[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 109 (Thursday, June 28, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4746-S4747]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   SENATE RESOLUTION 568--DESIGNATING JUNE 2018 AS ``GREAT OUTDOORS 
                                MONTH''

  Mr. DAINES (for himself, Mr. Peters, Mr. Gardner, Mrs. Shaheen, Mr. 
Risch, Ms. Hirono, Mrs. Ernst, Mr. Heinrich, and Ms. Klobuchar) 
submitted the following resolution; which was considered and agreed to:

                              S. Res. 568

       Whereas hundreds of millions of people in the United States 
     participate in outdoor recreation annually;
       Whereas Congress enacted the Outdoor Recreation Jobs and 
     Economic Impact Act of 2016 (Public Law 114-249; 130 Stat. 
     999) to assess and analyze the outdoor recreation economy of 
     the United States and the effects attributable to the outdoor 
     recreation economy on the overall economy of the United 
     States;
       Whereas preliminary statistics released in 2018 by the 
     Bureau of Economic Analysis of the United States Department 
     of Commerce show that outdoor recreation contributed more 
     than $373,700,000,000 to the economy of the United States in 
     2016, comprising approximately 2 percent of the gross 
     domestic product;
       Whereas preliminary statistics released in 2018 by the 
     Bureau of Economic Analysis of the United States Department 
     of Commerce show that the outdoor recreation economy grew 3.8 
     percent in 2016, while also providing 4,280,000 jobs across 
     the country;
       Whereas regular outdoor recreation is associated with 
     positive health outcomes and better quality of life;
       Whereas outdoor recreation is part of the national heritage 
     of the United States; and
       Whereas June 2018 is an appropriate month to designate as 
     ``Great Outdoors Month'' to provide an opportunity to 
     celebrate the importance of the great outdoors: Now, 
     therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) designates June 2018 as ``Great Outdoors Month''; and
       (2) encourages all people in the United States to recreate 
     in the great outdoors in June 2018 and year-round.

  Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, I am pleased the Senate is passing a 
resolution I introduced along with Senators Collins, Wyden, Gardner, 
and Bennet to commemorate the American Homebrewers Association's (AHA) 
40th ``birthday''. Since its founding in 1978, the AHA--whose mission 
is to promote the community of homebrewers and empower homebrewers to 
make the best beer in the world--has had a tremendous impact on 
America, both within and well beyond the scope of beer. After then-
President Jimmy Carter signed the momentous legislation (Public Law 95-
458) to legalize homebrewing at the federal level, the AHA worked 
ceaselessly and successfully to extend that legalization to all 50 
States and the District of Columbia.
  Today, the AHA has over 46,000 dues-paying members and works on 
behalf of more than 1.1 million homebrewers in our Nation. While the 
AHA was established in 1978, homebrewing has been an important part of 
our Nation's life from its inception. The Pilgrims landed at Plymouth 
Rock because they were running out of beer, which was safer to drink 
than water (each adult on board had a ration of one gallon of beer per 
day). Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison 
were all homebrewers who enjoyed crafting their own libations. In 2011, 
President Obama introduced a honey ale which became the first beer 
known to have been brewed in the White House.
  Homebrewing isn't just a wonderfully delicious hobby; however. Home-
brewing has an important economic impact, creating thousands of jobs 
and adding hundreds of millions of dollars to the economy. There are 
more than 700 homebrew shops nationwide, and scores of small businesses 
that fabricate the brewing, fermenting, and packaging equipment 
homebrewers use. Homebrewers also support American agriculture, with 
their demand for domestic malts, hops, yeast, and other ingredients. In 
the aggregate, American homebrewers produce 1.4 million barrels of beer 
each year. That production level puts homebrewers between the Boston 
Beer Company and the Sierra Nevada Brewing Company, which are the 
second and third largest craft brewing companies in America, 
respectively.
  Homebrewing is collaborative and social. The AHA hosts major events 
that bring thousands of people together, including the National 
Homebrewers Conference, the National Homebrew Competition, the Big Brew 
for National Homebrew Day, Learn to Homebrew Day, and the Hill Staff 
Homebrew Competition, which encourages bipartisan participation in 
celebrating home-brewing and its rich history in the United States. 
Thirty years ago, Congress designated May 7th as National Homebrew Day 
and the AHA celebrates that anniversary each year with the Big Brew for 
National Homebrew Day on the first Saturday each May. The AHA initiated 
Learn to Homebrew Day, which is held in November, in 1999 to encourage 
homebrewers to introduce their non-brewing family members and

[[Page S4747]]

friends to the hobby. Nearly 4,800 people from 45 States and 11 other 
countries participated in Learn to Homebrew Day last November.
  The ``big daddy'' of the AHA-hosted events is the National Homebrew 
Conference, which attracts as many as 3,400 participants. In 2016, 
``Homebrew Con,'' as it is affectionately known, was held in Baltimore 
and I enjoyed speaking to the group and sampling some of the best beer 
in America. This year, the 40th Homebrew Con will be held in Portland, 
Oregon--also known as Beervana--starting this Thursday. Homebrew Con 
also features the final round of the National Homebrew Competition each 
year, the largest beer competition in the world. Over 143,000 homebrews 
have been entered and judged in this competition since the first one 
was held in Boulder, Colorado, where the AHA is headquartered, in 1979.
  Since its inception, the AHA has successfully created community, 
camaraderie, competition, and, of course, great beer. Today, the hobby 
of homebrewing unites Americans from coast to coast of all backgrounds, 
life experiences, and political beliefs. Just as important, the AHA and 
its diverse members have played a key part in the rise of the craft 
brewing industry, which is larger today than it has ever been in the 
country's history. The United States is now home to over 6,000 small 
and independent craft breweries, most of which were started by 
homebrewers. Craft beer now accounts for $26 billion in sales and 23 
percent of the U.S. beer market. More than 80 percent of Americans age 
21 and up live within 10 miles of a brewery, and these breweries are 
reinvigorating local economies and creating good local jobs that won't 
go overseas. Collectively, they are adding $68 billion to the economy 
and donating over $70 million to charitable causes. Beer isn't just 
good to drink; it's good for the economy.
  I would be seriously remiss if I were to fail to mention the one 
individual most responsible for the creation of the AHA, the growth of 
homebrewing as a hobby, and the reemergence of American craft beer: 
Charlie Papazian. Charlie, along with Charlie Matzen, founded the AHA 
in 1978 in Boulder. Charlie Papazian is rightfully known as ``the 
godfather of homebrewing''. As for the AHA's successes and the growth 
of the domestic craft beer industry, we can credit Charlie and his 
passion, enthusiasm, creativity, and commitment.
  In 1972, Charlie graduated from the University of Virginia with a 
degree in Nuclear Engineering. After working as a kindergarten teacher, 
his passion for beer--and for the art and science of its creation--led 
him to swap hydrogen for hops. In 1978, he founded the AHA and 
published the first issue of Zymurgy magazine, announcing the new 
organization, publicizing the federal legalization of homebrewing, and 
calling for entries in the AHA's first National Homebrew Competition. 
In 1984, he published The Complete Joy of Homebrewing, which to this 
day remains one of the definitive guides to creating quality beer at 
home. Charlie's reassuring motto--``Relax. Don't worry. Have a 
homebrew.''--spawned an American movement that is now spreading abroad.
  In 1983, Charlie founded the Association of Brewers, which included 
the AHA under its umbrella as well as the new Institute for 
Fermentation and Brewing Studies, which served the needs of the small, 
but growing, microbrewing industry. The Association of Brewers later 
merged with the Brewers Association of America to become today's 
Brewers Association (BA). I was honored to work with the BA and its 
members as the lead sponsor of the Small Brewer Reinvestment & 
Expanding Workforce (Small BREW) Act, which intended to cut the federal 
excise small, independent, domestic craft brewers pay. That bill was 
incorporated in the Craft Beverage Modernization & Tax Reform Act, 
which Congress passed last year.
  Charlie launched a number of popular events, including the World Beer 
Cup and the Great American Beer Festival, which today gathers over 
60,000 attendees annually. Beyond beer, Charlie also founded National 
Pie Day--which takes place each year on his own birthday, January 
23rd--as an annual celebration of America's favorite dessert.
  Charlie is a true trailblazer, pioneer, and entrepreneur. His 
irrepressible enthusiasm, sense of humor, and joie de vivre have 
endeared him to millions of people. The original wooden spoon he used 
to stir his mashes now resides at the Smithsonian Institution's 
National Museum of American History. Charlie purchased the spoon for $1 
in a hardware store. ``I was walking down an aisle in the store,'' he 
recalls, ``and that spoon spoke to me. It said, `Give me a try, I'm 
special.' That was the start of our affair.'' He used the spoon when he 
started teaching homebrewing in 1973 out of a series of houses he 
rented in Boulder. From 1973 to 1982, he taught five semesters per 
year, five classes per semester, with 20 people per class. According to 
Charlie, ``Students had to get their hand on the spoon. They gave it a 
turn and got the ingredients going in the pot. It was an important part 
of the class and a lot of people touched that spoon.'' As Charlie puts 
it, ``It makes for a stirring tale, doesn't it? The spoon has been a 
witness to the evolution--and the revolution--of homebrewing and craft 
beer. When you hold it in your hand now, it kind of vibrates a little 
bit. It's got so much mojo in it.''
  Come January 23, 2019, on his 70th birthday, Charlie will be exiting 
the AHA and its parent organization, the Brewers Association, where he 
served as president from 1978 to 2016. He is currently spending his 
time completing an array of projects, including a craft brewing history 
archive. This week, he will deliver the keynote address at Homebrew Con 
in Portland. He is often asked, ``Charlie, did you ever imagine that 
beer would become all of this?'' His answer is always yes.
  At St. Paul's Cathedral in London, Sir Christopher Wren's epitaph 
reads, Si monumentum requiris, circum-spice--``If you seek (his) 
monuments, look around you.'' Charlie Papazian's monuments are all 
around us--from homebrewers making a chocolate stout in their kitchens 
or garages to the craft brewery down the street. From President Obama's 
``beer summit'' to the neighborhood bar, beer is the beverage that 
refreshes us and brings us together. We can thank Charlie Papazian for 
being able to choose from the best beers brewed in the history of 
civilization to quench our thirst and warm our hearts. I would ask all 
of my colleagues to join me in celebrating the 40th anniversary of the 
American Homebrewers Association, and thanking Charlie Papazian for his 
seminal and lasting contributions to homebrewing and the craft beer 
renaissance and wishing him all the best as he completes his final year 
at the AHA and begins the next chapter in a life that serves as an 
inspiration to all of us.

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