[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 14]
[Senate]
[Pages 19300-19301]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




           LEWIS & CLARK AND THE REVEALING OF AMERICA EXHIBIT

  Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, this is the time of year when Senators 
have visitors from home. I know many come to my office and ask me 
personally, What should I see in Washington now?
  Last evening, I visited the opening of the Lewis and Clark exhibit, 
``Lewis & Clark and the Revealing of America.'' It is at the Library of 
Congress from July 24 to November 29.
  I have asked that a copy of the booklet that is being given out at 
this exhibit be placed on every Senator's desk. I do hope that will 
happen. I congratulate the Congressional Caucus on the Bicentennial of 
Lewis and Clark: Senators Conrad Burns, Larry Craig, Byron Dorgan, and 
Representatives Doug Bereuter and Earl Pomeroy.
  As one goes into the exhibit in the Library of Congress, the first 
thing one will see is the 1507 Waldseemuller world map. This is the 
first map that used the word ``America'' in the history of the world. 
Beyond that, there are a series of maps that lead up to the information 
that President Jefferson had when he dispatched Lewis and Clark to make 
their historic journey.
  The interesting point about this is that for years, the maps of our 
part of the world were really kept classified by the Spanish, and it 
took a German geographer, Alexander von Humboldt, when he visited 
Mexico City and got access to the archives of Mexico to disclose to the 
world the maps that had been prepared prior to that time.
  Copies of each of those maps is on exhibit at the Library of 
Congress. It takes us through the total exploration of Lewis and Clark 
but subsequent explorations of the American West, the Louisiana 
Purchase, and the total history of our country west of the Mississippi. 
It is told through maps and through artifacts that have been gathered 
not only to tell us the geography of our area, but really the dress of 
Americans at that time, the plants--a total description of the West as 
it was known then.
  What is interesting is that the German geographer who had visited 
Mexico City actually visited with President Jefferson prior to the time 
Lewis and Clark set off, as I said. The information he brought to the 
public, to the world at that time is just staggering.
  I have seen a lot of exhibits at the Library of Congress in my day, 
and I have the honor to be the chairman of the Joint Congressional 
Committee on the Library. I believe this is an exhibition that should 
be called to the attention of every one of our visitors as they come 
into our offices.
  I call to the attention of the Senate also that there is a film 
program that is going to go on starting Friday, July 25. There will be 
a series of films shown at the James Madison Building, which is part of 
the Library of Congress. These films are free and open to the public 
but require advance notice and reservations to get in. The seating is 
limited.
  They are amazing historic films. It starts off with a 1955 Paramount 
film which is entitled ``The Far Horizons'' and continues through until 
November 21. The schedules are shown in the booklet. This is the kind 
of information I think Senators would be extremely wise to point out to 
their visitors. All they have to do to make reservations is call the 
number that is shown in this booklet, and they can have reservations 
for one of the finest historic films that one could think of. Each 
Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday, between now and November 21, there will 
be films shown to the public.
  I do congratulate the Library of Congress, Dr. Billington and his 
staff, for putting together this enormous exhibition of the history of 
our American

[[Page 19301]]

West. I do hope everyone has an opportunity to take the time to see it. 
It is not something one can just go in and make a 5-minute visit and 
look at a map. If they go through that door, they are going to be 
trapped for at least 30 to 45 minutes, or hours. It is one of the most 
staggering exhibits I have seen.
  At one point, through our electronic means, they have the ability to 
show the actual outline of our Nation and put it up against the maps 
that were prepared back in the days before any digital concepts, before 
any real capability for surveying. It is amazing how close they came to 
preparing maps that were accurate, and this started off 500 years ago.
  This is 500 years of history of the American West, and people can see 
it in a half hour or 2 hours. I do hope Senators will take the occasion 
to look at the booklet I have asked the Library of Congress to provide 
us. Copies of this chart are available to every Senator to put in their 
office so they can tell their visitors about this amazing exhibition.
  In closing, I thank the Senate for the time, and particularly my 
friends on the other side of the aisle for letting me use some of their 
time, to speak about this exhibit. This is the work product of not only 
the Library of Congress, but they give credit to the Bicentennial 
Congressional Caucus, which is cochaired by my good friend from 
Montana. He will find an enormous number of photographs and history of 
his great State where I had the privilege of going to college for a 
short period of time. I want him to know this is a memory trip for me 
to go through this exhibition. I do thank him for his work, and I thank 
the other Senators for their courtesy.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Montana.
  Mr. BURNS. Mr. President, I put a footnote on this. I recommend the 
Lewis and Clark exhibit. It is wonderful history. Of course, the 
Louisiana Purchase is of great interest to all of us in the West. I 
recommend a book I am about two-thirds of the way through. It is called 
``The Wilderness So Immense.'' It is the history of how we purchased 
all that land from France when Jefferson was ambassador to France. It 
goes back to 1785 and 1786, and also the politics involved with Spain. 
It involves the navigation of the Mississippi River, the control of New 
Orleans and, of course, Spain's influence in the great American 
southwest that led to the Louisiana Purchase. I recommend that book. It 
is written by Jon Kukla, and it gives a great insight on what happened.
  I thank the Senator for mentioning this great 200th anniversary of 
the Louisiana Purchase.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, there are now 15 
minutes under the control of the Senator from Texas, Mrs. Hutchison, or 
her designee.
  The Senator from Texas.
  Mrs. HUTCHISON. Mr. President, I yield up to 10 minutes to the 
Senator from Montana.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Montana is recognized for up 
to 10 minutes.

                          ____________________