[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 101 (Tuesday, July 16, 2013)]
[House]
[Page H4504]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        RECOGNIZING WATERVLIET ARSENAL ON ITS 200TH ANNIVERSARY

  (Mr. TONKO asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. TONKO. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the Watervliet 
Arsenal, which celebrated its 200th anniversary on July 14.
  Watervliet is the Nation's oldest, continuously operated arsenal, 
having begun its manufacturing of military hardware during the War of 
1812.
  For 200 years, the arsenal has produced critical weapons, parts and 
material that have been indispensable to our Nation's defense. Earlier 
this year, the Secretary of the Army recognized the arsenal's high 
quality and essential work by designating it as a Center of Industrial 
and Technological Excellence.
  The Army's Benet Laboratories, renowned for its research and 
development and work with advanced materials and composites, is also 
located at the facility. Let me offer a special congratulations to the 
arsenal's employees, who, despite senseless sequestration-related 
furloughs, continue to provide manufacturing, engineering, and quality 
assurance for our Nation's cannons and mortars. They have developed 
skills and expertise over the course of decades, many coming from 
families that have worked at the arsenal for generations, pouring their 
talents into this powerful success story. They are truly the lifeblood 
of the Watervliet community and the Greater Capital Region of upstate 
New York.

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