Expressing the sense of Congress that the Government of the United States should submit the Government of Iraq a draft bilateral status-of-forces agreement by not later than June 1, 2007.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today, on the occasion of the First Annual Duke Ellington Jazz Festival, to pay tribute to one of our Nation's great jazz musicians, Dave Brubeck, for his contributions to American jazz music. On September 30, 2004, Congress passed H. Con. Res. 501 paying tribute to the festival's namesake, Duke Ellington, a DC native and a celebrated American musical genius. I am proud that from September 28 through October 3, 2005, the Nation's Capital will honor Ellington with the first annual Duke Ellington Jazz Festival in the District of Columbia. Special recognition for Dave Brubeck will be among the opening activities of the festival.

We inaugurate our jazz festival in the city of Washington as New Orleans, the great city that gave birth to jazz, has been overwhelmed by flood and hurricane. We know that New Orleans will overcome and will rise to reclaim its people, its culture, and its precious jazz heritage and leadership.

Dave Brubeck stands as one of jazz music's living legends, and he is equally distinguished as a composer and pianist. Mr. Brubeck began his musical studies at the College of the Pacific, earning his degree in 1942. Shortly thereafter he entered the United States Army, where he served honorably in General George Patton's 3rd Army during World War II. Near the end of the war Mr. Brubeck played

in an Army band that he himself integrated, one of the first integrated units of any type in the entire military.

After his military service, Dave Brubeck returned to school to study music, enrolling at Mills College in Oakland, CA. There he studied under the distinguished composer Darius Milhaud, and upon graduation, Mr. Brubeck formed the Dave Brubeck Octet. He later gained great notoriety after forming the Dave Brubeck Quartet.

By 1954 Mr. Brubeck's popularity was such that his picture appeared on the cover of Time Magazine, and his recordings were being played throughout the world. His album ``Time Out'' and the hits ``Take Five'' and ``Blue Rondo a la Turk'' ``went gold,'' a rare feat for an instrumental jazz recording.

Subsequent world tours by the Quartet, including several for the U.S. State Department, made Brubeck one of America's foremost goodwill ambassadors. He entertained world leaders at the Reagan-Gorbachev Summit in Moscow in 1988; he has performed before eight U.S. presidents, princes, kings, heads of state and Pope John Paul II. Always expanding jazz horizons, the Dave Brubeck Quartet performed, and in 1959 recorded, with Leonard Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. An early experimenter in combining jazz with symphony orchestras, Brubeck continues to appear as composer-performer in concerts of his choral and symphonic orchestral compositions. He celebrated his 80th birthday with the London Symphony Orchestra, performing an all-Brubeck program.

Mr. Brubeck has received many honors, including a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, the Down Beat Hall of Fame, the Jazz Institute Hall of Fame at Rutgers University, the American Eagle Award from the National Music Council, the Gerard Manley Hopkins Award from Fairfield University, the Connecticut Arts Award, Helwig Distinguished Artist Award, and honorary doctorates from six American universities, one from the University of Duisburg in Germany and Nottingham University in England. Early this year he received the Benny Carter Award from the Association of Jazz Societies. The French Government has cited him for his contribution to the arts. In 1999, the National Endowment of the Arts honored Mr. Brubeck as an NEA Jazz Master.

He has recently received the Smithson Medal and awards from the Music Educators National Conference, the National Music Teachers Association and Columbia University Teachers College. The State of California presented him with its first Golden State award. The University of the Pacific has honored him with the establishment of the Brubeck Institute that is dedicated to the promulgation of contemporary music of all styles, with an emphasis on jazz and improvisation.

Duke Ellington himself was a great influence on Dave Brubeck, and Mr. Brubeck even performed onstage with the maestro at one point during his career. Among his many accomplishments, Dave Brubeck is credited with bringing an enthusiasm for jazz music to college campuses and an entire generation of young Americans. As a sign of his talents, Mr. Brubeck has been a performer at the White House two times, in 1964 and 1981. His passion for his music continues to this day, as he is still touring and releasing songs.

For his many accomplishments, I join jazz supporters in the Nation's Capital and the Congress in paying tribute to David Brubeck on the occasion of the First Annual Duke Ellington Jazz Festival in the District of Columbia.