[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 44 (Tuesday, March 13, 2018)]
[House]
[Pages H1517-H1518]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           DEAN STONE BRIDGE

  Mr. CURTIS. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 3469) to designate the bridge located in Blount County, 
Tennessee, on the Foothills Parkway (commonly known as ``Bridge 2'') as 
the ``Dean Stone Bridge''.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 3469

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. DESIGNATION.

       The bridge located in Blount County, Tennessee, on the 
     Foothills Parkway (commonly known as ``Bridge 2'') shall be 
     known and designated as the ``Dean Stone Bridge''.

     SEC. 2. REFERENCES.

       Any reference in a law, map, regulation, document, paper, 
     or other record of the United States to the bridge referred 
     to in section 1 shall be deemed to be a reference to the 
     ``Dean Stone Bridge''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Utah (Mr. Curtis) and the gentleman from California (Mr. Lowenthal) 
each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Utah.


                             General Leave

  Mr. CURTIS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may 
have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks 
and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Utah?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. CURTIS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from 
Tennessee (Mr. Duncan).
  Mr. DUNCAN of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Utah 
for yielding me this time.
  Mr. Speaker, 2 years ago, in February of 2016, I spoke on this floor 
in tribute to Dean Stone shortly after he retired from his full-time 
position as editor of The Daily Times newspaper in Maryville, 
Tennessee.
  Dean Stone worked for The Daily Times for an astounding 67 years, 
serving as sports editor; managing editor; and then starting in 1988, 
until 2016, as the top editor.
  He was always very proud that he gave our great Senator Lamar 
Alexander one of his first jobs when Senator Alexander was in high 
school in Maryville.
  Dean Stone was the standard of journalistic fairness and integrity in 
my district and a towering figure in east Tennessee.
  Unfortunately, he was unable to enjoy a long retirement, as he passed 
away several months later at the age of 92.
  Mr. Speaker, today I rise in support of a bill that I have introduced 
to name a very unique 800-foot-long bridge on the Foothills Parkway in 
his honor.
  This bill is a fitting tribute to Dean Stone because his story and 
that of the Foothills Parkway will be forever linked in history.
  First authorized by Congress in 1944, the Foothills Parkway was 
intended to be the Tennessee companion to the Blue Ridge Parkway, which 
was built to link the Great Smoky Mountains National Park with the 
Shenandoah National Park.
  Construction on the Foothills Parkway did not begin, however, until 
1960; and in the early decades, a few detached sections of the highway 
were completed.
  Despite this progress in the early years, construction of the 16-mile 
stretch between Walland and Wears Valley, Tennessee, became plagued 
with problems. A 1.5 mile section in the middle of this segment, which 
eventually became known as the ``Missing Link,'' featured rugged 
terrain that was extremely difficult to build upon.
  Construction was further complicated by the discovery of minerals in 
the soil that could cause damage to the environment.
  Despite these complications, my staff and I worked hard to keep the 
project alive. In my early years in Congress, we obtained a $3 million 
appropriation to resurface and maintain existing sections of this 
parkway.

                              {time}  1715

  I was pleased that I was able to include $8.6 million in the Federal 
highway legislation, T-21, which was signed into law in 1998, and then 
the 2005 highway bill contained another $7.5 billion to continue this 
project.
  In 2016, the Department of Transportation awarded $10 million toward 
the completion of the parkway, and the State of Tennessee committed to 
providing an additional $15 million match to fund the final paving of 
this project. During these years, Dean Stone was a key ally in this 
process. It was then that the histories of the parkway and Dean Stone 
became permanently linked.
  Dean Stone didn't just write in support of the Foothills Parkway. As 
chairman of the Great Smoky Mountains Park Commission and as president 
of the Foothills Parkway Association, Dean worked hard to convince 
people of the need to complete the missing link. Within the next year, 
the missing link will be no more, and that section of the parkway will 
finally be open to the public. Dean Stone was probably the 
indispensable man in getting this section of the road completed.
  The Daily Times has stated that one main task remains. What is still 
needed, according to The Daily Times, is ``proper acknowledgment of the 
Blount Countian who persisted over the years in encouraging, insisting, 
cajoling, and convincing the powers that be the `missing link' could 
be, should be, and would be connected.''
  My bill, H.R. 3469, would name the longest bridge in the missing link 
section of the Foothills Parkway as the Dean Stone Bridge. This 
particular bridge is an 800-foot engineering marvel similar to the 
famous Linn Cove Viaduct on the Blue Ridge Parkway. New technological 
advances have allowed the construction of a bridge that floats around 
the edge of the mountain rather than tearing into it.
  There is no doubt that the elegant curves of this bridge will be the 
iconic feature of the Foothills Parkway. Naming it after Dean Stone is 
a fitting tribute for all that he did for the Great Smoky Mountains 
National Park and for this region. In fact, it is fair to say that no 
one individual did more for the Great Smoky Mountains National Park 
over the years--through many, many years--in promoting the Great Smoky 
Mountains National Park in many different ways.
  I have a beautiful photograph that Dean Stone took of the Cades Cove 
area of the Smoky Mountains in my office here in Washington even today. 
My only regret is that Dean Stone did not live long enough to see the 
completion of the missing link, but I take heart in knowing that soon 
millions of people will be able to benefit from the fruits of his 
labors as they drive over the Dean Stone Bridge and see the glories of 
the Great Smoky Mountains.
  Mr. LOWENTHAL. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
  As we have heard from my colleague, Dean Stone was a fierce champion 
of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
  Mr. Stone spent much of his life promoting the long-term preservation 
of the park and encouraging others to visit this place that he loved so 
dearly.
  Today, the Great Smoky Mountains are one of our Nation's most visited 
national parks. In fact, the park set a new record of 11.4 million 
visitors in 2017 and became a destination for tourists from around the 
world who wanted to witness last summer's total solar eclipse.
  I am sure that many of these visitors directly benefited from the 
decades of work by Dean Stone on behalf of the park and the entire 
Smoky Mountains region.
  Mr. Stone passed away in 2016 at the age of 92. It is a fitting 
tribute to rename a bridge section of the Foothills Parkway in his 
honor.
  Mr. Speaker, I support this legislation, and I yield back the balance 
of my time.

[[Page H1518]]

  

  Mr. CURTIS. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Utah (Mr. Curtis) that the House suspend the rules and 
pass the bill, H.R. 3469.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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