[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 77 (Thursday, May 9, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2763-S2765]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



            Tribute to Mike Hackley and Recognizing BBQGuys

  Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, I rise as a Member of the U.S. Senate 
Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship to highlight a 
veteran-owned Louisiana business that is a true success story. With me 
today is my colleague from my office, Ms. Cassie Leonard.
  We all know small businesses are how many Americans live the American 
dream. They start small; they start with a passion; they create jobs; 
and then they help us compete globally in America and spark innovation. 
These American small business owners are often our friends. They are 
often our neighbors.
  They succeed through the hard work of entrepreneurs like Mr. Mike 
Hackley of Baton Rouge. I am talking about Mike and his business 
BBQGuys because it is National Small Business Week and because BBQGuys 
was named Senate Small Business of the Week just last week.
  Mike has served our country in many ways. He has served our country 
in the Air Force for more than 10 years. Once his military career 
ended, he worked in a number of different sectors. Like a lot of 
Louisianans, Mike loves the outdoors. In Louisiana, we will barbecue no 
matter how hot it gets outside.
  Mike turned his passion into a profession, and he did it by starting 
an outdoor business called The Grill Store & More.
  Early on, being the perceptive business person he is, Mike saw an 
opening with e-commerce, something we take for granted today. He 
launched a website called www.bbqguys.com, and he did this in 2001, 18 
years ago, when Americans who did have the internet were on dial-up 
connections.
  Today, 18 years later, BBQGuys is a giant in outdoor living online 
retailers. Mike now employs nearly 300 workers. He started with less 
than 10. That is the American dream. That is American success, and 
BBQGuys continues to evolve and to grow.
  They started designing and manufacturing premium barbecue grills, 
with manufacturing operations here in the United States, and they are 
looking to export into Europe and Australia.
  Mike also remains committed to a culture of teamwork at BBQGuys. 
Every day he makes a point of going around the office to say good 
morning to his employees, and I am not talking about just to the 
executives. It is no wonder Mike has a high employee retention rate, a 
reputation for outstanding customer service, and an A-plus rating from 
the Better Business Bureau. BBQGuys has also been named one of the 
5,000 fastest growing businesses in the United States by Inc. Magazine 
for 11 years in a row.
  I am proud to stand today before the U.S. Senate to say I am proud of 
Mike Hackley. I am proud of what he has built. He is realizing the 
American dream, and he is creating good jobs for my State.
  Mike, if you are listening, thank you for making Louisiana proud.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Utah.
  Mr. LEE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.


                 150th Anniversary of the Golden Spike

  Mr. LEE. Mr. President, on May 10, 1869, a golden spike was driven 
into the last link joining the rails of the first transcontinental 
railroad at Promontory Summit, UT. Made of 17-carat gold and driven 
into a predrilled hole in the very last ceremonial tie, it bore the 
inscription: ``May God continue the unity of our country as this 
railroad unites the two great oceans of the world.'' Indeed, it did, 
with the joining of the Union Pacific Railroad, stretching from the 
Missouri River near the Iowa-Nebraska border, and the Central Pacific 
Railroad, stretching from Sacramento, CA--east met west. The United 
States became truly united.
  As the spike was struck, a telegraph was sent around the Nation, and 
bells rang out from coast to coast. This moment, you see, gave lots of 
people throughout the United States and lots of people in my State of 
Utah in particular access to what they needed to grow, to thrive, to 
prosper, to feed their families; that is, access to other people.

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  Throughout the history of humanity, people have needed access to 
other people. That is why great civilizations have sprung up along 
great rivers and in areas where they had access to an ocean port. It is 
one of the reasons why, throughout much of history, people in land-
locked regions of any country, including our own, very often have a 
hard time making a living. The introduction of the railroad started to 
help to change that.
  Tomorrow marks the 150th anniversary of this pivotal moment, and so 
it is only right that we pause for just a minute to recognize it, for 
this was a moment that changed the course of history in Utah and in our 
Nation and ultimately the entire world. With the driving of that golden 
spike, the arduous 6-month journey that used to be required to cross 
the country--costing $1,000--had become a mere 10-day trip costing only 
$150.
  Thousands of miles of tracks were laid across the country, allowing 
people to migrate west and to establish new settlements far more 
quickly, safely, and easily. It transformed the economy across Utah and 
throughout the Nation. Goods became efficiently transported across much 
farther distances. Settlers found new markets, and buyers on the 
frontier and in rural areas were able to purchase items that had 
previously been completely unavailable to them in some cases or at 
least very difficult to obtain. It spurred a boon in communications, 
commerce, agriculture, construction, and mining. It started a 
significant new chapter in our relationship with Asia and the Pacific 
region, and it served as a model of innovation and prosperity for the 
rest of the world.
  All of this came about, it is important to note, from the 
perseverance and efforts of many different people from different walks 
of life working together. It required a clear-eyed vision from 
President Lincoln and the Federal Government and a fruitful private-
public partnership that allowed the engineers, railroad companies, and 
local communities the freedom to do their jobs and to do them well and 
without undo interference. It would not have been possible without the 
work of the Chinese, Irish, Mormons, Civil War veterans, Native 
Americans, and countless other laborers who toiled so long and so hard 
with such a clear devotion to build these railroads.
  Most of this is, of course, in the history books, as well it ought to 
be. Most of us have a sense of the enormous achievement this moment 
represented some 150 years ago tomorrow, of the great impact it had on 
our Nation and the legacy it has left behind for us and for our 
posterity. But what we often do not know are some of the stories of the 
ordinary men and women behind these achievements and the ones who have 
worked so hard to preserve this great legacy. There are, in fact, 
hidden heroes who make history and unseen efforts of people who worked 
so hard to keep that history alive. The doors of history sometimes turn 
on small and often unseen hinges, and so I would like to take a moment 
to honor a few of those people today who helped move history forward.

  Some of us might know the name of Theodore Judah--a railroad and 
civil engineer who was key to the original idea and design of 
connecting these railroads and who advocated for the so-called Central 
Route for the first transcontinental railroad, the Central Route marked 
in red in this picture. But less familiar is the name of Theodore's 
wife, Anna Judah.
  While many routes were surveyed as possible paths for the railroad, 
Theodore Judah had an often-scoffed-at dream of laying rails through 
the mountains of the Sierra Nevada, from California going eastward. 
Anna Judah shared Theodore's dream of connecting the first 
transcontinental railroad. When Theodore hiked and surveyed the Sierra 
Nevadas, Anna hiked and worked right alongside of him. She sketched and 
did water colors and even oil paintings of the terrain, plants, and the 
foliage. She gathered and labeled the various fossils and minerals. She 
took copious notes all the while, taking into account different things 
she and her husband observed as they were traveling.
  After their time in the Sierra Nevadas, Theodore and Anna, like 
Brigham Young, knew: This is the place. Together they fell in love with 
the idea of the railroad taking the Central Route across the Sierra 
Nevadas, believing that it would provide the perfect path for what they 
wanted to accomplish. So they began traveling back and forth from 
California, dedicating their efforts to lobbying for their dream in 
Washington.
  Anna was sharp, charming, tenacious, and undoubtedly she was 
Theodore's biggest booster. She had the idea to display an exhibit 
right here in the Capitol showcasing her notes and her clippings from 
their travels in the area, her drawings and her paintings, samples of 
mineral and ore she had collected, and charts and graphs that she was 
able to present in a way that made them understandable to laymen, that 
helped other people understand why this area was so important and the 
significant role it could play in our Nation's development.
  Literally hundreds of Senators, Congressmen, lobbyists, and 
government clerks visited her display, which helped convince the 
eastern legislators of the beauty of the western mountains--which many 
of them had never seen or at least not experienced anything like the 
way she had--and turned their hearts to the possibility of building a 
railroad over them and through them to unite a country.
  Ultimately, Congress was persuaded--to everyone's benefit--to choose 
Judah's proposal for the Central Route and did so in large part because 
of Anna Judah's efforts.
  Tragically, Anna's husband Theodore contracted yellow fever. As a 
result, he died before seeing the railroad completed and, in fact, even 
before the project was started in earnest. But Anna lived to see their 
dream to fruition. In fact, the driving of the last spike took place on 
what would have been the couple's 22nd wedding anniversary. On the date 
of the ceremony, Anna visited her husband's grave, and she wrote that 
there her husband's spirit--so long dedicated to the railroad--felt 
somehow near to her once again.
  Years later, another young woman fell in love with the history of the 
Golden Spike and the beginning of the first transcontinental railroad. 
Bernice Gibbs Anderson, known to some as the Mother of the Golden 
Spike, was born in Colorado in 1900 and lived the majority of her life 
in Corinne, UT.
  As a little girl, Bernice helped trail cattle near Promontory Summit 
and grew up hearing cowboy stories around the campfire, including 
stories about the Golden Spike, and, as her granddaughter put it, ``She 
just plain fell in love with it.'' From the time she was 19 up until 
the moment of her death, she tirelessly dedicated her life to 
recognizing and preserving the history surrounding Golden Spike.
  Bernice conceived the idea that the area around Promontory Summit 
ought to be set aside to commemorate the completion of the 
transcontinental railroad. For years, she campaigned to make Promontory 
Summit a national historic monument.
  She visited countless legislators, Governors, commissioners, and 
railroad officers to raise support and raise funds for a monument at 
Promontory Summit.
  A mother of six children, she also worked as a correspondent and as a 
staff writer for the Salt Lake Tribune, where she wrote historic 
articles and poetry about the Golden Spike. She sent letters and 
invitations to Members of Congress, U.S. Presidents, and Park Service 
officials--all in hopes that they might come to recognize the 
importance of the site.
  As President of the Golden Spike Association, she coordinated 
reenactment ceremonies and anniversary programs, encouraging local 
communities to participate in those celebrations every year. While some 
viewed her mission as somewhat unimportant--or, at least, less 
important than other things--and, therefore, dismissed her efforts, she 
never gave up.
  Thankfully, Bernice lived to see the fruits of her labors. After 
years of devoting her life to this case, Promontory Summit was declared 
a national historic site on July 30, 1965. Just this past March, it was 
redesignated as a national historic park--the first in Utah--allowing 
even more of the railroad and the surrounding area to be preserved for 
history going forward.
  Fast forward to 2019. We now reached the 150th anniversary of the 
Golden

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Spike. Today, another dedicated woman has been behind its 
sesquicentennial celebration, Spike 150. Aimee McConkie, carrying the 
banner previously carried by Anna Judah and Bernice Gibbs Anderson, has 
been a driving force in our State and in her community. A BYU graduate, 
a wife, and mother of four daughters, Aimee has worked for 15 years in 
professional association management.
  In 2005 she founded Utah Venture Outdoors, a summer festival series 
in Millcreek, UT. For 14 years, she volunteered her time and her 
resources to this event, seeking to bring the community together 
through recreational opportunities.
  In 2017 she also launched LABELED, a 4-day film festival that seeks 
to break the stigma around mental health issues. Now she has once again 
brought her community together for an important cause--this time, to 
celebrate and commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Golden Spike.
  Under her leadership as director of Spike 150, there are events 
taking place not only around Promontory Summit but also around the 
entire State of Utah--events to highlight the history and legacy of the 
Golden Spike, events for children and families, and events for music, 
art, and train enthusiasts.
  It has taken tremendous amounts of organization, coordination, and 
perseverance, and it would no doubt make Bernice Gibbs Anderson proud. 
At the 1957 celebration of the Golden Spike, she said:

       This is sacred soil, dedicated to the sacrifices of the 
     thousands who labored in the great race to build the first 
     transcontinental railway in the shortest possible time. . . . 
     The destiny of this nation rode triumphant upon the rails 
     that met at Promontory Station! The future of this site 
     depends on you, my friends. Will it take its rightful place 
     in the heritage and traditions of America . . . or will it 
     remain desolate and forgotten to sink into oblivion[?]

  Thanks to the work of people like Aimee McConkie, we know that the 
Golden Spike will not sink into oblivion but will indeed take its 
rightful place in history.
  Anna Judah, Bernice Gibbs Anderson, and Aimee McConkie might have 
lived at different times, but there is a common thread that runs 
throughout their stories: the triumph of ordinary people, of the hidden 
heroes behind so many of our great achievements in history.
  Without the work of these ordinary Americans and Utahns, we never 
could have achieved one of the most transformative events in our Nation 
thus far: the driving of the Golden Spike and the completion of the 
first transcontinental railroad. And without the work of these hidden 
heroes, we could never reasonably hope and expect to be able to keep 
this legacy alive.
  It is our task now to take up the banner that these women have 
carried--the banner of innovation, perseverance, and unity--and to 
ensure that our remarkable heritage lives on. If we do, there is no 
telling what Utah and our great Nation can achieve together.
  Thank you, Mr. President.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Braun). The Senator from Tennessee.