[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 12]
[Senate]
[Pages 15895-15896]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




       COMMENDING BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS ON 125TH ANNIVERSARY

  Mr. BEGICH. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
proceed to the immediate consideration of S. Con. Res. 30 submitted 
earlier today.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the resolution by title.
  The bill clerk read as follows:

       A concurrent resolution (S. Con. Res. 30) commending the 
     Bureau of Labor Statistics on the occasion of its 125th 
     anniversary.

  There being no objection, the Senate will proceed to the concurrent 
resolution.
  Mr. BEGICH. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the 
concurrent resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the 
motions to reconsider be laid upon the table with no intervening action 
or debate, and any statements related to the measure be printed in the 
Record.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The concurrent resolution (S. Con. Res. 30) was agreed to.
  The preamble was agreed to.
  The concurrent resolution, with its preamble, reads as follows:

                            S. Con. Res. 30

       Whereas the Act entitled ``An Act to establish a Bureau of 
     Labor'', approved on June 27, 1884 (23 Stat. 60), established 
     a bureau to ``collect information upon the subject of labor, 
     its relation to capital, the hours of labor, and the earnings 
     of laboring men and women, and the means of promoting their 
     material, social, intellectual, and moral prosperity'';
       Whereas the Bureau of Labor Statistics is the principal 
     factfinding agency for the Federal Government in the broad 
     field of labor

[[Page 15896]]

     economics and statistics, and in that role it collects, 
     processes, analyzes, and disseminates essential statistical 
     data to the public, Congress, other Federal agencies, State 
     and local governments, business, and labor;
       Whereas the Bureau of Labor Statistics has completed 125 
     years of service to government, business, labor, and the 
     public by producing indispensable data and special studies on 
     prices, employment and unemployment, productivity, wages and 
     other compensation, economic growth, industrial relations, 
     occupational safety and health, the use of time by the people 
     of the United States, and the economic conditions of States 
     and metropolitan areas;
       Whereas many public programs and private transactions are 
     dependent today on the quality of such statistics of the 
     Bureau of Labor Statistics as the unemployment rate and the 
     Consumer Price Index, which play essential roles in the 
     allocation of Federal funds and the adjustment of pensions, 
     welfare payments, private contracts, and other payments to 
     offset the impact of inflation;
       Whereas the Bureau of Labor Statistics pursues these 
     responsibilities with absolute integrity and is known for 
     being unfailingly responsive to the need for new types of 
     information and indexes of change;
       Whereas the Bureau of Labor Statistics has earned an 
     international reputation as a leader in economic and social 
     statistics;
       Whereas the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Internet website, 
     www.bls.gov, began operating in 1995 and meets the public 
     need for timely and accurate information by providing an 
     ever-expanding body of economic data and analysis available 
     to an ever-growing group of online citizens; and
       Whereas the Bureau of Labor Statistics has established the 
     highest standards of professional competence and commitment: 
     Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives 
     concurring), That Congress commends the Bureau of Labor 
     Statistics on the occasion of its 125th anniversary for the 
     exemplary service its administrators and employees provide in 
     collecting and disseminating vital information for the United 
     States.

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