[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 125 (Wednesday, July 25, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Page S5373]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         SUBMITTED RESOLUTIONS

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 SENATE RESOLUTION 593--HONORING THE LIFE AND LEGACY OF GRACE HOPPER, 
PROFESSOR, INVENTOR, ENTREPRENEUR, BUSINESS LEADER, AND REAR ADMIRAL OF 
                                THE NAVY

  Mr. WYDEN (for himself and Mrs. Fischer) submitted the following 
resolution; which was considered and agreed to:

                              S. Res. 593

       Whereas Grace Hopper was born on December 9, 1906, in New 
     York City, New York;
       Whereas, in 1928, Grace Hopper graduated with honors from 
     Vassar College with degrees in physics and mathematics;
       Whereas Grace Hopper would go on to earn both her masters 
     degree and Ph.D. from Yale University, earning her Ph.D. in 
     1934;
       Whereas, after the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the entry of 
     the United States into World War II, Grace Hopper felt called 
     to serve her nation and enlisted in the Navy;
       Whereas Grace Hopper was assigned to the Bureau of Ships 
     Computation Project at Harvard University, where she worked 
     on the first electromechanical computer in the United States, 
     which was known as the MARK I;
       Whereas, while assigned to the Computation Project, Grace 
     Hopper--
       (1) served as second in command in charge of operations;
       (2) wrote the 561-page user manual for the MARK I, 
     considered the first book about modern computers; and
       (3) used the MARK I to solve various wartime mathematical 
     problems for the Navy that saved thousands of lives, 
     including the implosion problem for the Manhattan Project;
       Whereas, after World War II, Grace Hopper remained in the 
     Navy as a reservist, continuing to work on the MARK II and 
     MARK III computers;
       Whereas, in the 1950s, Grace Hopper helped pioneer the 
     computer industry at the Eckert-Mauchly Computer Corporation 
     and Remington Rand, where she assisted in developing the 
     Universal Automatic Computer I and II, the first commercial 
     electronic computers;
       Whereas, while working on the Universal Automatic Computer 
     I and II, Grace Hopper invented the first compiler, which is 
     the cornerstone of modern automatic programming;
       Whereas, in 1953, Grace Hopper was the first person to 
     theorize code as words instead of symbols, which was 
     considered impossible by her peers, and after 3 years her 
     team was using the first written-word programming language;
       Whereas the development of a written-word programming 
     language was an incredibly important step in the development 
     of computer science, as it allowed people who lacked advanced 
     engineering and mathematics backgrounds to program computers;
       Whereas, in 1959, Grace Hopper organized leaders from 
     government, the private sector, and academia to create a 
     universal business computer programming language called 
     ``common business-oriented language'', or ``COBOL'';
       Whereas, in 2018, COBOL supports over 30,000,000,000 
     transactions per day and 90 percent of all global financial 
     transactions;
       Whereas throughout her work in the private sector, Grace 
     Hopper remained a naval reservist until the age of 60, 
     calling her required retirement from the Naval Reserve ``the 
     saddest day of my life'';
       Whereas, just a few months after her retirement from the 
     Naval Reserve, ``Amazing Grace'' was called again to the Navy 
     for active service, where she would serve for another 19 
     years until her final military retirement as Rear Admiral of 
     the Navy at the age of 79;
       Whereas Grace Hopper has received many honors for her 
     groundbreaking ideas and contributions over the years, 
     including becoming the first inductee to the Computer Hall of 
     Fame, receiving the U.S. National Medal of Technology, the 
     naming of the destroyer USS Hopper in her honor, and 
     receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom;
       Whereas, of all of the contributions and service of Grace 
     Hopper, she considered her work as a mentor and teacher the 
     most valuable;
       Whereas Grace Hopper once remarked that ``If you ask me 
     what accomplishment I'm most proud of, the answer would be 
     all the young people I've trained over the years'';
       Whereas, today the ``Grace Hopper Celebration'' is the 
     largest gathering of women in computing with 18,000 attendees 
     in 2017;
       Whereas Grace Hopper passed away January 1, 1992, at the 
     age of 85, and was interred with full military honors in 
     Arlington National Cemetery; and
       Whereas Grace Hopper served as a trailblazer for other 
     women and men who would follow her in the field of computer 
     science, academia, and the Armed Forces: Now, therefore, be 
     it
       Resolved, That the Senate honors the pioneering ideas and 
     service of Grace Hopper, professor, inventor, entrepreneur, 
     business leader, and Rear Admiral of the Navy.

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