[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 17]
[Senate]
[Page 24037]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     CONGRATULATING DR. BILLINGTON

  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, an important anniversary will be marked on 
September 14, at the Library of Congress. Twenty years ago, in the 
Great Hall of the Thomas Jefferson Building, then-President Reagan 
presided over the swearing-in of Dr. James H. Billington as the 13th 
Librarian of Congress.
  When he was appointed, Dr. Billington brought great expertise to the 
Library, both as the world's premier scholar of Russian culture and 
history and as director of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for 
Scholars. His vision, and the hard work of so many dedicated Library 
staff members, has led to continued growth of the Library of Congress. 
He has fulfilled the promise made on September 14, 1987--to make the 
riches of the Library more broadly available to ever widening circles 
of our society.
  At the time, Senator Wendell Ford remarked that the Library of 
Congress ``represents our nation's commitment to a knowledgeable 
citizenry.'' Dr. Billington has upheld that commitment by enhancing the 
Library and making its riches and inspiration available to all 
Americans. Under his leadership, the Copyright Office, the Law Library, 
the Congressional Research Service, and the National Library have 
seamlessly worked together to build the collections and preserve them 
for future generations.
  The Library's accomplishments of the last two decades are 
extraordinary. The collections have expanded by 50 million items, and 
state-of-the art facilities have been built to ensure their long-term 
preservation. The establishment of the Kluge Center for Scholars and 
the Kluge Prize for Lifetime Achievement in the Human Sciences have 
enriched not only the scholarly life of Washington but also have 
enabled Members of Congress to meet thought leaders and benefit from 
their perspectives. Also, the Library was a pioneer in online 
collections and services, launching American Memory, THOMAS, the World 
Digital Library and resources for teachers, students and families 
across the Nation and world.
  The Library's pioneering work in education has had a great impact in 
my home State of Illinois. The Library's educational mission, shaped by 
Dr. Billington's vision, is that young people benefit from learning 
with primary sources such as Lincoln's magnificent Gettysburg Address, 
seeing the Founding Father's notes and revisions to the Bill of Rights, 
and exploring maps and sound recordings to understand history and 
culture firsthand. As the Library developed and focused its massive 
resources in ways that teachers could explore and use for their 
classrooms, Dr. Billington recognized the profound impact of 
incorporating primary sources into teacher education. Many of us in 
Congress recognized the potential around this idea and helped create 
and fund the Adventures of the American Mind, which is now poised to 
become a national program--Teaching with Primary Sources. The 10 
universities in Illinois that have benefited from working with the 
Library have transformed their teacher education programs. I have seen 
first hand the programs and curricula that have been created using the 
amazing resources from Congress's Library to improve teaching in our 
Nation's schools.
  Dr. Billington's energy is unflagging. He has led efforts to launch 
the World Digital Library, the reinstallation of Thomas Jefferson's 
Library in the Jefferson Building, and the Library's celebration of the 
Lincoln Bicentennial in 2009 and beyond. In short, I have valued and 
look forward to continuing leadership from Dr. Billington. He and his 
colleagues at the Library of Congress are a tremendous resource to our 
work as a legislature.
  The Library of Congress has benefited immeasurably from the first 20 
years of Jim Billington's leadership. We are grateful to him and 
congratulate him, his wife Marjorie, and his family on this milestone 
of service to our Nation.

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