[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 1]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 1118]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


TRIBUTE TO DEERE & COMPANY IN RECOGNITION OF THE 200TH BIRTHDAY OF JOHN 
                                 DEERE

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                         HON. J. DENNIS HASTERT

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, February 4, 2004

  Mr. HASTERT. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to Deere & 
Company on the 200th anniversary of founder John Deere's birth.
  John Deere, who developed the world's first commercially successful, 
self-scouring steel plow, thereby opening the West to farming, was born 
on February 7, 1804. John Deere emigrated to the western Illinois 
settlement of Grand Detour in 1837 and set up a blacksmith shop near 
the Rock River. After fashioning the first self-scouring steel plow, 
John Deere moved to a water-powered factory along the Mississippi River 
in Moline, Illinois--a town of roughly 55,000 people just outside my 
district.
  In 1868, John Deere incorporated his business under the name Deere & 
Company and established enduring values that have sustained his company 
for over 165 years--quality, integrity, innovation and commitment. 
Today, Deere & Company does business in more than 160 countries and 
employs roughly 43,000 employees worldwide, many of whom reside in my 
Congressional district. They are the world's leading manufacturer of 
agricultural and forest equipment, a major manufacturer of construction 
equipment, and a leading supplier of equipment used in lawn, grounds 
and turf care.
  Today, I wish to recognize Deere & Company on the achievements of 
pioneer blacksmith John Deere and congratulate the company he founded 
on the 200th anniversary of his birth.

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