[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 12 (Thursday, January 26, 2012)]
[Senate]
[Pages S97-S98]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      MICHIGAN'S 175TH ANNIVERSARY

  Ms. STABENOW. Mr. President, I rise today to congratulate my State of 
Michigan on its 175th anniversary of statehood. On Thursday, January 
26, 1837, President Andrew Jackson signed into law the bill granting 
Michigan statehood. The bill was surprisingly controversial. At the 
time, Michigan and Ohio had been embroiled in an argument called the 
Toledo war. Before Michigan was granted statehood it had to surrender 
its claim over Toledo. But in exchange we got the Upper Peninsula of 
Michigan, one of the most beautiful places in the entire country--I 
would say in the entire world. So I think we won that trade.
  Twenty-four years later President Lincoln would exclaim, ``Thank God 
for Michigan,'' when Michigan troops arrived to defend Washington, DC, 
during the Civil War. Around the turn of the century, the auto industry 
took off in Michigan. Henry Ford paid the workers $5 a day to build the 
Model Ts so they could afford to buy the cars they made. That was 
viewed as revolutionary at the time. Those workers not only created the 
middle class in this country--and we are very proud it started in 
Michigan with our workers--but they made America an international 
superpower.
  During World War I, Michigan factories built boats and vehicles that 
helped turn the tide in Europe. During World War II, Michigan's role 
became even more important. Auto plants were rapidly converted to 
military use, building tanks and jeeps and bombers. The Nation's first 
freeways were built in Michigan to connect our factories in Detroit 
with those in other parts of the State. The iconic image of Rosie the 
Riveter saying, ``We can do it'' was based on a real woman named Rose 
Monroe who worked at the Willow Run factory in Michigan.
  After the war, Michigan experienced incredible growth, becoming the 
home of our American middle class. Only California and Florida saw 
greater population growth than Michigan in the postwar years. 
Manufacturing took off across the State and eventually across the 
country. Farms saw greater increases in production with the invention 
of new machinery and the adoption of increased specialization. We built 
the Mackinac Bridge connecting our two beautiful peninsulas, an 
engineering marvel that remains one of the largest suspension bridges 
in the world. Of course, Motown Records and all the wonderful musicians 
who have come since then gave the world some of the most wonderful 
music and the best musicians who have ever lived.

  The last few years have been tough on all of us in Michigan, but we 
have been through tough times before, and every time we have come back 
stronger than ever. We may be 175 years old, but one would not know it. 
Our economy is growing stronger and more nimble than ever. Great 
sacrifices have gotten us to this point as we have moved through great 
recessions and changes in a global economy. I am very proud of everyone 
in Michigan who is working hard and bringing things back.
  Our auto companies have made an incredible comeback. G.M. is, once 
again, the world's largest automaker. Ford is investing billions of 
dollars in Michigan plants, and Chrysler is reminding the country that 
the very best cars and trucks are imported from Detroit. I am so 
grateful for all the sacrifice and hard work of our workers who have 
helped get our companies to this point.
  It was great to hear President Obama talk so much about the future of 
Michigan's economy in his State of the Union speech. We are 
diversifying to support new technologies and new businesses. The 
President invited a Michigan worker, Bryan Ritterby, who lost his job 
in the furniture business at age 55 and was able to get retrained and 
have a new job at a wind turbine factory on the west side of the State. 
He said, ``I am proud to be working in the industry of the future.'' 
That came about because of the concerted effort of all of us working 
together not only to help General Motors and Chrysler but to focus on a 
manufacturing strategy of the future to make things in America.
  The President talked about our leadership with clean energy 
manufacturing and advanced battery technology. In fact, Michigan is now 
No. 1 in new clean energy patents. We are doing so much in innovation. 
In fact, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office is opening a new office 
in Detroit in July, which is the first satellite office in the country. 
I am proud to have offered the provision to name it the Elijah McCoy 
Patent Office, after an African-American inventor whose high-quality 
products and innovations gave rise to the expression, ``the real 
McCoy.''
  On Michigan's 175th anniversary, there are so many reasons I am proud 
to represent our beautiful Great Lakes State, from our incredible 
waters to our tradition of manufacturing, to our great diversity in 
agriculture. We make and grow products in Michigan. We don't have a 
middle class in this country, we don't have an economy unless we do 
that, and Michigan is, once

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again, leading the way. I am most honored to serve the great people of 
Michigan who are, without a doubt, the toughest, friendliest, hardest-
working people in the country.
  The author John Steinbeck once wrote of a trip he took to Michigan. 
He said, ``It seemed to me that the Earth was generous and outgoing 
here in the heartland, and, perhaps, its people took a cue from it.'' 
In fact, our people have.
  Today, as we celebrate Michigan's 175th birthday, we have an 
incredible history to be proud of and an incredible future to look 
forward to.
  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, the State of my birth, the State I am 
honored to represent in the Senate, the great State of Michigan 
celebrates its 175th birthday today. This landmark occasion is cause to 
reflect on Michigan's contributions to the greatness of our nation.
  Michigan has never failed to excite imaginations. The great Civil War 
historian Bruce Catton, a Michigan native, once wrote that Michigan has 
always been less about the present than about our voyage to the future, 
``to the fantastic reality that must lie beyond the mists.'' From the 
first European explorers who yearned to learn what they would find on 
the far lakeshore or around the next river bend, to the scientists and 
engineers who today are charting the technologies that will define our 
world for decades to come, Michigan has always helped to answer 
America's burning question: What comes next?
  To a large degree, that voyage of discovery has always been about the 
growth of America's economy and the prosperity of her people. The 
lumber that built great cities in New York and Chicago came from our 
forests. The ores that fed the Industrial Revolution came from our 
Copper Country and Iron Mountains. The cars that put the world on 
wheels, and helped build America's middle class, came from our 
factories--as did the bombers and tanks that helped win World War II. 
And today, the exploration of new technologies in energy and 
transportation is helping to shape America's economy so that we can 
prosper in an extraordinarily competitive global marketplace.
  Our State's identity is inextricably linked to the jewels that 
surround us: the Great Lakes. Their waters provide the drinking water 
that sustains us. They drive our economy. They help move goods to and 
from the far corners of the globe. They bring visitors to our shores. 
And they are a treasure trove of memories--of families sharing a picnic 
on the beach, of a kayaker's solo paddle through the mists of early 
morning, of a youngster's first successful cast of a fishing line or of 
a sunset walk along the water. We are custodians of the largest store 
of fresh water on the globe, and throughout our history, Michiganians 
have sought to exercise that responsibility with gratitude and care.
  Michiganians have left an indelible mark on history, a mark that 
reaches far beyond our borders. The cry ``Remember the Raisin!'' 
rallied American troops to win the War of 1812, and Custer's shout, 
``Come on, you Wolverines!'' helped turn the tide at Gettysburg. From 
W.K. Kellogg's cereal to Thomas Edison's light bulb to Henry Ford's 
assembly line, Michigan innovators have shaped the world around us. 
Michiganians helped to run the Underground Railroad and to lead the 
fight for civil rights. A Michigan woman, Sojourner Truth, changed the 
world by asking, ``Ain't I a woman?'' And a Michigan man in the White 
House, Gerald Ford, helped heal the wounds of division in the dark days 
of Watergate.
  Michigan has given the world remarkable artists, from the poems of 
Philip Levine to the sounds of Motown. Michigan has given the world 
Magic Johnson's smile, Joe Louis's power and Derek Jeter's leadership.
  Michiganians look back with pride on these 175 years. And we look 
forward with hope and anticipation to that always-approaching future 
that Bruce Catton described, to the fantastic reality that awaits our 
State in the years ahead. I hope my colleagues will join me in 
celebrating the 175th anniversary of Michigan statehood and the 
greatness ahead for our State.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Rhode Island.

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