Congratulating Lance Armstrong on his record-setting victory in the 2004 Tour de France.

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

Mr. Speaker, I am here today to honor a survivor, a role model, a real-life American hero and, yes, a proud citizen of the capital city of the Lone Star State of Texas.

The name Lance Armstrong simultaneously strikes fear in the hearts of competitors, hope in the hearts of cancer victims, inspiration for survivors around the world and pride in the hearts of Americans everywhere.

After winning his sixth consecutive Tour de France, the most of any cyclist in the history of this event, we have special reason to celebrate today with this resolution. For the more than 10 million Americans living with cancer, as survivors, Lance Armstrong is a true champion in a very personal and particularly meaningful way.

I believe that we are defined not by our setbacks but by our relentless determination to overcome them. Lance Armstrong offers particular evidence of the importance of that approach. I remember watching in awe as Lance crossed the finish line after winning the first Tour de France, overcoming a grueling battle with cancer and a grueling Tour de France. I was overcome with not just the importance of that moment but with the importance of everything that Lance had accomplished in getting to that point.

While his accomplishments on his bike ensure him a place in history, his work as a public health champion right here in the United States Capital, in Austin and throughout the country have assured him a place in the hearts of many who battle cancer and the families and friends who love them. To meet the challenge, to strive to succeed whether in the Tour de France or the fight against cancer, Lance's work shows us the power of personal perseverance.

After an early career, Lance was stricken with a carcinoma, a life- threatening advanced form of testicular cancer that spread to his lungs and brain. While his own recuperation was still not finished, he began to worry about the impact of the disease on others. The drive and determination that the world got to see on display during the Tour de France was evident to cancer patients and survivors before he wore the yellow jersey on the streets of Paris.

That spirit led him to create the Lance Armstrong Foundation, an organization that has raised millions for cancer research, diagnosis, treatment and after-treatment services. Sales of the group's distinctive yellow wristbands, wristbands that I have seen around the country, with Lance's motto, ``Live Strong,'' can be seen as evidence of the support not only for Lance but for all of those who battle cancer.

Not satisfied with being the best cyclist to beat cancer, Lance set out with the goal of being the best cyclist, period. Five years later, he has shown the world again and again, again and again, that determination, character and perseverance accomplish just that. His accomplishments remind us that for more people there should be life after cancer, and it should be meaningful.

This proud Texan and cancer survivor, public health advocate, Olympian and, now, six time Tour de France champion has captivated the imagination and won the hearts of my homestate of Texas, our Nation and the world. I believe it is fair to say that nowhere is the enthusiasm greater than in Austin, where you see yellow bikes everywhere. You see yellow jerseys. You see yellow signs, and that yellow, when it comes to the Tour de France, is a sign of the courage of Lance Armstrong with this historic victory.

Nothing has been more fun for me, Mr. Speaker, in the last few months, than riding down Congress Avenue toward the Texas state capitol with Lance Armstrong, Mayor Will Wynn and a group of Austin police officers as some 70,000 of Lance's fans gathered to cheer and share in this victory for our community.

We can honor Lance's victory by not only this resolution but by supporting the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Comprehensive Cancer Control system, which is supported by the Lance Armstrong Foundation. This CCC system is a coordinated approach to reducing cancer incidents, morbidity and mortality through prevention, early detection, treatment and rehabilitation.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, implementation of this approach would help to prevent new cases of cancer, detect cancer early, increase public education and awareness about cancer control, utilize state-of-the-art cancer treatments, provide appropriate rehabilitation and support in cancer care and use limited resources for cancer control more efficiently, eliminating duplication of efforts. There is little doubt why the Lance Armstrong Foundation supports this approach, and I hope Congress can do as well.

We can also honor Lance's victory by recommitting ourselves and increasing funding for transportation enhancements. As a member of the Congressional Bike Caucus, a bipartisan effort aimed at encouraging cycling, I believe that we have an excellent opportunity through the transportation legislation that is pending to honor Lance once again. We have a great Lance Armstrong cross-town bikeway underway in Austin, but it needs to be connected to trails throughout the community. I am pleased the House has recently approved $9 million to do that in east Austin in this transportation bill.

One day we will have the ability for people in central Texas to commute by bike from downtown all the way to the Dell Diamond out in Round Rock and the many trails around the area, similar to ones we have here in the Washington, D.C., area, can be in the capital city of the State of Texas.

Well, it is not just that Lance Armstrong has faced difficult circumstances with cancer, he also outlines in his own book the challenges he faced as a cyclist on highways and byways in Texas. Through the efforts not only of Lance but of the Texas Bicycle Coalition and particularly its very effective leader and executive director, Robin Stallings, we are doing much to promote increased use of cycling in Texas for all, bike to work, bike to school and safe programs going to school. Even if it is just going down to get a gallon of milk or a recreational ride, we can do much more with cycling and to honor Lance by continuing to promote cycling as a wise transportation alternative. We must stay committed to transportation enhancement funding that will allow us to do that and ensure that we have many more people who aspire to the athletic ability of Lance Armstrong but also that, for all the rest of us, there are cycling alternatives as well.

We have gained inspiration from his work, from the work of the Lance Armstrong Foundation, and I am honored to author this resolution that reflects the House of Representatives' recognition of Armstrong's many accomplishments, both on and off the bicycle.

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Oberstar).

Mr. Speaker, I am happy to yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Blumenauer).

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

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

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 761) congratulating Lance Armstrong on his record- setting victory in the 2004 Tour de France.

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. Res. 761, the resolution under consideration.

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

Mr. Speaker, today the House celebrates flat out the greatest cyclist who ever lived. Lance Armstrong won his record sixth Tour de France title in July, and for that reason, we honor his successes on the House floor today.

He broke the record of five straight tours held by himself and Spain's Miguel Indurain who won the race from 1991 through 1995.

No one had ever even won six Tour de France races, let alone six straight.

With his victory, Lance Armstrong further cemented his place as one of sports' greatest individual athletes. His incredible accomplishment of six straight grueling Tour de France wins can be ranked among any of sports' greatest feats; Joe Dimaggio's 56-game hitting streak and Cal Ripken's 2,632 consecutive games played; Edwin Moses' 107 straight hurdles finals wins in track; Wayne Gretzky's 51-game scoring streak in hockey; Bobby Bonds' soon-to-break Henry Aaron's record.

These are all amazing accomplishments, and by virtue of his victory, Lance Armstrong quite simply joins those people as an athlete for the ages. Perhaps more amazing than being the world's greatest cyclist is the fact that Lance is living, period. Eight years ago, he overcame a deadly form of cancer.

Lance has been a stellar athlete since his youth, playing soccer and cycling, but after high school, he focused solely on cycling. From 1991 through 1996, Lance won 13 bike races, including the U.S. National Amateur Championship in 1991 and the World Championships in 1993. By 1996, Armstrong was the top ranked cyclist in the world. But during 1996, after a victory at the Tour Dupont in North Carolina, he began to feel fatigued and more discomfort than usual, even after an exhausting race. Later that year, he was diagnosed with testicular cancer.

Some of Lance's doctors at the time gave him only a 40 percent chance of surviving. And interestingly enough, he is quoted in his book as saying he thought they were being kind. Lance underwent three major operations. He endured chemotherapy to fight off the disease that had spread to his abdomen, his lungs and his brain. And remarkably, with the help of our scientists and medicine, the treatments were successful. Within a short year of being diagnosed with cancer, he was pronounced cancer free.

As a survivor, Lance became one of the world's most influential cancer research advocates. You and I probably see him on TV every now and then. He founded the Lance Armstrong Foundation to promote cancer research and awareness. He also wrote the best selling book, It's Not About the Bike: My Journey Back to Life. It tells the full story of how his early successes were interrupted by cancer, how he survived cancer and how he eventually returned to racing and won his first Tour de France in 1999.

Mr. Speaker, now that Lance has won his sixth straight race at the Tour de France, I strongly urge adoption of this measure. We all congratulate Lance for the most recent of his six incredible wins on the world's greatest cycling stage and for his fervent advocacy of cancer research. I urge my colleagues to adopt this resolution. Today, it is not Vive la France; today, it is Vive la Lance.

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

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

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time, and I urge Members to support this legislation. Lance Armstrong is a true American hero, and he has proved it not only with his initial victory but five times over.

I urge passage of this legislation.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise to join in commending Lance Armstrong on his 6th consecutive victory in the Tour de France. I know that the gentleman from Nebraska (Mr. Osborne) recognizes the extraordinary accomplishment that winning the Tour de France represents.

This is the world's greatest athletic endurance contest. No comparison. It would be like compressing the National Football League's 16 games into 3 weeks, a game a day. I do not think there are any who could sustain the enormous output of energy required by even the least of the 192 riders who begin each year's Tour de France.

To win a stage is a great accomplishment. To win the tour is extraordinary. Only five have won five tours. Only two have won five tours consecutively. And only one has won the Tour de France six times consecutively, and that is our America's Lance Armstrong.

Over 13 million people this year watched in person the Tour de France. It is the greatest citizens sporting event. No one pays to be on the sidelines, to be in attendance at the Tour de France. There are no tickets. There is no reserved seating. There is no special place. There is no charge. And yet a million people watched the time trial on Alpe d'Huez in which the riders in 9\1/2\ miles climb 5,000 feet with 21 switchbacks in a race against the clock and which is in itself probably the most challenging sports event in the history of athletics.

Lance Armstrong, after already riding over 2,000 miles, came within 1

second of the all-time record time trial climb on Alpe d'Huez, but that was enough to put him in the record books to solidify his position. As a leader, as an athlete, but, as he would like to be known, as a cancer survivor, he is quick to point out that while all of his accomplishments in the field of cycling are extraordinary, his greatest claim is as a cancer survivor.

Mr. Speaker, I offer strong support for House Resolution 761 that honors Lance Armstrong on his record-setting victory in the 2004 Tour de France. In July, Lance Armstrong proved again that he remains the world's greatest cyclist by winning his sixth consecutive Tour de France, an all-time record. I was pleased to advance this resolution to the House floor from the Committee on Government Reform, which I am privileged to chair, and I strongly urge its adoption by the full House.

As someone who previously coped with two bouts of melanoma, I am particularly in awe of Lance's perseverance to outlast a pernicious form of testicular cancer. Incredibly, at just age 25, Lance learned that cancerous cells had spread to his abdomen, lungs and brain. Through extensive treatments provided by his outstanding doctors, Lance was pronounced cancer-free within a year of his diagnosis.

Lance's wonderful recovery was perhaps only topped by his astounding comeback. Winning the 1999 Tour de France highlighted his return to racing, just over two years after he beat cancer. He became only the second American to ever win the race. As we all know, Lance did not stop after one victory. He has returned to France each of the last five summers, and he has won the race five more times.

Lance Armstrong personifies hope for those suffering from cancer and other serious illnesses, and indeed, all Americans. Therefore I am pleased that the House is taking time to pay tribute to his tenacity, work ethic and patriotism.

Mr. Speaker, in closing, I congratulate Lance Armstrong on his awesome performance in the 2004 Tour de France and wish him the very best in his future pursuits.

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the gentleman's courtesy.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to follow on the heels of my friend, the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Oberstar) and join in celebrating the amazing athletic accomplishments of Lance Armstrong.

As my colleague mentioned, it is not just one person's struggle against the finest athletes in the world on bicycles, or the most challenging terrain; it was a signal event in terms of concentration and endurance to be able to win this an unprecedented sixth time in a row. It was also one person's struggle in terms of recovering in a battle against cancer to become perhaps the preeminent athlete in the world.

Finally, the point I would make is that Lance Armstrong helps us put a human face on the mode of transportation by cycling. It is not just the most efficient mode of urban transportation ever developed, it is something that is making a difference in the lives and livelihood of people around the country. It is a $6 billion industry. Over 33 million Americans rode their bikes last month, and about half a million get to work every day commuting by bicycle.

Last, but by no means least, at a time when we are deeply concerned about an epidemic of childhood obesity, cycling is a simple, common- sense way for young people to become physically fit, while they help protect our environment and learn lifelong health skills.