[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 11]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 15339-15340]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




CONGRATULATING STEAMTOWN NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE ON ITS 10TH ANNIVERSARY

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. PAUL E. KANJORSKI

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, June 30, 2005

  Mr. KANJORSKI. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to ask you and my esteemed 
colleagues in the House of Representatives to pay tribute to the 
Steamtown National Historic Site in Scranton, Pennsylvania, which is 
observing its 10th anniversary as a unique and valuable venue that 
salutes the heritage of America's railroading past.
  The invention of the steam-powered locomotive in the early 19th 
century proved to be one of the great evolutionary forces that 
transformed the United States from an agricultural society to a 
manufacturing giant that would propel this Nation into the realm of a 
superpower.
  No longer tethered to the vagaries of animal and water powered 
transportation, the United States would discover that people and 
manufacturing product could be transported over great distances in much 
shorter periods of time, thus enabling this country to explore its vast 
expanses quite literally from sea to shining sea.
  Truly, it was the railroad and the emerging anthracite coal industry 
in northeastern Pennsylvania that allowed our immigrant forebears

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to realize their dream of a better life than they had in their country 
of origin.
  By 1852, thanks to merchants demanding faster and more reliable means 
of transporting their goods, more than 9,000 miles of track had been 
laid, mostly in New England and the Middle Atlantic states. During the 
next decade, American railroads grew into a coordinated iron network of 
more than 30,000 miles, serving all States east of the Mississippi 
River. By 1880, the United States had 94,000 miles of track binding the 
country together. Twenty years later, it had 193,000. By the end of 
World War I in 1918, the country could boast more than 254,000 miles of 
track and 65,000 steam locomotives.
  Until the end of World War I, railroads carried the bulk of all 
freight and passengers.
  In a very real sense, the railroad and anthracite coal industries, 
both of which have deep roots in the Lackawanna and Wyoming Valleys, 
fueled the industrial revolution and contributed to making the United 
States the global force that it is today.
  To fail to recognize that heritage would deny our children and 
grandchildren the ability to see that where we are today is due to 
where we came from yesterday.
  Thankfully, because of the vision and perseverance of men like former 
U.S. Congressman Joseph McDade, who relentlessly pursued his dream of 
making Steamtown a reality, we have before us today a living museum 
that celebrates the role that steam powered railroads played in the 
development of our nation.
  Steamtown's success is also due to the tireless work of former Gov. 
William Scranton, Austin Burke, executive director of the Scranton 
Chamber of Commerce, former Scranton Mayor James McNulty, Ed Rogers, 
former managing editor of The Scranton Times, and others who shared the 
vision.
  Fortunately, because of places like Steamtown National Historic Site 
and other museums, the contributions of steam railroading to the 
development of the United States will never be forgotten. And the lives 
and duties of the men and women who labored in the yards, roundhouses, 
stations and trains will be preserved for future generations.
  Mr. Speaker, please join me in celebrating the 10th anniversary of 
Steamtown National Historic Site and in acknowledging the United States 
Park Service for its role in maintaining what has become a national 
treasure.

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