[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 14]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 20255]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



          HONORING THE LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS OF ANTONIO MEUCCI

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. VITO FOSSELLA

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, October 17, 2001

  Mr. FOSSELLA. Mr. Speaker, Italian-Americans have contributed greatly 
to the United States; Columbus discovered America, two Italians signed 
the Declaration of Independence, Enrico Fermi split the atom and 
Captain Don Gentile, the fighting ace, was described by General Dwight 
Eisenhower as a ``one man air force,'' to name just a few. I wanted to 
spend a few minutes today to honor an Italian-American who is often 
overlooked--Antonio Meucci.
  The 19th century was a time of great technological innovation, as its 
birth heralded the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. However, 
unlike the century just ended and the new one we are beginning to 
explore, the rough and tumble of our young nation had yet to develop 
information exchange to the extent we enjoy today.
  The Founding Fathers made America guarantor of unprecedented--and to 
this day unmatched--liberty. This liberty included an again 
unprecedented appreciation for intellectual property rights.
  Today, with our study of historical records and ability to examine 
many disparate sources of information, we now know it is likely that 
the invention of what we know today as the telephone took place in the 
middle of the 19th century rather than at its end.
  Its creator was Antonio Meucci. He worked for years to develop this 
new system of electronic communication. However, poor and sick, he was 
unable to keep the patents in force and died before the courts could 
decide with finality whether he or Alexander Graham Bell was the true 
inventor of the telephone.
  It is known that Meucci demonstrated his device in 1860, that a 
description appeared in New York's Italian language newspaper and that 
Western Union received working models from Meucci but reportedly lost 
them. It is also known that Meucci, due to his limited means, settled 
for a caveat, a one-year renewable notice of an impending patent, first 
filed in 1871 but which he was unable to pursue after 1874, while 
Alexander Graham Bell was not granted a patent until 1876. Finally, it 
is known that the Supreme Court of the United States agreed to remand 
the issue for trial, but Meucci died a short time later, rendering the 
case moot.
  With these facts before the House today, I ask for passage of this 
Resolution to honor the life and achievements of Antonio Meucci.

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