[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 14]
[Senate]
[Page 19446]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                      TRIBUTE TO THE EMTER FAMILY

 Mr. DORGAN. Mr. President, I rise today to take note of the 
superb performances given yesterday by the Emter family of Glen Ullin, 
North Dakota, on the Capitol lawn and later at the Kennedy Center. The 
Emters were here in Washington as part of the Millennium Series being 
sponsored by the Kennedy Center. When the Kennedy Center asked me to 
make a recommendation of a group from North Dakota that might exhibit 
some of the cultural heritage of my state, the Emter family was a 
natural and immediate choice.
  One obvious reason was their outstanding musical accomplishment. The 
Emters are button accordionists. Mr. President, the button accordion is 
a unique instrument, brought to America by settlers from Austria at the 
turn of the 20th century. Button accordions have been in this country 
for nearly 100 years, and have helped make polka one of America's most 
loved traditional dances. In North Dakota even today you'd be hard 
pressed to find a wedding reception or barn dance where a polka wasn't 
played and the entire room doesn't pour onto the dance floor. Accordion 
music may not have the popular following that it did before the advent 
of rock and roll, but its lyrical and nostalgic flavor still tugs at 
the heartstrings of this Senator and many other folks of my generation 
who grew up watching our parents polka the night away across the 
American Legion Hall dance floor, at Ted Strand's barn or at Hardmeyer 
Hall.
  The Emter Family--parents Renae and Roger (who met at a polka dance), 
18 year old son Adam, and three daughters Angelina, 16; Alida, 15; and 
Abigail, 13--has performed all over North America, from county fairs, 
church functions and Oktoberfests to national television and radio 
appearances. They have taken top honors at a number of international 
button accordion competitions. They are truly accomplished.
  I have to tell you though, Mr. President, that it isn't just for 
their musical achievement that the Emter Family deserves our 
recognition and honor today. That's because this is a great family. 
Their presence on stage tells you this, the way they interact with one 
another and everyone around them tells you this, the message in their 
music tell you this. They are good people that exemplify the steadfast, 
positive attitude of the vast majority of rural America's families. 
They live in Glen Ullin, in southwestern North Dakota, a part of the 
state that has seen one of the most significant decrease in population. 
Times are desperate for many families in this region of my state, along 
with rural areas in most of our farm states. These people have every 
reason in the world to lose faith, to have negative attitudes, to let 
frustration get the best of them and give up. None of us could fault 
them for that. But, Mr. President, most of these families don't 
despair. They look forward, they continue to work incredibly hard, they 
still pack the American Legion Hall to dance the polka once and awhile. 
The Emters are a symbol of hope in these areas of our country, Mr. 
President, and I want to thank them for sharing that hope with us 
yesterday through their music and their presence in Washington.

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