[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 9 (Monday, January 23, 2012)]
[Senate]
[Page S35]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            RECOGNIZING THE ANNENBERG RETREAT AT SUNNYLANDS

 Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, this year the late Walter and 
Leonore Annenberg's legendary California estate, Sunnylands, will open 
its doors to the public as the Annenberg Retreat at Sunnylands. I ask 
my colleagues to join me in honoring the Annenbergs' remarkable legacy 
and saluting the new institution's noble goals.
  Sunnylands was designed and built in the mid-1960s as the Annenbergs' 
desert home in Rancho Mirage. It served as their winter residence and 
as a tranquil retreat and meeting place for Presidents of the United 
States, U.S. Supreme Court Justices, scholars, historians, former 
diplomats, Governors, State legislators as well as bipartisan 
coalitions of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. Among many 
other notable guests, President Nixon wrote his 1974 State of the Union 
speech there, and Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Charles visited in 
1983.
  In 2001, the Annenberg Foundation Trust at Sunnylands was founded to 
continue Sunnylands' role as a conference center and retreat for 
national and international leaders to address the world's most pressing 
concerns. Throughout their lifetimes, Ambassador and Mrs. Annenberg 
hosted and sponsored a number of solution-driven retreats that fostered 
positive diplomatic, judicial, and legislative progress.
  Now, the new Annenberg Retreat at Sunnylands will be available for 
the President of the United States and the Secretary of State to bring 
together world leaders to promote and facilitate peaceful international 
agreements; for the President and the Cabinet, the Supreme Court, and 
the bipartisan leadership of the Congress to meet to focus on ways to 
improve the functioning of the three branches of government; and for 
leaders of major social institutions, such as universities, colleges, 
public schools, charities, and government agencies, to meet and 
determine how these institutions might better serve the public good.
  I invite all of my colleagues to join me in congratulating the 
Annenberg Retreat at Sunnylands for realizing the Annenbergs' dream of 
creating a world-class center that provides our leaders with an 
atmosphere to discuss vital issues, promote cooperation, and craft 
solutions for our Nation and the world.

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