[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 120 (Wednesday, July 24, 2024)]
[House]
[Page H4863]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        VISIT THE NATURAL STATE

  (Mr. WESTERMAN asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Speaker, the House recently, by unanimous voice 
vote, passed the EXPLORE Act to enhance outdoor recreation 
opportunities for all Americans.
  Arkansas is home to a wide variety of beautiful State parks. Many of 
these parks are in the Fourth District, but today I rise to highlight a 
unique park that is truly and literally a gem.
  Murfreesboro, Arkansas, is home to the only public diamond mine in 
the world where visitors are allowed to keep their findings. The Crater 
of Diamonds is a 37\1/2\-acre field that became an Arkansas State park 
in 1972. With over 75,000 diamond findings since the first discovery in 
1906, significant diamonds that have been discovered here are the 
Amarillo Starlight, Esperanza, and the most notable, Uncle Sam. Uncle 
Sam is the largest diamond ever unearthed in the United States and is 
now one of two diamonds on display at the Smithsonian Institution's 
National Museum of Natural History in the Great American Diamonds 
exhibit.
  I encourage the Senate to pass the bipartisan EXPLORE Act and for 
everyone to visit the Natural State. While you are there experiencing 
the great outdoors, be sure to schedule a visit to the Crater of 
Diamonds to discover your own piece of American history.

                          ____________________