[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 23 (Tuesday, February 9, 2016)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E137]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     HONORING DR. JAMES BILLINGTON

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. DAVID E. PRICE

                           of north carolina

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, February 9, 2016

  Mr. PRICE of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I wish to congratulate and 
thank Dr. James Billington upon completion of his 42 years of 
distinguished public service, culminating in 28 years as the 13th 
Librarian of Congress. He presided over a doubling of the Library's 
holdings and a major enhancement of the Library's role in American 
cultural life.
  Dr. Billington, a Rhodes Scholar and a distinguished expert on 
Russia, began his career as a professor of history at Harvard 
University and Princeton University. He served as director of the 
Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and helped found the 
Kennan Institute for Advanced Russian Studies before coming to the 
Library of Congress in 1987.
  Dr. Billington recognized that the Library must be a great public 
asset, an educational resource for all Americans, not just for 
academics and Members of Congress. He set about digitizing many of the 
Library's collections and arranging the purchase and display of dozens 
of important relics that had long been hidden from public view. He also 
created the National Book Festival, which has brought hundreds of 
thousands of book lovers to Washington to celebrate our literary 
history.
  As a Member of Congress and a leader of the House Democracy 
Partnership (HDP), I have particularly appreciated Dr. Billington's 
application of his background as a scholar of Russia and his extensive 
international experience to the establishment of the Open World 
Leadership Center, a unique legislative branch initiative that has 
brought some 24,000 young leaders from post-Soviet states to the U.S. 
for intensive exposure to our people and community life. I have enjoyed 
hosting these delegations in North Carolina, parliamentary colleagues 
but also teachers, doctors, provincial leaders, and others from all 
walks of life.
  The Library and the Congressional Research Service (CRS) have also 
been invaluable in HDP's outreach to parliaments in democratizing 
countries, helping build their staff, research, and IT capabilities. 
This work began with the Frost-Solomon Task Force in the early 1990s, 
when post-communist states faced the challenge of equipping and 
operating modern parliaments. It has continued over the past decade as 
HDP has helped establish research facilities and personnel, with the 
help of CRS, in countries ranging from Liberia to Afghanistan to Timor-
Leste.
  I congratulate Dr. Billington on his historic career, and I wish him 
and his family the very best for a well-deserved retirement.

                          ____________________