[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 18]
[Senate]
[Pages 25691-25692]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




   RECOGNIZING THE DR. SAMUEL D. HARRIS NATIONAL MUSEUM OF DENTISTRY

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
proceed to the immediate consideration of H.J. Res. 52, which is at the 
desk.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the joint resolution by 
title.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A joint resolution (H.J. Res. 52) recognizing the Dr. 
     Samuel D. Harris National Museum of Dentistry, an affiliate 
     of the Smithsonian Institution in Baltimore, Maryland, as the 
     official national museum of dentistry in the United States.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the joint 
resolution.
  Mr. SARBANES. Mr. President, H.J. Res. 52 recognizes the Dr. Samuel 
D. Harris National Museum of Dentistry in Baltimore as the official 
national museum of dentistry in the United States. It passed the House 
unanimously and is a companion measure to legislation I introduced in 
the Senate, together with Senator Mikulski, S.J. Res. 12.
  The principal purpose of this legislation is to help educate the 
public about the critical importance of oral health to the overall 
health of all Americans. Three years ago, U.S. Surgeon General David 
Satcher issued a comprehensive report entitled ``Oral Health in 
America,'' which identified the problem of dental and oral disease as a 
``silent epidemic'' facing the country. The report called for the 
development of a National Oral Health Plan, and recommended that 
actions be taken to ``change perceptions regarding oral health and 
disease so that oral health becomes an accepted component of general 
health.'' By designating an official national museum and learning 
center dedicated to dentistry, this legislation takes an important step 
toward the achievement of this goal.
  The Dr. Samuel D. Harris National Museum of Dentistry is the largest 
and most comprehensive museum of dentistry in this country, and, 
indeed, the world. An affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution, the 
Museum sits on the grounds of the Baltimore College of Dental Surgery, 
founded in 1840 as the world's first dental college. With over 7,000 
square feet of exhibit space, the Museum showcases the people, objects, 
and events that created and defined the dental profession, including 
one of George Washington's famed ivory dentures. The Museum's vast 
archives also act as an important resource for research and serious 
academic study of dentistry's past, with a unique collection of 
historical dental journals and other one-of-a-kind documents.
  By designating the Samuel D. Harris National Museum of Dentistry as 
the official national museum of dentistry, we will not only recognize 
the critical role that dentists and oral health professionals have 
played in the history of our Nation's health care system, but enhance 
awareness and understanding of the importance of dentistry to public 
health.

[[Page 25692]]

  I urge adoption of the legislation.
  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the 
resolution be read three times and passed; that the preamble be agreed 
to; that the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, all with no 
intervening action or debate; and that any statements relating to this 
measure be printed in the Record.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The joint resolution (H.J. Res. 52) was read three times and passed.
  The preamble was agreed to.

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