Honoring the City of Fayetteville, North Carolina, and its many partners for the Festival of Flight, a celebration of the centennial of Wilbur and Orville Wright's first flight, the first controlled, powered flight in history.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me this time. Let me thank the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Tom Davis) and the majority leader and the majority whip for getting this piece of legislation to the floor.

It is my great pleasure to rise today and speak on behalf of this legislation, having authored it, along with every member in our North Carolina delegation, in honoring the City of Fayetteville of North Carolina as they begin to celebrate the 2003 Festival of Flight. As many of the Members and has already been stated today, almost 100 years ago now two brothers took a chance, believed in a dream, and made history. In just 12 seconds the world was changed forever. Man took to the skies and the world became smaller. The boundaries were pushed outward, and the impossible became possible.

Wilbur and Orville Wright, proud sons of the great State of Ohio, brought their dreams and flying machine to the windy beaches of Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, in the winter of 1903. The Wright brothers came to Kitty Hawk well prepared for their great achievement. They had been experimenting with aeronautics for years; and by the time they came to North Carolina in December of 1903, the men had completed more than 1,000 flights in gliders of their own design. Their diligence and perseverance paid off that year.

On a cold and windy morning on December 17, 1903, Orville Wright climbed aboard the Kitty Hawk, started the engine, and flew. Orville Wright described the experience as follows: ``The first flight lasted only 12 seconds, a flight

very modest compared with that of birds, but it was, nevertheless, the first in the history of the world in which a machine carrying a man had raised itself by its own power into the air in free flight, had sailed forward on a level course without reduction of speed, and finally landed without being wrecked.''

What many people did not realize is that the brothers completed a total of four flights that day, the longest covering 852 feet in 59 seconds. The Wright brothers' achievement stunned the world and began one of the most active periods of scientific research and experimentation in our history. However, despite all of our successes and improvements to flying machines, their basic design remains very familiar to that of the Wright brothers.

In honor of the centennial of flight, the people of Fayetteville, North Carolina, in my congressional district, and the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. McIntyre) and the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Hayes) have planned a celebration worthy of their achievement.

The Festival of Flight will be, as the Members have heard, one of four in the United States sanctioned by the United States Centennial of Flight Commission. The 11-day festival will feature a 2-day military air show at Pope Air Force base and a general aviation show at the Fayetteville regional airport. The event will also present aviation displays and programs, educational exhibits, and an art festival. There will also be special exhibits on space flight and technology including 1 day devoted to space exploration and the Shuttle with NASA. The Festival of Flight will also feature a detailed replica of the 1903 Wright flight developed by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Aerospace.

The festival will culminate on Memorial Day, May 26, where participants will honor the brave men and women who have served in our Nation's military and those who are currently defending our Nation around the world. Fayetteville is home to Pope Air Force base and Fort Bragg's XVIII Airborne Corps, the Army's largest war-fighting organization. The XVIII Corps is the world's premier power projection force with tens of thousands of soldiers currently serving in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

In addition to celebrating man's first powered flight, the Fayetteville Festival of Flight will have a special emphasis on aviation education. This focus is especially fitting as education played a major role in the Wright brothers' success.

Even though Orville and Wilbur Wright had little formal education, they never graduated from high school, but their parents held education in high esteem. Orville Wright once said: ``We were lucky enough to grow up in an environment where there was always much encouragement to children to pursue intellectual interests, to investigate whatever aroused curiosity.''

It is our hope that the Fayetteville Festival of Flight will stimulate similar interests and curiosity in the thousands of school children scheduled to attend this event. In order to promote interest in aviation education and the Wright brothers' achievements, the State of North Carolina has developed a special curriculum on aviation history and technology that schools across the State have been using this whole year. The curriculum includes art, science, and essay competitions. Winners will be guests of the festival, which is also scheduled to host 1,000 students and 100 teachers every day of the festival.

In closing, let me thank all of the members of the North Carolina congressional delegation for joining me in sponsoring this resolution. I also want to thank the people of Fayetteville, Fort Bragg, and Pope Air Force Base for their enthusiastic support of the Festival of Flight. I also wish to invite all Members of Congress and their families and their staffs to come to Fayetteville, North Carolina, to help us kick off and celebrate one of the world's most monumental achievements: flight.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 58) honoring the City of Fayetteville, North Carolina, and its many partners for the Festival of Flight, a celebration of the centennial of Wilbur and Orville Wright's first flight, the first controlled, powered flight in history.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks on the concurrent resolution under consideration.

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

Mr. Speaker, House Concurrent Resolution 58 introduced by our distinguished colleague from North Carolina (Mr. Etheridge) honors the City of Fayetteville, North Carolina, and its many partners for the Festival of Flight, a celebration of the centennial of Wilbur and Orville Wright's first flight, the first controlled, powered flight in history.

Mr. Speaker, on December 17, 1903, a pair of Ohio bicycle shop owners and brothers named Orville and Wilbur Wright realized their lifelong dream of operating an engine-powered flight machine. On that historic day, they had traveled about 120 feet in the air for 12 seconds at the helm of the 1903 Flyer, a vehicle they had constructed after years of labor and research. The Wright brothers were pioneers in the truest sense of the term. Their strong desire to create a flying vehicle was frustrated only by the fact that there was so little aeronautical data that existed at the time on which to base their efforts. But the Wright brothers focused their ambition into building a wind tunnel from which they could generate their own empirical information on how to lift a vehicle into the air. They even designed and constructed their own lightweight gas-powered engine that produced only 12 horsepower, but was a massive innovation at the time.

The brothers began large-scale testing of their ideas with the combination kite and glider in 1900. Their ideas tested on this aircraft were further refined into a glider they fashioned in 1901. Using the information generated from their glider along with the wind tunnel data, Orville and Wilbur constructed the Flyer in 1903. The plane featured the two-tiered wing design with two propellers that we have all seen in the photographs. The wings were 40 feet long and were separated 5 feet apart, one on top of the other. The plane weighed right around 700 pounds. Comparatively, a Boeing 747 today has an overall wing span of more than 231 feet and weighs 875,000 pounds at takeoff.

Mr. Speaker, this House ought to commemorate the Wright brothers' inspirational story. It is hard to argue against the notion that few events in the 20th century had greater social, cultural, or economic impacts on today's world than Orville and Wilbur Wright's first momentous flight. Therefore, I urge all Members to join Fayetteville, North Carolina, in the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Wright brothers' first flight by supporting the adoption of House Concurrent Resolution 58.

I want to thank and commend the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Etheridge) for introducing this important measure.

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

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

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to join my colleagues today from North Carolina here on the floor for the consideration of H. Con. Res. 58. I appreciate the leadership of the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Etheridge) in introducing this resolution, all of my fellow delegates from North Carolina, and the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. LaTourette), the gentleman from California (Mr. Waxman) in their support of this.

Mr. Speaker, Charles Kettering once said, ``The Wright brothers flew right through the smoke screen of impossibility.'' On December 17, 1903, at Kill Devils Hill near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, the Wright brothers manned the first-ever controlled, powered flight; and their optimism of achieving the impossible became our reality and the reality that has truly opened the world for all to see and enjoy.

As North Carolinians, we are immensely grateful for this historic feat and look forward to the 100-year celebration of this great event. The Wright brothers were men of vision and vigor whose dream of flight resulted in victory, not only for them but for all people, for all time, in all places.

The largest of the celebrations that has been sanctioned for this event is the Festival of Flight to be held in the Fayetteville/Fort Bragg/Pope Air Force Base region of North Carolina from May 16 through 26. Among the many activities planned are air shows, of course, emphasizing both civilian and military aviation technology, cultural events including the region's schools adapting and implementing a curriculum of aviation history and technology for the fourth, eighth, and 11th grades. In addition, there will be a huge parade on Memorial Day itself on May 26 honoring those who have given their very lives in the quest of flight.

Mr. Speaker, this is a once-in-a-lifetime event, and we are here today to honor and to celebrate the all-American city of Fayetteville and its many partners for this fabulous Festival of Flight celebration. So many people in organizations have contributed time, energy and resources to plan for this special 11-day event. We hope that each of the Members and all Americans can join to look back and honor the work of the Wright brothers and also look forward to another 100 years of progress in flight. I urge the passage of this matter.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 2 minutes.

In October, 1998, this body passed a bill to establish a commemoration of the centennial of powered flight and the achievements of the Wright brothers. The commemoration activities set forth in that bill will come to fruition this year with the Festival of Flight. The Festival of Flight will consist of four events that will be held nationwide to celebrate Wilbur and Orville Wright's first flight. Wilbur and Orville Wright manned the first successful controlled and sustained powered flight. The Wright brothers, originally bicycle store owners from Dayton, Ohio, moved to Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, for the hills, strong and steady winds, and the soft-sanded ground, ingredients for a successful flight. They went back to Dayton and built a 6-foot wind tunnel to conduct experiments with over 200 different wing models. They developed the first reliable tables on the effects of air pressure on curved surfaces. The principles that we use today and that we see on every airplane were the very principles that they explored.

In 1903 the Wright brothers completed the construction of a larger plane powered by their own lightweight gas-powered engine and returned to Kitty Hawk. On December 17, 1903, four men and a boy witnessed the first flight, a flight which dramatically changed the course of transportation, commerce, communication, and warfare throughout the world.

I hope that the Festival of Flight will educate Americans to the achievements of the Wright brothers and their contributions to the development of this Nation. I urge my colleagues to support this legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 6 minutes to the author of the proposal before us, the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Etheridge), to speak in support of the concurrent resolution before us.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. McIntyre), one of the co-sponsors of this legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of honoring the City of Fayetteville, North Carolina, and the many public and private partners for their participation in organizing the Festival of Flight. The Festival of Flight will be the largest public centennial event in North Carolina and one of only four events nationwide endorsed as a full partner by the United States Centennial of Flight Commission.

On December 17, 1903, Wilbur and Orville Wright launched mankind's first sustained and controlled flight in a heavier-than-air, engine powered aircraft at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. Although the flight only lasted 12 seconds, and covered approximately 120 feet, this achievement fundamentally changed the world.

The invention of powered air travel altered the way we fight wars, revolutionized travel and commerce, and fueled technological and scientific innovation. Fayetteville is blessed to be the home of the XVIII Airborne Corps stationed at Fort Bragg and Pope Air Force Base. These bases are home to some of the most advanced and successful aircraft the world has ever seen. From the A-10 Warthog to C-130 cargo planes, aviation in Fayetteville is an interregnal part of the United States armed forces.

The Festival of Flight will highlight both civilian and military aircraft and the continuing evolution in technology. From an arts festival to military and general aviation air shows, the past, present, and future of aviation will be on display to educate the public of the continued importance of aviation.

I commend the outstanding work of local leaders and volunteers in the Fayetteville community for their hard work and effort to honor this historic moment in human history.

I urge my colleagues to join with me in honoring the Fayetteville, North Carolina, Festival of Flight by supporting H. Con. Res. 58.