[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 177 (Wednesday, November 1, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6965-S6966]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     TRIBUTE TO GEORGE STEVENS, JR.

  Mr. MARKEY. Mr. President, today we honor an icon of the film 
industry and a distinguished public servant, George Stevens, Jr. For 
five decades, George Stevens, Jr., served as the founding director of 
the American Film Institute, AFI, an organization that led the clarion 
call to preserve and celebrate America's film heritage.
  In honoring him, I would like to state the following in the Record:

       Whereas, George Stevens, Jr., stood in the Rose Garden of 
     the White House in 1967 when President Lyndon Johnson 
     announced there would be an American Film Institute in order 
     to address the crisis of America's disappearing motion 
     picture heritage.
       Whereas, through the extraordinary vision of the Library of 
     Congress and the American Film Institute, more than 37,000 
     motion pictures are now safely preserved in the AFI 
     Collection at the Library of Congress.
       Whereas, George Stevens, Jr., led the effort at the AFI to 
     create a rescue list of movies with the Museum of Modern Art, 
     Eastman House, and the Library of Congress and locate and 
     preserve missing films.
       Whereas, the collection includes classic American films, 
     including ``It's A Wonderful Life,'' ``Mr. Smith Goes to 
     Washington,'' ``The Ten Commandment,'' ``Puss in Boots,'' and 
     George Stevens, Sr.'s ``Gunga Din.''
       Whereas, George Stevens, Jr., expanded the horizons of the 
     next generation of filmmakers and visionaries with the 
     creation an AFI Center for Advanced Film Studies.
       Whereas, George Stevens, Jr., unleashed the power of 
     filmmaking in service to the

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     American people, leading the United States Information Agency 
     Motion Picture Service and producing award-winning films 
     about the fabric of American life.
       Therefore, today in the U.S. Senate, I honor the 50th 
     anniversary of the American Film Institute and the 
     extraordinary legacy of George Stevens, Jr., director, 
     producer, playwright, and public servant without equal. 
     Thomas Edison may be given credit for inventing the film 
     industry, but it is George Stevens, Jr., and the American 
     Film Institute who have preserved it for future generations 
     to come.

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