it is pretty strong itself. But in any event, we weren't picked 
very high.
  The reason Gary Williams has been chosen appropriately for the honor 
of being Coach of the Year in the ACC, which has some extraordinary 
coaches, like Coach Krzyzewski, Coach Roy Williams at the University of 
North Carolina, and other great coaches, is because he took a team that 
did not have high expectations from the public and took it to a tie 
with Duke, one of the great teams in this country, to lead the ACC. 
They both finished 13-3, I believe, in the ACC.
  Wake Forest, a great team as well. I want to thank the gentlelady 
from Maryland, Donna Edwards, who shares Prince George's County in 
which University of Maryland College Park is located, for her gracious 
congratulations. She gives me a hard time. Wake beat us this year, and 
I don't know whether we'll meet again this year, probably not. But 
notwithstanding that, I appreciate her gracious support of this 
resolution.
  I want to tell you that we have a young player. He is a senior. His 
name is Greivis Vasquez. Greivis Vasquez is a real personality on the 
court. Greivis Vasquez was the high scorer, picked as Player of the 
Year in the ACC, and was an extraordinary leader of our team on the 
floor. He was the spark plug of our team.
  And when our team was down and needed to get up, needed to be 
inspired, it was Greivis Vasquez who, along with some other 
extraordinary players--and we had nine or 10 players who could have 
started at some other teams, frankly, wonderful players. Some, Jordan 
Williams, our new freshman who is going to be an extraordinary 
sophomore, and hopefully we may even keep him until his junior year.
  But that is why we prevailed in the ACC. That's why we're going to 
prevail in the NCAA. We play Houston, as you've heard. I'm sure I will 
talk to the Representatives from the Houston area about this game, 
coming up Friday at 9:50 p.m. We will focus on that game, and we'll 
talk to you a little bit about what you think and what we think. But 
it's going to be an excellent year.
  But notwithstanding that, I was in Atlanta when the University of 
Maryland won the national championship. We played Indiana that year. I 
want to personally congratulate my friend Gary Williams on the great 
coaching job he did this year. I want to congratulate the entire team 
for the great job they did, and I want to wish them the very best of 
luck in the NCAA tournament.
  I thank the gentlelady, and I thank the gentleman for bringing this 
resolution to the floor to appropriately recognize a great year for a 
great team, a great coach and a great ACC player of the year.
  Mr. GUTHRIE. Mr. Speaker, I yield as much time as he may consume to 
the gentleman from California (Mr. Campbell).
  Mr. CAMPBELL. I thank the gentleman from Kentucky for yielding.
  Mr. Speaker, I stand in opposition to this resolution. I don't mean 
to cast any aspersions on the gentleman's alma mater, nor on any Terp 
fans or anything like that. But we're having a discussion this week, a 
lot about health care. And there's a lot of discussion on the 
government-run health care bill about fairness and equity in the 
process.
  I would like to point out a little bit about the fairness and equity 
of the process of this resolution. Back last October, I authored a 
similar resolution--we all often do these things--for a university in 
my district, the University of California at Irvine, also known as UCI, 
whose men's volleyball team won the championship. They didn't just make 
the playoffs. They won the national championship. And the majority 
leader, whose bill this is, pulled that resolution from the floor. So 
he did not allow that resolution last October to be heard. Therefore, 
those kids who won that national championship were not able to get the 
same recognition that apparently today these players for Maryland, who 
are just in the playoffs, are going to receive.
  Second of all, Mr. Speaker, in the past, we have done these for teams 
that win national championships. This is for a team that's making the 
playoffs, one of 65. Now, there are a lot of people out there, Mr. 
Speaker, who believe that we're wasting the taxpayers' money and the 
taxpayers' time by doing these sorts of resolutions. There's an 
argument for that. There is also an argument to be made that it's a 
great thing for the kids who win these to have these additional 
resolutions to put in their trophy case.

  But the one thing I do believe is that we shouldn't descend into 
doing everyone that wins that gets into a playoff. That would be 65 
teams just here in men's basketball. And think of all the men's and 
women's sports that are out there and how many teams that would include 
if we begin to do that as well.
  Finally, Mr. Speaker, I have here the sports section from today's 
Washington Post. I will read from the front page where it says that 
according to a study, Maryland had the lowest graduation rate, 8 
percent, among the 65 NCAA tournament teams. Given that this is being 
put forth in the Education and Labor Committee, if we were going to 
look at all the 65 teams in the NCAA championships, should we be 
considering the academics of the teams that are in or not in?
  Mr. Speaker, and to the majority leader, I don't like doing this. I 
can see the banter going on. These things are usually fun. They're 
usually easy. But it seems like in this House recently, we have lost a 
sense of equity and fairness in the process. It seems like if a school 
is represented by someone from the minority party, they don't get a 
recognition, whereas, perhaps if they're from the majority, they do. It 
seems like there are different thresholds, different standards, 
different ways that things happen in this House rather than a simple 
equity and fairness.
  So for that reason, Mr. Speaker, I oppose this resolution, and I 
would encourage my colleagues to oppose it, again, not to cast any 
aspersions on the University of Maryland but to send a message that 
process matters and that the way fairness and equity matters, and 
little things like this aren't nearly as important as big things like 
the government-run health care bill that we're doing this week. But the 
fact is that this little bit is endemic of what is going on in the 
bigger bills in this House in the way it operates and the way it has, 
unfortunately, in this Congress.
  Mr. GUTHRIE. I yield back the balance of my time.
  Ms. SHEA-PORTER. I will keep myself totally neutral as a graduate of 
the University of New Hampshire.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentlewoman from New Hampshire (Ms. Shea-Porter) that the House suspend 
the rules and agree to the resolution, H. Res. 1184.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds 
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
  Mr. CAMPBELL. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the 
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be 
postponed.

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