[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 7]
[House]
[Pages 9003-9006]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



 CONGRATULATING DETROIT AND ITS RESIDENTS ON THE TRICENTENNIAL OF THE 
                            CITY'S FOUNDING

  Mr. LaTOURETTE. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the 
Committee on Government Reform be discharged from further consideration 
of the concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 80) congratulating the city 
of Detroit and its residents on the occasion of the tricentennial of 
the city's founding, and ask for its immediate consideration in the 
House.
  The Clerk read the title of the concurrent resolution.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Simpson). Is there objection to the 
request of the gentleman from Ohio?
  Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, reserving the right to object, I 
yield to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. LaTourette) to explain the bill.
  Mr. LaTOURETTE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding to 
me.
  Mr. Speaker, this resolution congratulates the city of Detroit and 
its residents on the city's tricentennial. It is fitting that the 
Congress chooses to honor Detroit's three centuries, rich in culture, 
ethnic diversity, natural resources, commerce, and industry.
  Detroit, which began in 1701 as a French community known for its fur 
trade, is now the tenth most populous city in the United States. 
Throughout its history, Detroit has served as a strategic staging area 
during the French and Indian War, an important stop for the Underground 
Railroad, and as the city that made automobiles affordable for people 
of all walks of life.
  Detroit also has a rich sports tradition and unique cultural 
attractions. Several centers of cultural excellence are located in 
Detroit, including the Lewis College of Business, the only institution 
in Michigan designated as an historically black college.
  Throughout its history, Detroit has provided America with many great 
artists, including Berry Gordy, who created the musical genre known as 
the Motown Sound.
  Mr. Speaker, on behalf of Congress, I would like to congratulate the 
city of Detroit and its residents for their important contributions to 
the economic, social, and cultural developments of the United States. 
This year Detroit is 300 years old.
  Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, continuing to reserve the right 
to object, I would say that the gentlewoman from Michigan (Ms. 
Kilpatrick) introduced this resolution to congratulate Detroit and its 
residents on the 300th anniversary of the city's founding.
  The city of Detroit, founded in 1701, incorporated as a city in 1815, 
has many great attributes, but none greater than the people who 
contribute to the cultural and economic diversity of the city.
  During the 19th century, it took brave and courageous people to make 
Detroit a vocal center of antislavery advocacy, and for more than 
40,000 individuals seeking freedom in Canada, it was an important stop 
on the Underground Railroad.
  Detroit is known as the automotive capital of the Nation, and an 
international leader in automobile manufacturing and trade because of 
the workers and laborers who worked on the assembly line, and continue 
to do so.
  It is fitting that the Detroit Historical Museum, in recognition of 
Detroit's 300th anniversary, honor 30 Detroiters who dared to make a 
difference. The exhibit features the biographies of Detroiters who have 
made a difference in various ways over three centuries. It is not meant 
to choose or display the most important people. Rather, the names 
selected illustrate the diversity of Detroit's history by telling 
lesser-known stories.
  I certainly want to congratulate the city of Detroit.
  Mr. Speaker, I withdraw my reservation of objection.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Ohio?
  Ms. KILPATRICK. Mr. Speaker, reserving the right to object, I thank 
the chairman, the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. LaTourette), and the 
gentleman from California (Mr. Waxman) of the full committee for 
allowing us to have the full debate this afternoon, and to bring House 
Concurrent Resolution 80 forward.
  The city of Detroit was established in 1701. We will be celebrating 
our 300th anniversary with ceremonies in July, at which time we will 
have people coming forth to our city, and over 1 million

[[Page 9004]]

residents there, honoring our great heritage.
  I am very thankful to the committee, its chairmanship, the ranking 
members, as well as my colleagues, the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. 
Davis) and our senior member, the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. LaTourette), 
for allowing us to have this debate today.
  As has been mentioned, from Motown Sound to the motor cars, Detroit 
has been in the forefront of development for our country. We have been 
there for this country, and we appreciate all that the citizens of the 
city of Detroit have done in their own right and for the Nation as a 
whole.
  I appreciate the cooperative record of the Michigan delegation. Each 
member of our Michigan delegation has signed onto this resolution. We 
appreciate them in a bipartisan way for acknowledging the city of 
Detroit.
  Again, on July 24, we will make this special presentation to the city 
founders and the city followers, as well as the city residents. I 
appreciate this Congress allowing us to pass today House Concurrent 
Resolution 80.
  Mr. Speaker, continuing to reserve the right to object, I yield to 
the gentleman from Detroit, Michigan (Mr. Conyers), our senior 
colleague.
  Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague, the gentlewoman from 
Detroit (Ms. Kilpatrick), for bringing this special resolution to the 
attention of the House of Representatives.
  Mr. Speaker, I would like to just talk about the great events that 
occurred as I was watching the civil rights movement develop; that is, 
with the coming of Dr. Martin Luther King, Detroit became a base for 
civil rights activity, and frequently there were fundraisers and church 
events that were attended by Dr. King, Reverend Andrew Young, Reverend 
Ralph Abernathy, and many others.
  Detroit became, along with New York and Los Angeles, a great center 
for support for Dr. King, which led to his civil rights march in 
Detroit down our main street, Woodward Avenue, in 1963, which had been 
the largest freedom march that had been held up until the March on 
Washington.
  There, we were treated in Detroit to hearing Dr. Martin Luther King's 
``I have a dream'' speech, which was in its formative stages there, but 
one cannot fail to pick that up. I was pleased to have been there.
  My interest in the civil rights movement, as one who went South, was 
emphasized by the coming on later of a young lady from Montgomery, 
Alabama, named Rosa Parks, who came forward and chose, for reasons I 
cannot explain, Detroit as her home after she led the bus march, the 
bus protests, in Alabama which had called Dr. King to its leadership 
and thrust him into prominence in the civil rights movement.

                              {time}  1730

  Mr. Speaker, the civil rights activity was very, very important.
  The other thing that seems to me to be important is not only the 
development of the automobile industry in Detroit, where all the then 
three largest manufacturers had their headquarters, but was the 
development of the collective bargaining movement in which the United 
Automobile Workers organized members.
  It was after Flint General Motors was organized they immediately came 
to Detroit, where the Chrysler plant on Jefferson Avenue was organized. 
My father was then a strong supporter of the labor movement and worked 
in that plant, and there was great excitement and a great amount of 
tension, and there was a great struggle.
  Finally, after GM was organized in Flint, Chrysler was organized in 
Detroit, and then they went out to the workers in the plants, continued 
to go to Ford, Ford Motor Company in Dearborn, Michigan, where they had 
the great battle of the overpass in which it was a very bloody 
confrontation.
  There is still pictures of Walter Ruther and others, R.J. Thomas 
perhaps and Addis and Frankenstein to earlier people that worked with 
Walter Ruther, walking towards all these people. The company had a 
practice of hiring people who were known for their proclivities towards 
violence.
  There was violence. There were injuries. Police were called in, but 
it was finally organized, and the UAW went on to become one of the 
largest unions in the AFL-CIO. So there was this tremendous excitement 
that has always characterized Detroit. We unfortunately had race riots 
in 1943 and 1967.
  I remember then-President Lyndon Johnson called me at my home to tell 
me who he was sending in as a special emissary. We worked with them in 
terms of bringing order back into Detroit.
  Mr. Speaker, at the same time that was coming up was the election of 
people of color, and one person in particular that has to be mentioned 
in this tricentennial observation who was the first African American 
mayor, Mayor Coleman Alexander Young, who was himself a labor 
organizer, he came back and became a constitutional convention member 
in Michigan in 1958.
  Then he went on to become a State senator himself, and then helping 
me in my attempts to come to the Congress. Shortly thereafter, ran for 
mayor of the City of Detroit himself, where he was the Mayor for 
probably more than 15 years, many terms in which we saw the blooming of 
many people who went on to other prominent positions who worked for the 
city, including Conrad Mallett who became not only a justice of the 
supreme court of Michigan but the chief justice of the supreme court.
  Then we had earlier, at an earlier period another attorney that 
worked with Mayor Young who was a lawyer working with him, he became a 
member of the supreme court; that was Dennis Archer, who then later 
became the mayor who ultimately replaced Mayor Young. He is currently 
the Mayor of the City of Detroit.
  I close with a comment and observation in remembrance about our 
cultural contributions, because there were two cultural forces 
operating, one was the traditional rhythm and blues sound that was 
developed by Barry Gordy and his sister Esther Gordy. As a matter of 
fact, the whole Gordy family, some of whom are still members of the 
district of the gentlewoman from Michigan (Ms. Kilpatrick), they 
created the unique Motown sound of Stevie Wonder, the Supremes, the 
Temptations, the Everythings.
  The music became a national trend, Philadelphia picked it up, and 
developed it in another direction.
  The other current that was going on was the contribution of 
progressive jazz called be-bop, which Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, 
and it just so happened that there was one drummer there named J. C. 
Heard, who with Norman Grand started jazz at the Philharmonic, and 
artists poured in, Dizzy Gillespie, all the great artists came through 
Detroit. It became a jazz mecca and then produced its own generation, 
the next generation of jazz artists, Milt Jackson, Donald Byrd, Yusef 
Lateef, Barry Harris. It goes on and on.
  It became a great center and still is where now we have artists like 
Donald Walden, a great tenor saxophone player who is a resident 
professor in jazz at the University of Michigan. Jon Hendricks of the 
Lampert, Hendricks and Ross trio is a professor of jazz at the 
University of Toledo.
  Wayne State University has an accredited jazz center. Of course, that 
piqued my interests, because it was jazz musicians that urged me to go 
to law school, because I tried to play.
  So we have all had wonderful continuing relationships with the 
musical artists of both genres from one end of the country to the 
other.
  It is out of this struggle in civil rights, the struggle in 
collective bargaining, the development of our culture that we have 
enjoyed such wonderful experiences from a great and diverse population 
that makes this remembrance and recollection that other Members will 
contribute to one of great personal privileges for me to participate.
  Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Michigan (Ms. Kilpatrick) 
for bringing this to our congressional and national attention.
  Mr. Speaker, Detroit was founded in 1701 by French settlers, and 
named their new home Fort Panchutrain de De Troit, meaning ``at the 
straits.'' This frontier outpost in the wilderness

[[Page 9005]]

was and remained ``the frontier'' for the next hundred years. The site 
was a natural selection, located along the banks of what is now the 
Detroit River, a narrow strait separating what is now the United States 
and Canada, and connecting Lakes Erie, St. Clair, and Lake Huron. The 
river provided a source of food and an easy means of transporting 
goods, an activity that remains a vital piece of the Mid-West's 
economic health.
  As a frontier settlement, Detroit passed from the control of the 
French to the British and finally to American hands in 1760. Detroit 
was incorporated as a city in 1802, and named capital of Michigan 
Territory in 1805. In the summer of 1805 Detroit burned to the ground, 
but the site was not abandoned. The British recaptured Detroit in the 
War of 1812, but was recovered by Gen. William Henry Harrison in 1813.
  As the United States expanded westward, Detroit began its change from 
frontier outpost to regional center. The completion of the Erie Canal 
transformed the Great Lakes into the largest inland waterway, one of 
the single greatest influences on Detroit and Michigan's development.
  The Detroit River and the proximity to Canada made Detroit a major 
stop on the Underground Railroad to freedom for many escaped slaves. 
Many recently freed slaves migrated north to Detroit in search of 
better living conditions and job opportunity.
  An early carriage industry created the economic opportunity that soon 
became synonymous with Detroit. In 1897, Ransom Old opened the first 
automobile factory, followed closely by Henry Ford. Ford's introduction 
of the Model T, and the production techniques of mass production, 
created the perfect blend of affordable transportation and economic 
opportunity, that has, continued to supply Michigan's and the nation's 
economy for much of the last century. In 1913 Henry Ford created the $5 
day. This policy doubled the average daily wage while cutting working 
hours down to an eight hour day.
  Between 1910 and 1930 Detroit's population ballooned to 4th-largest 
in the United States. The rising population and stark economic reality 
of the Great Depression contributed to the atmosphere in the city that 
culminated in 1936 and 1937 ``Sit Down'' strikes and the growth of the 
labor movement. The United Auto Workers now represent over 700,000 auto 
workers and have improved the lives and working conditions of millions 
of Americans.
  World War II brought renewed prosperity to Detroit, ``the arsenal of 
democracy'', as Detroit's factories produced tanks, jeeps, bombers, and 
liberty ships. The round-the-clock production also helped to speed 
women's transition into the work force. The increasing numbers of women 
in both offices and labor positions helped to spawn a new sense of 
equality throughout the United States.
  Detroiter's have long called for greater equality, both among the 
sexes, but also among the races. In 1963, the largest civil right's 
event to that time took place on June 23, the Great March to Freedom, 
where 125,000 people marched down Woodward Avenue singing ``We Shall 
Overcome''. We marched to Cabo Hall where the Reverend Martin Luther 
King introduced his ``I Have a Dream'' speech.
  Detroit elected Coleman Young its first African-American mayor in 
1973. Coleman Young served for twenty years fully integrating the city 
police and fire departments, as well as other city departments and 
agencies, opening doors for both African-Americans and women.
  Detroit is a frontier outpost turned industrial city, but the people 
of Detroit have created a cultural center equal of any in the world. 
Detroit's orchestra is world class. We have more theater seats than 
every other American city except for New York. We have the Detroit 
Institute for Arts, the Charles H. Wright Museum of African-American 
History, and the Detroit Science Center. We have major universities and 
research centers.
  Detroit has also spawned its own music style, forever leaving its 
mark on pop culture and on Detroit. Berry, Gwen, and Esther Gordy 
founded Motown Records in 1957, creating the Motown sound and giving 
Detroit a new name. Artists such as Temptations, the Supremes, Stevie 
Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Smoky Robinson and the Miracles, Gladys Knight and 
the Pips, The Four Tops, The Commodores, Rick James, Martha Reeves and 
the Vandellas, and the Jackson Five emerged from Motown's music scene.
  Detroit's influence was not limited to pop music however. Jazz 
musicians such as Milt Jackson, Donald Byrd, Tommy Flanagan, Hank, 
Alvin and Thad Jones, Yusef Lateef, Kenny Burrell, and Berry Harris 
began their illustrious careers in Detroit's jazz clubs such as the 
Flame Show Bar and the Greystone Ballroom.
  And Detroit has most recently helped spawn the distinctive techno 
sound. Techno and electronica's popularity has spread worldwide, with 
electronic music festivals being held annually in Berlin, London, and 
Detroit.
  Detroit has three hundred years of culture and history to look back 
on and be proud of. But Detroit's greatest asset, the one that will 
guarantee Detroit's success, is the people of Detroit. The people of 
Detroit have struggled with nature, with race and class, with economic 
hardship, and the people of Detroit will continue to struggle, to bring 
the best and brightest possible future to Detroit over the next three 
hundred years.
  Ms. KILPATRICK. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. 
Conyers) for that very eloquent historical trail for the city of 
Detroit as we celebrate our 300th anniversary.
  Mr. Speaker, further reserving the right to object, I yield to our 
final speaker, the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Bonior), who is to the 
east of the city of Detroit, a leader and soon to be another leader in 
the State of Michigan.
  Mr. BONIOR. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Michigan (Ms. 
Kilpatrick) for yielding to me and for her comments this evening and 
for her leadership.
  The gentlewoman from Detroit has talked, as well as the gentleman 
from Michigan (Mr. Conyers) have talked about the great history of the 
city. I join with them today in congratulations for 300 wonderful 
productive enlightening years.
  Mr. Speaker, 300 years ago a fellow by the name of Cadillac left from 
up in what we call the upper straits, which was at that time kind of 
the heart of not only the economic but the populated cultural part of 
the upper Midwest. It was around the Macanaw Island, Macanaw Straits 
area, and he came down by water craft to found Detroit.
  He came through what is called the Straits, the Detroit River, de 
Troit, and set in motion something that we celebrate after 300 years.
  As we have heard, it is the oldest major city in the Midwest. It is 
the tenth most populated city in our Nation. I have had the honor of 
being born and raised in and out of the city. I have watched its great 
ethnic diversity grow and prosper through these many years on the East 
side. We have the Belgium population and the Polish population and the 
Ukrainian population and, of course, the great African American 
population that the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Conyers) has 
illuminated and has given us such a rich cultural history in the area 
of music and science and education.
  Then on the West side of the city, again, an African American 
community, the Latino community, the Jewish community. It is that kind 
of strength and that diversity of the city that makes it a special 
place in our history. It is that kind of diversity that makes our 
country a special place.
  Mr. Speaker, the history of our great community, as the gentlewoman 
from Michigan (Ms. Kilpatrick) has mentioned, was the center of the 
underground railroad where literally thousands and thousands of slaves 
would migrate north and would cross in Detroit over to Canada, or when 
the slave owners would come and try to block the crossing in Detroit, 
they had to migrate up to where my district is now, spend some time, 
and then cross north about 30 miles across the St. Clair River into 
Canada.
  Detroit is the automotive vehicle capital of the world. The home, as 
we have heard, of the great automobile companies which has changed our 
planet and our way of life in a most dramatic way. But as we have also 
heard this evening, it is the home of one of the great and I, perhaps, 
think the greatest labor movement and labor unions to enter the 
movement, the United Automobile Workers of America.
  They changed not only the conditions in which workers labored in this 
country, but they created for Detroit and for Michigan and for the 
country a pattern that enabled the middle class to thrive and to grow 
and to set in motion the standards by which all workers are now 
measured, at least in our State and in a great many other places around 
the globe.
  It is a cultural center, as the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Conyers)

[[Page 9006]]

and the gentlewoman from Michigan (Ms. Kilpatrick) have talked to us 
tonight. Not only do we have the Detroit Institute of Art, one of the 
greatest institutes of art in the world today, but we also have the 
Charles H. Wright Museum of African American history.
  We have great universities, like Wayne State University and the 
University of Detroit and, of course, the Lewis College of Business 
that was mentioned by my friend from, I believe it was Ohio.
  Detroit has played a central role in the economic and social and 
cultural development of not only Michigan, but the entire Nation, and 
we have had great political leadership. And what we have not heard 
tonight, and I will say it is people like the gentlewoman from Michigan 
(Ms. Kilpatrick) and the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Conyers) that 
have enriched our city, because of their leadership, not only in 
serving in this Congress, but the many years that they have contributed 
to public service.
  We have great Members of Congress that have come out of our city, but 
the two that I have just mentioned at the top are people like George 
Crockett. For those of my colleagues who did not serve with George 
Crockett, he was an immensely impressive man of great integrity and 
great stature and great demeanor. One of the most just and fair people 
that you would ever want to serve with.
  Of course, I believe the district of the gentlewoman from Michigan 
(Ms. Kilpatrick) is the district that he had, and the gentlewoman not 
only fills those shoes of one of the great leaders that I have ever 
served with in my great public life, but she leads beyond that in her 
own special way and in the directions that make not only our State but 
our city a very special place.

                              {time}  1745

  Detroit is on its way back in many, many respects. It has had 
difficulties, the rebellion of 1943 and 1967, as the gentleman from 
Michigan (Mr. Conyers) has indicated. But there is a new spirit there. 
There is a spirit of can-do, that we cannot only create the liveliness 
of the central city, but we can redo our neighborhoods in the special 
ways that will enable us to have decent transportation and education 
and all the infrastructure that makes our communities worth living in.
  So I want to join with the gentlewoman from Detroit, Michigan (Ms. 
Kilpatrick), today in congratulating the city on 300 wonderful years 
and wish the celebration that will occur in July to be as successful as 
these 300 years.
  To the mayor, Dennis Archer, and the city council and all the elected 
officials, we congratulate them, we thank them, and we look forward to 
making Detroit continue to be the great place that it is.
  Ms. KILPATRICK. Mr. Speaker, further reserving my right to object, 
just briefly in closing, I want to thank the gentleman from Michigan 
(Mr. Bonior), our leader, for his excellent remarks as well.
  Since July 1701, when Cadillac founded the city, right through the 
Underground Railroad, the Civil Rights movement, the auto industry 
which has brought to this country another whole era, right through Rosa 
Parks, as was mentioned, who now lives in the city of Detroit, from the 
United Auto Workers to the brotherhood of the Teamsters, to the mayor, 
Mayor Archer, who has given his notice that he will not seek 
reelection, we wish him the best, to our city council, Wayne State 
University, one of the premier universities in our region, as well as 
the 30 miles of international waterway that separates Detroit from the 
country of Canada, we say thank you to the House of Representatives for 
acting quickly on H. Con. Res. 80.
  Mr. Speaker, I withdraw my reservation of objection.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Simpson). Is there objection to the 
request of the gentleman from Ohio?
  There was no objection.
  The Clerk read the concurrent resolution, as follows:

                            H. Con. Res. 80

       Whereas Detroit is the 10th most populous city in the 
     United States and the most populous city in Michigan;
       Whereas Detroit is the oldest major city in the Midwest, 
     and 2001 is the 300th anniversary of Detroit's founding;
       Whereas Detroit began as a French community on the Detroit 
     River when Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac founded a strategic 
     garrison and fur trading post on the site in 1701;
       Whereas Detroit was named Fort Pontchartrain de' Etroit 
     (meaning ``strait'') at the time of its founding and became 
     known as Detroit because of its position along the Detroit 
     River;
       Whereas the Detroit region served as a strategic staging 
     area during the French and Indian War, became a British 
     possession in 1760, and was transferred to the British by the 
     peace treaty of 1763;
       Whereas the Ottawa Native American Chieftain Pontiac 
     attempted a historic but unsuccessful campaign to wrest 
     control of the garrison at Detroit from British hands in 
     1763;
       Whereas in the nineteenth century, Detroit was a vocal 
     center of antislavery advocacy and, for more than 40,000 
     individuals seeking freedom in Canada, an important stop on 
     the Underground Railroad;
       Whereas Detroit entrepreneurs, including Henry Ford, 
     perfected the process of mass production and made automobiles 
     affordable for people from all walks of life;
       Whereas Detroit is the automotive capital of the Nation and 
     an international leader in automobile manufacturing and 
     trade;
       Whereas the contributions of Detroit residents to civilian 
     and military production have astounded the Nation, 
     contributed to United States victory in World War II, and 
     resulted in Detroit being called the Arsenal of Democracy;
       Whereas residents of Detroit played a central role in the 
     development of the organized labor movement and contributed 
     to protections for workers' rights;
       Whereas Detroit is home to the United Auto Workers Union 
     and many other building and service trades and industrial 
     unions;
       Whereas Detroit has a rich sports tradition and has 
     produced many sports legends, including Ty Cobb, Al Kaline, 
     Willie Horton, Hank Greenberg, Mickey Cochrane, and Sparky 
     Anderson of the Detroit Tigers; Dick ``Night Train'' Lane, 
     Joe Schmidt, Billy Sims, Dutch Clark, and Barry Sanders of 
     the Detroit Lions; Dave Bing, Bob Lanier, Isaiah Thomas, and 
     Joe Dumars of the Detroit Pistons; Gordie Howe, Terry 
     Sawchuk, Ted Lindsay, and Steve Yzerman of the Detroit Red 
     Wings; boxing greats Joe Louis, Sugar Ray Robinson, and 
     Thomas Hearns; and Olympic speed skater Jeanne Omelenchuk;
       Whereas Detroit's cultural attractions include the Detroit 
     Institute of Arts, the Charles H. Wright Museum of African-
     American History (the largest museum devoted exclusively to 
     African-American art and culture), the Detroit Historical 
     Museum, the Detroit Symphony, the Michigan Opera Theater, the 
     Detroit Science Center, and the Dossin Great Lakes Museum;
       Whereas several centers of educational excellence are 
     located in Detroit, including Wayne State University, the 
     University of Detroit Mercy, Marygrove College, Sacred Heart 
     Seminary College, the Center for Creative Studies--College of 
     Art and Design, and the Lewis College of Business (the only 
     institution in Michigan designated as a ``Historically Black 
     College'');
       Whereas residents of Detroit played an integral role in 
     developing the distinctly American sounds of jazz, rhythm and 
     blues, rock 'n roll, and techno; and
       Whereas Detroit was the home of Berry Gordy, who created 
     the musical genre that has been called the Motown Sound, and 
     many great musical artists, including Aretha Franklin, Anita 
     Baker, and the Winans family: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 
     concurring),

     SECTION 1. CONGRATULATING DETROIT AND ITS RESIDENTS.

       The Congress, on the occasion of the tricentennial of the 
     founding of the city of Detroit, congratulates Detroit and 
     its residents for their important contributions to the 
     economic, social, and cultural development of the United 
     States.

     SEC. 2. TRANSMITTAL.

       The Clerk of the House of Representatives shall transmit 
     copies of this resolution to the Mayor of Detroit and the 
     City Council of Detroit.

  The concurrent resolution was agreed to.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

                          ____________________