[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 75 (Tuesday, May 7, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Page S2681]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    REMEMBERING DR. JAMES BILLINGTON

  Mr. ALEXANDER. Madam President, Dr. James Billington was the 13th 
person to hold the position of Librarian of Congress since the Library 
was established in 1800. He was nominated by President Ronald Reagan 
and served under Presidents George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. 
Bush, and Barack Obama.
  As Librarian of Congress Dr. Billington managed the Library of 
Congress, which according to LOC, is the largest library in the world, 
containing millions of books, recordings, photographs, newspapers, 
maps, and manuscripts in its collections. It is the main research arm 
of the U.S. Congress.
  Dr. Billington doubled the size of the Library's collections during 
his tenure from 85.5 million items in 1987 to more than 160 million 
items. He created the Library of Congress online, which helped bring 
the Library into the digital age.
  In 2003, Dr. Billington testified before the Senate education 
committee at a hearing I chaired called ``Putting the Teaching of 
American History and Civics Back in the Classroom.''
  In his testimony that day, Dr. Billington said: ``During Alex Haley's 
12 years researching his groundbreaking novel, Roots, he traveled the 
globe to uncover his family's story, even taking a slow Atlantic 
crossing to get some feel for what his ancestors went through on the 
Middle Passage. He also spent many hours in the reading rooms of the 
Library of Congress, poring over American Missionary Society files from 
our Manuscript Collection.
  ``For the first 190 years of the Library's existence, people could 
access our vast collections only by traveling to Washington, D.C., and 
by working in our beautiful reading rooms as Mr. Haley did, or by 
tapping into our rich holdings secondhand, through books that made use 
of our collections . . .
  ``The technology revolution of the past decade has made it possible 
for the Library to reach far beyond its buildings in Washington. We now 
deliver 8 million interesting and educational multimedia documents, 
maps, and images of American history and culture free of charge to 
stimulate curiosity and humanize the study of history.
  ``By exploiting the power of the internet and the incomparable 
resources of our collections, the Library of Congress has emerged as 
the leading provider of free noncommercial educational content on the 
Web. Millions of educators, librarians, students, and lifelong learners 
visit our Web sites daily for materials that once were available only 
through our reading rooms on Capitol Hill.''
  Dr. Billington's nearly three decades of distinguished service and 
his efforts to bring the Library of Congress into the digital age will 
help ensure that the Library will better preserve our Nation's history 
and enlighten its people for many generations to come. His legacy will 
be one of innovation and diligence.
  After his passing in 2018, his successor at the Library of Congress, 
Carla Hayden, said ``Dr. Billington has left an indelible legacy on the 
institution he led passionately for 28 years. With his vigor for 
philanthropy and tireless efforts to expand the reach and impact of the 
Library, he achieved so much to advance the Library of Congress as an 
enduring place for scholars and learners. He will be remembered as a 
visionary leader, distinguished academic and, most of all, a great 
American.''
  At a recent Senate committee hearing, I spoke with Ms. Hayden about 
Alex Haley and the importance of what he did: writing two bestselling 
books on the African-American experience, the autobiography of Malcolm 
X and his book, Roots, which tell the story of the African-American 
experience in America. As Dr. Billington said, Alex did a lot of his 
research at the Library of Congress, and he found the name and the date 
of the slave ship that actually brought that ancestor to Annapolis in 
the Library. I think Alex's example will help people understand how the 
Library of Congress can be so useful to people who are trying to tell 
the story of our country.
  Ms. Hayden agreed saying, ``many notable films and books have started 
with research at the Library of Congress. We want to emphasize the fact 
that Alex Haley did research here, and also have his quotes about what 
it felt like for him to be in that reading room.''
  Alex Haley used to say, we should ``find the good and praise it.'' 
Dr. Billington's life's work will help countless Americans ``find the 
good and praise it,'' when it comes to the history of our country.

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