[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 77 (Thursday, May 9, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2767-S2768]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 150TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE GOLDEN SPIKE

  Mr. ROMNEY. Mr. President, the Transcontinental Railroad is a 
testament to the enduring American spirit of industry and national 
unity.

[[Page S2768]]

  On the precipice of the American Civil War, Utah's delegate to the 
U.S. House of Representatives, William Henry Hooper, recognized that 
``A great band of Union throughout the family of man is a common 
interest.'' Hooper petitioned Congress in his belief that ``a Central 
Road would unite that interest as with a chain of iron, and would 
effectually hold together our Federal union with an imperishable 
identity of mutual interest.''
  William Henry Hooper's letter to Congress would take several months 
to reach Washington, DC, as any westward travel beyond the Mississippi 
River required wagon, stagecoach, or horseback.
  The U.S. Congress would, however, approve such an undertaking, and 
soon, a National Central Railroad began to manifest from the worn hands 
of laborers to execute a vision of national unity, a feat that would 
propel American power and change the course of our history.
  These hands belonged to men of differing national origins and creeds, 
who labored together under one banner, often fleeing significant 
hardship in pursuit of economic opportunity in the American West. 
Roughly 15,000 Chinese immigrants, 10,000 Irish immigrants, and 4,000 
Latter-day Saints joined the national effort to complete the most 
remarkable and ambitious engineering project of the 19th century.
  On May 10, 1869, the Union Pacific and Central Pacific railroads 
formally met at Promontory Summit, UT, and the 17.6-carat golden spike 
officially linked the East and West Coasts, marking a watershed moment 
for American trade, commerce, and population.
  A 6-month journey across the continent was reduced to 1 week. Within 
a decade of the railroad's completion, Salt Lake City's population more 
than doubled, further boosting Utah's significance in the national 
economy.
  Brigham Young recognized the enormous opportunities that global trade 
would bring to Utah and the country and the abundant and yet untapped 
resources of iron, coal, stone, and timber.
  In pursuit of a national railroad project, Brigham Young recognized 
that ``mineral resources of California, and these mountains, will never 
be fully developed to the benefit of the people of the United States, 
without the construction of such a road, and upon its completion, the 
entire trade of China and the East Indies will pass through the heart 
of the Union; thereby giving our Citizens the almost entire controls of 
the Asiatic and Pacific trade.''
  Indeed, the Transcontinental Railroad would transform the American 
economy in profound ways. This achievement revolutionized 
communications, global trade routes, and allowed for the movement of 
people across the country at an unprecedented scale.
  On the sesquicentennial of the completion of the Transcontinental 
Railroad at Promontory Summit, let us remember the sacrifice of those 
laborers who would not live to see to its conclusion, but whose 
contributions helped transform the Nation and the world.
  The 150th anniversary of the Golden Spike is also a celebration of 
the limitless American imagination, spirit of ingenuity, and industry 
that made this incredible project a success.
  Let us not forget the example these pioneers set for us as we go 
forward in a new era of challenges and opportunities.

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