[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 69 (Thursday, May 8, 2014)]
[House]
[Page H3953]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            BOURBON WHISKEY

  (Mr. BARR asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. BARR. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to mark the 50th anniversary of 
the passage of S. Con. Res. 19, which officially recognized bourbon as 
a distinctive product of the United States of America.
  Specifically, the resolution provided that bourbon whiskey is a 
distinctive product of the U.S. and is unlike other types of alcoholic 
beverages, whether foreign or domestic; that bourbon whiskey has 
achieved recognition and acceptance throughout the world as a 
distinctive product of the United States; and the resolution further 
prohibited the importation of whiskey designated as ``bourbon'' to 
protect bourbon as a product distilled and aged in the United States 
alone.
  Many great nations have a national spirit. Bourbon certainly belongs 
in the same class. As the report that accompanied the resolution notes, 
the name ``bourbon'' refers to the particular part of the world this 
distinctive distilled spirit first arrived from, Bourbon County, 
Kentucky. The name is now universally accepted as meaning American 
whiskey, and over 90 percent of all bourbon is distilled in my home 
State, the Commonwealth of Kentucky.
  Today, Kentucky's bourbon industry is enjoying an explosive growth 
due to demand both here and abroad. I think this renaissance is the 
result not only of bourbon's timeless production process and depth of 
flavor, but is also thanks to its status as a uniquely American spirit.
  This week we celebrate the 50th anniversary of Congress putting that 
concept into law, and we thank all of the hardworking men and women in 
my home State who make this uniquely American spirit such a great 
product.

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