[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 8]
[Senate]
[Page 10097]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




      CONGRATULATING CONTESTANTS OF THE 2006 SCRIPPS SPELLING BEE

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the Senate 
proceed to the immediate consideration of S. Res. 502, submitted 
earlier today.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the resolution by title.
  The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       A resolution (S. Res. 502) congratulating all of the 
     contestants of the 2006 Scripps National Spelling Bee.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the 
resolution.
  Mr. LAUTENBERG. Mr. President, I rise today to congratulate the young 
men and women who competed in the 79th annual Scripps National Spelling 
Bee last week. I would like to extend special praise to Miss Katharine 
``Kerry'' Close for winning this demanding competition. Miss Close is 
an eighth grade student at the H.W. Mountz School in Spring Lake, NJ, 
and was sponsored by the Asbury Park Press and the Home News Tribune. 
Other New Jersey participants included Serenity Fung of Faith Hope Love 
Academy in Somerset, Joseph Reed of Deerfield Township Elementary 
School in Rosenhayn, Austin Tamutus of MacFarland Junior School in 
Bordentown, Tianqi Wang of Ramapo Ridge Middle School in Mahwah, and 
Nisha Sadanand Naik of St. Anne's Parish School in Jersey City. I am 
proud of all of them.
  Miss Close--showing true grace under pressure--won in the 20th round 
by correctly spelling ``ursprache,'' which is defined as ``a parent 
language, especially one reconstructed from the evidence of later 
languages.'' Miss Close is a five-time veteran of the National Spelling 
Bee, first competing when she was 9. She tied for seventh place last 
year. Over the past 5 years, Miss Close has spent between 1 and 2 hours 
each day looking up words and their origins in order to prepare for the 
contests. Her dedication should serve as an inspiration to all of us.
  The 2006 Scripps National Spelling Bee, which is administered by the 
E.W. Scripps Company and 268 local sponsors, is the largest and longest 
running educational promotion in the United States. This competition 
began with 275 competitors from across the United States, American 
Samoa, the Bahamas, Canada, Europe, Guam, Jamaica, New Zealand, Puerto 
Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands who qualified for the contest by 
winning locally sponsored spelling bees.
  I hope that my colleagues will join me in congratulating Miss Close 
and the other 274 competitors in this year's Scripps National Spelling 
Bee.
  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the resolution 
be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motion to reconsider be 
laid upon the table, and any statements be printed in the Record.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The resolution (S. Res. 502) was agreed to.
  The preamble was agreed to.
  The resolution, with its preamble, is as follows:

                              S. Res. 502

       Whereas the Scripps National Spelling Bee is the largest 
     and longest-running educational promotion in the United 
     States, and is administered by the E.W. Scripps Company and 
     268 local sponsors, most of whom publish daily and weekly 
     newspapers;
       Whereas the 2006 Scripps National Spelling Bee began with 
     275 competitors from across the United States, American 
     Samoa, the Bahamas, Canada, Europe, Guam, Jamaica, New 
     Zealand, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands, each of whom 
     had qualified for the contest by winning locally-sponsored 
     spelling bees;
       Whereas Miss Katharine ``Kerry'' Close is an 8th-grade 
     student at the H.W. Mountz School in Spring Lake, New Jersey;
       Whereas the 13-year-old Miss Close first competed in the 
     Scripps National Spelling Bee as a 9-year-old, tied for 7th 
     place in 2005, and competed for the 5th time this year, 
     sponsored by the Asbury Park Press and the Home News Tribune;
       Whereas Miss Close has spent between 1 hour and 2 hours a 
     day looking up words and their origins during the previous 5 
     years, yet has still found time for sailing, playing soccer, 
     and going to the mall and the movies with her friends;
       Whereas Miss Close survived 19 rounds of fierce competition 
     this year and won the 2006 Scripps National Spelling Bee in 
     the 20th round by correctly spelling ``ursprache'', which is 
     defined as ``a parent language, especially one reconstructed 
     from the evidence of later languages''; and
       Whereas the achievement of Miss Close brings an immense 
     sense of pride to H.W. Mountz School, her hometown of Spring 
     Lake, and the entire State of New Jersey: Now, therefore, be 
     it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) congratulates all of the contestants of the 2006 
     Scripps National Spelling Bee; and
       (2) respectfully requests the Secretary of the Senate to 
     transmit an enrolled copy of this resolution to the H.W. 
     Mountz School, located in Spring Lake, New Jersey.

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