[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 18]
[Senate]
[Page 24596]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                            TODAY IN HISTORY

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, historians tell us that George 
Washington's decision to preside over the Constitutional Convention 
lent instant credibility and respect to the document it produced, and 
yesterday we recalled the signing of that document upon which this 
Nation's laws and institutions are firmly built.
  Six years later, George Washington would lend his reputation to 
another enduring work, a white beacon of stone and mortar that inspires 
us and others around the world more than two centuries later. On this 
day in 1793, George Washington laid the cornerstone to the United 
States Capitol. The building would take nearly a century to complete, 
but the magnificence of the finished product would stand as a testament 
to the perseverance of generations of Americans, and to the enduring 
principles it was meant to embody and project. So we pause today to 
reflect on the many contributions of our first President, not only to 
this Nation but also to the city that bears his name, not the least of 
which is this gleaming symbol at its heart.
  I yield the floor.

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