[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 46 (Thursday, March 12, 2026)]
[Senate]
[Page S1017]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          LEGISLATIVE SESSION

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               HOUSING FOR THE 21ST CENTURY ACT--Resumed

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the Senate will 
resume consideration of H.R. 6644, which the clerk will report.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       A bill (H.R. 6644) to increase the supply of housing in 
     America, and for other purposes.

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Iowa.


             Remembering the U.S. Senate's ``Famous Five''

  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I would like to again remind my 
colleagues and the Nation about this significant day in the history of 
the Senate. Of course, America's 250th celebration gives us a special 
opportunity to reflect on events and on the people who made a mark on 
our Nation's history. That, of course, would include more than 2,000 
Americans who have served in the U.S. Senate since it first met on 
March 4, 1789.
  On another occasion, on this very day 67 years ago, 2 very 
distinguished Members of this body presided at a special ceremony in 
the Senate Reception Room. That Senate Reception Room is the beautiful 
space located just off the floor of this historic Chamber. So, on March 
12, 1959, then-Senator John F. Kennedy and then-Senate Majority Leader 
Lyndon B. Johnson unveiled the portraits of the five Senators who were 
unanimously chosen for their ``statesmanship'' and ``leadership in 
national thought and constitutional interpretation.'' These five 
Senators are known as the Famous Five: Henry Clay of Kentucky, Daniel 
Webster of Massachusetts, John C. Calhoun of South Carolina, Robert La 
Follette, Sr., of Wisconsin, and Robert Taft of Ohio.
  In the year 2000, which would have been 41 years after the first 
portraits were unveiled, another historic review took place. The U.S. 
Senate approved two former Senators to join the ``Famous Five.'' So, on 
September 14, 2004, the portraits of Senators Arthur Vandenberg of 
Michigan and Robert Wagner of New York were unveiled.
  I am giving you this history. All I can do is encourage Americans to 
study these Senators who made a mark on U.S. history from just before 
the Civil War through the Cold War to make America the more perfect 
Union that the Constitution's preamble calls on us to do--evolve into a 
more perfect Union--obviously, expressing, in 1789, that they knew we 
were not a perfect Union and that it were to be always an evolving 
principle for the United States of America.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.


                   Recognition of the Majority Leader

  The majority leader is recognized.

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