[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 178 (Friday, October 8, 2021)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1074]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 RECOGNIZING THE INTERNET ARCHIVE FOR CELEBRATING ITS 25TH ANNIVERSARY

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                           HON. ANNA G. ESHOO

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, October 8, 2021

  Ms. ESHOO. Madam Speaker. I rise to honor the Internet Archive on the 
25th anniversary of its founding in 1996. The organization has 
developed an extraordinary and highly accessible digital library and 
has become an indispensable asset to society.
  While physical records of books, newspapers, videos, and audio have 
long been conserved by libraries and archives, no such record keeping 
existed for the internet in its infancy. Aware of the importance of 
saving digital documents, the Internet Archive was founded with the 
mission to conserve digital cultural artifacts for the public and for 
generations to come. That mission is vital in an age where the internet 
plays such a central role in all of our lives.
  To date, the Archive has stored an astonishing 588 billion web pages, 
28 million digitized books and texts, 14 million audio recordings, 6 
million videos, 3.5 million images, and 580,000 software programs. 
Millions of people around the world contribute to the Archive and 
countless more benefit from having access to it. The world-class team 
of employees and volunteers that administer the Internet Archive are a 
major reason why the project has been such a success, and I'm proud 
that many of my constituents contribute to the Archive.
  The Internet Archive's success is also due to the fact that it is 
managed as a values-driven nonprofit organization. The Archive is a 
large part of how we will tell the story of our time and it's a 
privilege to congratulate the Internet Archive on celebrating 25 years 
of cataloging the world.
  Madam Speaker, I ask the entire House of Representatives to join me 
in congratulating all of the employees, volunteers, and users of the 
Internet Archive for celebrating its 25th anniversary.

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