[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 14]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 19344]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




     HONORING THE 200TH BIRTHDAY OF THE CITY OF HUNTSVILLE, ALABAMA

                                 ______
                                 

                    HON. ROBERT E. (BUD) CRAMER, JR.

                               of alabama

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 28, 2005

  Mr. CRAMER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the city of 
Huntsville, Alabama, on its 200th birthday. Huntsville is a part of my 
Congressional District and also my birthplace and hometown.
  The city of Huntsville, named after pioneer John Hunt, was founded in 
1805. By 1819, it was the largest city in the Alabama Territory and was 
soon named the State of Alabama's first capital.
  Over the last two centuries, Huntsville has played a significant role 
in the development of our Nation and has established itself as a leader 
in science and technology development. Today, technology, space, and 
defense industries have a major presence in Huntsville with the Army's 
Redstone Arsenal, NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, and Cummings 
Research Park. The city is home to several Fortune 500 companies and 
also offers a broad base of manufacturing, retail and service 
industries. In fact, Huntsville was recently named by CNN and Money 
Magazine as one of the best cities in the Nation to live and work.
  Huntsville is most well known as America's Space Capital. In the 
1950s, German Rocket Scientist Wernher von Braun and his team came to 
Redstone Arsenal to develop rockets for the U.S. Army. The von Braun 
team eventually developed the rockets which put the first American in 
space and transported the first astronauts to the moon. Huntsville's 
space legacy continues today at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center and 
the U.S. Space and Rocket Center.
  Mr. Speaker, in honor of the city's bicentennial, the city is 
constructing a large Bicentennial park. Once completed, the park will 
incorporate a wide variety of symbols that represent the first 200 
years of the city.
  Mr. Speaker, the city of Huntsville has been honoring its proud 
history through 2005 and will culminate its celebration during the 
first week of August with parades and the lighting of the Unity Candle 
on the city's birthday cake. I rise today to join the celebration and 
to congratulate Huntsville Mayor Loretta Spencer, City Council Members, 
Dr. Richard Showers, Sr., Mark Russell, Sandra Moon, Bill Kling, Jr., 
and Glenn Watson, and the Executive Director of the Bicentennial 
Commission, Mary Jane Caylor on a job well done.

                          ____________________