[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 19]
[Senate]
[Page 26638]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                 TRIBUTE TO BILL AND MEREDITH SCHROEDER

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I pay special tribute to two 
individuals whose foresight inspired a mecca in America's Heartland. 
Bill and Meredith Schroeder's interest in quilts has led to an exciting 
and beneficial business venture for the City of Paducah, KY, and the 
surrounding area. In 1984, the Schroeder's founded the American 
Quilter's Society, AQS, after discovering the need for worldwide 
recognition of the beauty of quilting as an art form and as a statement 
of our history and society.
  The Schroeder's created a multi venue environment to promote the art 
and craft of quilting. Through the American Quilter's Society, they 
established a membership organization with participants from every U.S. 
State and territory, as well as from 80 countries. They created the AQS 
Quilt Show & Contest, the largest cash-juried contest in the world. 
Held each April in Paducah, KY, now recognized as ``Quilt City USA'', 
the annual show brings millions of dollars to the tourism industry of 
western Kentucky. In 1991, the Museum of the American Quilter's Society 
opened. The museum has hosted hundreds of thousands of quilters and 
quilt lovers, and has enjoyed a history of growth and development.
  Bill and Meredith Schroeder are extraordinary individuals who had a 
vision and worked hard to bring it to fruition. In appreciation for the 
Schroeder's commitment to fostering the respect of the general public 
for quilts and quilt makers, and for their unselfish desire to develop 
the economy of western Kentucky, I ask my fellow colleagues to join me 
in recognizing the outstanding contributions they have made to their 
community, to Kentucky, and to our Nation.

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