[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 148 (2002), Part 14]
[House]
[Page 18941]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                 CELEBRATING THE MINNESOTA TWINS AND 3M

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Gutknecht) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. GUTKNECHT. Mr. Speaker, today we would like to talk about a 
couple of issues that are very important to those of us from Minnesota. 
One is, of course, what is happening out in Oakland right now and a 
tremendous story, and I would like to yield to my friend also from the 
State of Minnesota (Mr. Kennedy) to talk a little bit about what is 
happening in Oakland and what happened this year to a Minnesota team 
that was not supposed to be playing baseball this year. I would yield 
to my friend from Minnesota.
  Mr. KENNEDY of Minnesota. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the gentleman 
yielding to me.
  We have some great baseball going on in Minnesota. I attract the 
attention of this House that it has only been about a year since Major 
League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig announced their decision to 
contract baseball, which would have been painless for the owners, but 
would have been very painful for Minnesota, and here we have in that 
year since a team that has come forth. Not only is this a team that was 
on the verge of extinction, but this is a team that has a lot of young, 
fresh-faced players and a cumulative salary that is amongst the lowest 
in the league.
  We have got a great team that is out there scrapping, making all 
Minnesotans proud. I know my two sons, daughters and our family have 
always enjoyed the great baseball tradition. I have got my Minnesota 
Twins hat here. I do not know if I am allowed to sing We Are Going to 
Win, Twins Are Here, but we in Minnesota are very proud of what the 
Twins have been doing, and we just want to congratulate them on their 
success and tell them that we are confident that they are going to have 
a great way all the way to the World Series and beyond.
  Mr. GUTKNECHT. Mr. Speaker, reclaiming my time, it is a Cinderella 
story, and 1 year ago it looked as if that team would not even exist 
this year, and now here they are in the playoffs. And yesterday was 
another great story; fell behind early, came back to win in Oakland.
  Today my staff is gathered around. They rigged up a way that we can 
actually listen to the game in the office, and we have a feeling they 
are going to come back today.
  We are also proud and we are here today to talk about something that 
we in Minnesota are proud of, and that is a Minnesota company called 
Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing, 3M better known, because they are 
celebrating 100 years of innovation, and it really is one of the most 
innovative companies.
  Several years ago we had one of their researchers come down to 
Rochester, Minnesota. He gave a speech, and he said something pretty 
profound. He said that he is talking about basic research, and he said 
if we knew what we were doing, it would not be research. And there is 
no other company that I know of that has done so much in terms of 
developing new products, because many people think of 3M, and they 
think of Scotch tape or they think of Post-It notes, but truthfully, it 
started 100 years ago making sandpaper, and now they are a $1 billion 
pharmaceutical company.
  They are involved in all kinds of things from health care to 
industrial products, consumer and office products, electrocommunication 
products and specialty material. They operate in more than 60 
countries. They have 37 international companies within the operation. 
They have 32 laboratories, and I think last year they were awarded 501 
patents. It is an amazing story of innovation, and let me just share 
one quote, and then I want to yield back to my colleague.
  One of their first presidents was a gentleman by the name of William 
McKnight, and he is the one who ignited the whole notion of innovation 
and research, but he said, ``This higher good, people, leave them 
alone. If you put fences around people, you get sheep. Give people the 
room that they need.'' And he did and built an amazing company and also 
created an amazing foundation which serves the people of the Upper 
Midwest and the world even today.
  I yield back to my colleague from Minnesota.
  Mr. KENNEDY of Minnesota. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for the 
time, and 3M is certainly one of the jewels of Minnesota, a wonderful 
company that, as my colleague described, very capably innovates beyond 
the scale of just about any other company in the world, and they bring 
out new products all the time that are solving problems that people 
face.
  I had an opportunity just on the energy issues to sit and listen to 
some of their ideas for how we can be more energy-efficient, whether it 
be transmitting energy across electric lines, whether it be making the 
weight of our cars lighter so they can have the same strength but still 
use less gas. The number of ideas and innovation that comes out of 3M 
has been awesome, and we are proud to have them in our State.
  I am very proud that in my district I have three plants in Hutchinson 
and New Ulm and Fairmont. I had the opportunity to visit them. They 
have got great, wonderful workers, and they have got wonderful workers 
throughout the company. They treat their workers very well, and we are 
certainly proud of that.
  As part of this 100-year celebration, they are going to be here 
tomorrow in the Cannon Caucus Room, number 345, from 8:30 to 10:00, and 
I am proud, to be an American enterprise showcase of their 
technologies, and we encourage all of our Members to come and see the 
great things that 3M does.
  Mr. GUTKNECHT. Mr. Speaker, that is tomorrow in 345 Cannon House 
Office Building from 8:30 to 12:30. Snacks will be served. It will be a 
great time.

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