[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 7]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 9819]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




 INTRODUCTION OF THE JUSTIN SMITH MORRILL CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL ACT

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                           HON. DAN NEWHOUSE

                             of washington

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, June 23, 2017

  Mr. NEWHOUSE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to introduce the Justin Smith 
Morrill Congressional Gold Medal Act of 2016. This legislation would 
honor a true American hero by posthumously awarding the Honorable 
Justin Smith Morrill with the Congressional Gold Medal. Mr. Morrill was 
elected to six terms in the U.S. House of Representatives and six terms 
in the United States Senate, making him the longest serving Member of 
Congress in the 19th Century. During his tenure, he chaired the House 
Committee on Ways and Means, the Senate Committee on Finance, and the 
Senate Committee on Public Buildings and Grounds. As Chairman of the 
Senate Committee on Buildings and Grounds, he served as the principle 
advocate for financing and constructing the Thomas Jefferson Building 
of the Library of Congress and planned the location of the U.S. Supreme 
Court Building. He also raised funds to complete the then-unfinished 
Washington Monument and advocated for the Smithsonian Institution 
throughout his service in Congress.
  His greatest achievement was authoring the Morrill Act of 1862, which 
created the land-grant university system. Today, land-grant colleges 
and universities award nearly 1 million degrees annually and perform 
more than $37 billion in research. Additionally, almost 30 years later, 
Senator Morrill authored the Morrill Act of 1890, which created the 
flourishing system of historically Black land-grant colleges and 
universities. I am proud to be a graduate of Washington State 
University, in my humble opinion, the premier land-grant university in 
Senator Morrill's system. I have seen first-hand how the system of 
colleges and universities created by Senator Morrill has changed 
countless lives and shaped communities across the nation.
  Justin Smith Morrill is a man who has provided generations and 
millions of Americans--particularly those from working class families 
and rural communities--with access to higher education throughout the 
nation. His achievements have inspired American history, values, and 
culture, and will be recognized and honored by generations to come. For 
these reasons, and many others, I urge all members to join me in 
supporting this legislation to bestow Senator Justin Smith Morrill with 
a Congressional Gold Medal, a fitting honor for a great American hero.

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