[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 2]
[Senate]
[Pages 2073-2074]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




   SENATE RESOLUTION 452--COMMEMORATING THE 250TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE 
 NAMING OF PITTSBURGH AS THE CULMINATION OF THE FORBES CAMPAIGN ACROSS 
 PENNSYLVANIA AND THE SIGNIFICANCE THIS EVENT PLAYED IN THE MAKING OF 
   AMERICA, IN THE SETTLEMENT OF THE CONTINENT, AND IN SPREADING THE 
          IDEALS OF FREEDOM AND DEMOCRACY THROUGHOUT THE WORLD

  Mr. SPECTER (for himself and Mr. Casey) submitted the following 
resolution; which was considered and agreed to:

                              S. Res. 452

       Whereas the Forks of the Ohio at today's Pittsburgh should 
     forever be remembered as the place where an army of British 
     and Colonial soldiers took control of Fort Duquesne from the 
     French, a turning point in the French and Indian War, the 
     first world war;
       Whereas the British victory in the French and Indian War 
     sowed the seeds of Colonial discontent with British rule, 
     beginning the chain of events that led to the American 
     Revolution;
       Whereas the British Army under the leadership of General 
     John Forbes built the first road across the Allegheny 
     Mountains, thus securing the Gateway to the West for British 
     and later American settlement;
       Whereas General Forbes and Colonel George Washington named 
     the location Pittsburgh, in honor of William Pitt the Elder;
       Whereas Fort Pitt provided a safe haven for peoples from 
     around the world to follow in Forbes' and Washington's 
     footsteps to travel to Pittsburgh to settle the continent and 
     to pioneer advancements in industry, science, technology, 
     education, the environment, and the arts;
       Whereas Pittsburgh went on to become the Crucible of the 
     Industrial Revolution, producing glass, steel, and aluminum 
     that have a place in every skyline in the United States, and 
     perfecting the technologies that made it possible for 
     alternating current to illuminate the Nation;
       Whereas the people of the Pittsburgh region pioneered 
     modern philanthropy, implemented the first smoke control 
     regulation, developed the polio vaccine, and conquered 
     rejection of transplanted organs, improving countless lives 
     worldwide;
       Whereas Pittsburgh is today a global leader in such 
     emerging fields as materials science, regenerative medicine, 
     nanotechnology, electro-optics, robotics, data storage, 
     computer science, and commercial nuclear power;
       Whereas Pittsburgh is home to more than 100 multi-billion 
     dollar global corporations that improve the lives of people 
     around the world;
       Whereas Pittsburgh provides a high quality of life to its 
     residents, offering unparalleled arts and cultural 
     opportunities for a city of its size;
       Whereas, in 2007 and in 1985, Pittsburgh was named 
     America's Most Livable City, the only city in the United 
     States to earn that honor twice;
       Whereas Pittsburgh is commemorating its naming and its 
     impact on the world with Pittsburgh 250, a year-long 
     celebration involving communities in 14 Pennsylvania 
     counties, parts of 7 States, and the District of Columbia;
       Whereas Pittsburgh 250 has connected Washington, DC to 
     Pittsburgh by supporting the completion of the Great 
     Allegheny Passage Trail, the longest hiking and biking trail 
     east of the Mississippi and the most accessible great trail 
     experience in the world, providing an important new outdoor 
     recreational asset to the people of the Mid-Atlantic United 
     States; and
       Whereas Pittsburgh has accomplished all of these things 
     with an unparalleled history of public and private 
     partnership: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) recognizes the 250th anniversary of the Naming of 
     Pittsburgh, known as a significant event in United States 
     history;
       (2) recognizes that Pittsburgh 250 is organizing the 
     commemoration on behalf of 14 counties in southwestern 
     Pennsylvania;
       (3) encourages participation for all Americans to learn how 
     the Forbes Campaign, the opening of the Gateway to the West, 
     the industrialization of America, and the environmental 
     transformation of Pittsburgh helped to make America; and
       (4) commends the contributions of those who have followed 
     trails to Pittsburgh for 250 years to shape the world we live 
     in and the Nation we have become.

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