Honoring the 10 communities selected to receive the 2004 All-America City Award.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for the time, and I am pleased to join in support of this resolution.

The All-America City Award is the oldest and most prestigious community recognition program in this Nation, and I am particularly pleased that this year one of the cities chosen, the only city chosen from the State of Texas, is right on our U.S.-Mexican border, and that is the city of Hidalgo.

Hidalgo is quite literally a representation of America's future. With a population that is nearly 98 percent Hispanic, Hidalgo is at the forefront of a demographic that is occurring rapidly in many of our Nation's cities. Also, with nearly half of its residents in elementary, middle or high school, Hidalgo is today comprised of the youth that will be the leaders of America tomorrow.

Hidalgo is one of the oldest cities in the State of Texas, and it started as a small trading post and ferry landing opposite Reynosa, Mexico, many years ago. Over the years, it has grown to the fourth largest U.S. port of entry, a

major entry point for trade and commerce from throughout two continents and a city that is intimately involved with our country's relationship with Mexico.

Hidalgo is often the first taste of America for many visitors to this country. This, combined with the fact that it is one of the country's southernmost cities, makes it not surprising that Hidalgo is sometimes referred to as being ``where the U.S. begins.''

The city has flourished under the leadership of very committed city council members Alvin Samano, Dan Dillard, Pedro Fonseca, and Siglinde Franz. Their hard work and dedication to serving the people of Hidalgo has contributed much to the community's success. Hidalgo works because Hidalgo works together.

Unfortunately, as a gateway to the United States, many people have seen Hidalgo only in traveling through it. Now, the people of this fine city have done much, through innovation and hospitality, to make Hidalgo a destination.

Project: Tour Hidalgo, a comprehensive and collaborative initiative that focuses resources, ideas, the spirit of volunteerism and community outreach, has increased tourism, tourism that focuses on the culture of Mexico and the United States, on ecotourism, a number of hike-and-bike trails to be built along the border and, of course, the many other aspects of the city that come alive during the holiday season.

I remember last year at the great Posada, with the Grammy-award- winning Hidalgo resident, Ramon Ayala, that we had around 7- or 8,000 spectators. It was quite a happening, and it drew people throughout Texas to share in the joy of the holiday season.

Borderfest also pulls in not only Texans but winter Texans from all over the country for a 4-day festival in March. Last year, about 50,000 people participated, five times the population of the city. It begins appropriately with an abrazo at the international bridge between the mayor of Hidalgo and the mayor of Reynosa, indicating the close relationship between the two countries.

In the 1980s, when advancements in technology made the city's old irrigation pumphouses obsolete, it was preserved as a museum that is now recognized by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

With a sense of humor to accompany the other pleasant qualities of this community, when a few years ago it was noted that Hidalgo was the first place that the Africanized honey bee came, instead of avoiding this apparent bit of trouble, the city created a 10-foot-tall, 2,000- pound, full-color statue of the feared killer bee, and since that time the killer bee statue has become a tourist attraction. The Killer Bees became the name of the professional hockey team at the far southern edge of the United States. That is one winning team.

At the same time, Hidalgo has made substantial and impressive efforts to improve the standard of living for its residents. Almost half of all the families in Hidalgo are sustained on incomes below the poverty level.

It has been a long-time goal of the city to attract industries that will provide its citizens with a living wage. That is why the city created Team Hidalgo, a program through which the city and private businessmen and -women work with economic development experts and nonprofit groups to improve the economy of the area. To date, Team Hidalgo's greatest achievement has been the development of Dodge Arena, the spectacular 7,000 seat facility that is now drawing people throughout south Texas not only to the winning Killer Bees hockey team and an arena football team, but to a number of high-profile entertainment activities.

The students of Hidalgo spend their days in schools run by two separate and quality school districts, the Valley View Independent School District led by Superintendent Leonel Galaviz and School Board President and the Hidalgo Independent School District, led by Superintendent Daniel King and School Board President Noe Reyes. These are school districts with leadership on their boards and in the administration that devote their efforts to educational excellence.

The city is one that I hope to represent beginning in January. It is a place that I have visited a number of times and with whose leadership I have continued to work on a number of local projects. It is wonderful that the National Civic League has recognized these fine attributes of the community by naming it an All-America City.

As the city said in its application, despite being closer to Mexico than it is to many other cities in the United States, Hidalgo is truly all-American.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Duncan) and the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Davis) for helping and supporting this legislation. I congratulate the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Hinojosa) for his city as well.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor the people of Concord, North Carolina, and the other nine recipients of the 2004 All-America City Award.

It has been my distinct honor to represent the people of Concord since I was first elected to represent the 8th Congressional District of North Carolina. This opportunity is especially dear to me because this is my hometown and where much of my family still resides.

In fact, my family has called Concord home for decades, centuries now that I look at it; and we have had the privilege of watching this community grow. Concord personifies the term ``Southern hospitality'' and is home to some of the most engaging, welcoming and civically responsible citizens of the State of North Carolina.

Through close relationships I have forged with citizens of Concord and the pride I have in this community, it is truly an honor today for me to highlight this great city.

Because of Concord's hard work, the rest of America is getting to see the positive spirit of accomplishment that I have been fortunate to witness and experience my entire life. All-America City Award is a 55- year-old program that is sponsored by the National Civic League that recognizes excellence. The award is given annually to 10 communities that exemplify and display a positive spirit of grass-roots involvement and collaborative problem-solving in an effort to better the community.

The cities selected to receive this award exhibit the American spirit of hard work and cooperation as they seek to identify and correct community-wide challenges. Concord is a community where citizens, businesses, volunteers, and government officials work together to address the issues that are vitally important to their citizens.

Concord should take pride in the fact that they are in contention for recognition by this national organization for their hard work. Truly, Concord is a great example for other communities to emulate as other communities seek to meet the many challenges that face us all, communities large and small.

To qualify for the award, Concord representatives submitted a detailed application highlighting the city's three most pressing challenges. They are medical needs of the uninsured and underinsured, eliminating substandard housing in the community, and extending the mentoring and civic responsibilities of the Boys and Girls Club of Concord.

Programs such as Community Care Plan, Cabarrus Housing Partners, and the Boys and Girls Club of America have been designed and implemented to ensure the aforementioned areas are addressed.

I am pleased to represent such a fine community where the citizens come together to solve problems at a local level rather than waiting on someone else to fix things. A wise man once said there are three types of people in the world: those who watch what happen, those who make things happen, and those who wonder what happened. Rest assured, the people of my hometown, Concord, North Carolina, are people who make good things happen. It is my honor and privilege to represent these good folks.

I am proud that the National Civic League will recognize the city of Concord's success by awarding them the All-America City Award.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 464) honoring the 10 communities selected to receive the 2004 All-America City Award.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H. Con. Res. 464.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H. Con. Res. 464. This measure honors the 10 communities selected to receive the 2004 All- America City Award. I commend our colleague, the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Hayes), for introducing this resolution.

Each year the National Civic League announces the recipients of the All-America City Award, perhaps our country's most prestigious civic recognition program. In an effort to promote community development, the All-America City Award is given to communities where citizens, government, businesses, and nonprofit organizations work together to effectively achieve the highest levels of civic participation.

Since 1949, more than 4,000 communities have applied for the award and about 500 have been selected as All-America cities. This year 10 communities received this honor. The 2004 award winners are Stockton, California; Pembroke Pines, Florida; Evansville, Tennessee; Montevideo, Minnesota; Concord, North Carolina; Springfield, Ohio; Cottage Grove, Oregon; Hidalgo, Texas; Spokane, Washington; and Philippi, West Virginia.

I offer my congratulations to these 10 communities. I urge my colleagues to join with the 10 co-sponsors of the resolution and myself in honoring these 10 cities for winning the All-America City Award.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Hayes), the author of this resolution.

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Hostettler) to speak on behalf of Evansville, Indiana.

(Mr. HOSTETTLER asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume, and I have no other speakers on this.

Let me close simply by saying that the All-America City Award was a program that was carried on for many years by Look magazine, one of our largest national circulation magazines, and I am very proud that in 1962 my hometown of Knoxville, Tennessee, received one of the very earliest All-America City Awards.

My father served as mayor of Knoxville for 6 years, from 1959 to 1964, and Look magazine recognized Knoxville not only for many civic improvements but also because of my father's work in leading the peaceful integration of the city, which made sure that Knoxville did not go through many of the troubles that most other cities in the North and the South went through during that time period.

So this is a great, great award. It is one that the people of Knoxville were always proud of; and these cities should be proud of it, too.

I thank the sponsor the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Hayes) and the cosponsors. I urge passage of this resolution.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of House Concurrent Resolution 464 honoring the 10 cities named 2004 All-America Cities, and I would like to thank Representative Robin Hayes for his leadership in introducing this resolution.

Each year, the All-America Cities Award recognizes communities whose residents have been successful at identifying problems and working cooperatively to solve them. While all 10 cities named All-America Cities this year are deserving of this honor, I am particularly proud that Springfield, Ohio, my hometown, is one of them.

Springfield is a city that typifies an American heartland community. While it embraces its manufacturing past, Springfield has a clear goal of transitioning to a more diverse economy. This new focus emphasizes research and development. Recently, the Springfield Technology Park was established, which includes the new Lexis-Nexis data center and the new Ohio Supercomputer Center. Other high technology businesses are following. Not only is Springfield securing its economic future, it is developing proactive solutions to the other challenges it faces.

Springfield's All-America Cities application highlighted three programs that were designed to meet these challenges. The projects truly demonstrate the positive results that can be achieved through cooperation between public and private entities.

First, the Neighborhood Housing Partnership of Greater Springfield is an organization dedicated to making residents' dreams of home ownership come true. Government, private foundations, lenders, corporations, and realtors have all come together to provide financial assistance and support services to first-time homebuyers.

The second program, the Clark County Literacy Coalition, is a community partnership designed to help adults to acquire literacy skills. The Springfield-Clark County Chamber of Commerce, the Warder Literacy Center, and the Clark County Public Library are just three of the groups working cooperatively to help the residents of Springfield improve their reading and parenting skills.

A third organization, Rocking Horse Center, provides comprehensive health care services for children and young families. The local government, local hospitals, and other community organizations have come together to provide health services and child care advice to the community and to ensure affordable health care to those children who need it most.

In closing, I would like to congratulate the City of Springfield, the Springfield-Clark County Chamber of Commerce, and the Neighborhood Housing Partnership of Greater Springfield for their hard work in making sure that Springfield's All-America Cities application would be successful. The citizens of Springfield are also to be commended for making Springfield such a great place to live and work.

Mr. Speaker, I join today with my colleagues, the proud citizens of Springfield, and the residents of the other nine 2004 All-America Cities in support of this resolution.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, House Concurrent Resolution 464, introduced by my distinguished colleague from North Carolina (Mr. Hayes), honors 10 American cities for receiving the National Civic League 2004 All- America City Award. The American cities are Concord, North Carolina; Evansville, Indiana; Cottage Grove, Oregon; Spokane, Washington; Springfield, Ohio; Montevideo, Minnesota; Pembroke Pines, Florida; Stockton, California; Philippi, West Virginia; and Hidalgo, Texas.

Established in 1894, the National Civic League is one of America's oldest community advocacy organizations. The league's motto is ``strengthening citizen democracy by transforming democratic institutions.''

Their mission is to make democratic institutions and systems more accountable, inclusive, and responsive to citizens in communities across the country by informing, uniting, and empowering citizens. The National Civic League's annual award, the All-America City Award, is America's original and most prestigious community recognition award.

The award encourages and recognizes civic excellence by honoring communities of all sizes where community members, government businesses, and nonprofit organizations all work together to address critical local issues. Each year 10 cities are chosen to receive the All-America City Award. Each of the 10 cities demonstrates an efficient government, a willingness to help its less fortunate citizens, and a strong sense of community.

Therefore, Mr. Speaker, I commend again Concord, Evansville, Cottage Grove, Spokane, Springfield, Montevideo, Pembroke Pines, Stockton, Philippi, and Hidalgo for their awards. I commend the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Hayes) for introducing House Concurrent Resolution 464.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, it is easy to see why the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Hayes), especially from Concord, is such a distinguished gentleman.

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Hinojosa), a proud representative of Texas.

Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to yield such time as he might consume to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Doggett), one of the other proud sons of Texas.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.