Commending the Boise State University Broncos football team for winning the 2007 Fiesta Bowl and completing an undefeated season.

Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 43) commending the Boise State University Broncos football team for winning the 2007 Fiesta Bowl and completing an undefeated season.

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent for 5 legislative days during which Members may insert into the Record any material relevant to H. Res. 43.

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

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

Madam Speaker, I rise to commend the Boise State University Broncos' victory over the mighty Oklahoma Sooners in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl.

For all of you who watched the game, you know it was an exciting game from start to finish, and anyone who was not a fan of the Sooners had no choice but to cheer for the underdog Boise State as the game progressed into the second half and overtime.

Every player for the Broncos should be commended for their effort throughout the game, and head coach, Chris Peterson, should be commended for making risky calls and preparing his team, a decided underdog, for success and for victory.

Since the Bowl Championship Series began in the 1998-1999 college football season, only two teams from non-BCS conferences have been invited to BCS games. Following the 2004 season, the Utah Utes from the Mountain West Conference defeated the Pittsburgh Panthers in the 2005 Fiesta Bowl, and now the Boise State Broncos from the Western Athletic Conference have become the second non-BCS team to win a BCS game, winning one of the most exciting games ever played.

Boise State's success should not be a shock to anyone who has followed this team over the past 5 years. Their victory in the Fiesta Bowl completes an undefeated season and their second 13-win season in the past 4 years.

Over the past 5 years, they have an astounding 58 wins and only seven losses. There are very few teams during that span of time to have experienced a modicum of success that this State University in Idaho has experienced.

I also want to congratulate the Oklahoma Sooners for battling their way back in this very exciting ball game. They fell behind by 18 early in the second half, but showed tremendous poise and character by coming back in the game and even taking the lead very late in the game.

However, after it was all said and done, the Broncos, led by quarterback Jared Zabransky, executed a tremendous hook and ladder for a touchdown to send the game in overtime. In overtime, Boise State, down one, went for a two-point conversion, and called the patriotic Statue of Liberty play, run by Ivan Johnson, to complete the 43-42 victory.

I congratulate Boise State University's president, Dr. Bob Kustra, Coach Chris Peterson, and the Boise State University's football team for a wonderful season and for being the only undefeated major division college football team in the Nation.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, let me thank the gentleman from Idaho (Mr. Simpson). And there is no question that he has every right to be very proud of the Boise State Broncos.

As a matter of fact, I think that because it is a small school, because it is a school that is not the perennial schools that finish up top, say, the last 50 years, for the last 8 or 10 years Boise State has had a difficult time trying to prove its worth. Even though they beat top contenders, they will say it was a fluke; it was some mistake, it was just by luck. And I think that by their continuing winning, by them moving up and winning the national championship, I believe that they will finally have the naysayers saying that this is really an outstanding team.

We found the same situation in the great State of New Jersey, where Rutgers University, a State university that has had a terrible football program for years and years and years, although it played one of the first football games in the country in 1897 against Princeton, when Princeton and Rutgers played. They have now, finally, been able to, after last year wasn't a fluke, this year losing only two games and going to a major bowl.

Athletes from New Jersey now are staying in New Jersey, and that is what made the difference. New Jersey athletes have made other States' teams great, and now that they are staying in the State, we will certainly expect to see Rutgers University, perhaps, play Boise State next year for the national championship.

So with that, Madam Speaker, I, again, congratulate the Boise State Broncos.

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

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

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to congratulate the Boise State University Broncos football team on an exceptional football season and a great victory in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl.

I listened with interest to the last resolution congratulating Florida and the Florida Gators and their national championship game. They truly deserved it. The Florida Gators went into the game against Ohio State as significant underdogs in the minds of most of the media, and so did the Boise State Broncos against the Oklahoma Sooners enter that game as significant underdogs. Nobody really gave them a chance.

But when the Broncos defeated the University of Oklahoma in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl on New Year's Day, they completed the only, and I will repeat, the only undefeated season of any Division I-A collegiate football team in the 2006-2007 season. More than that, they showed the country what thousands of Boise State fans, known as the Bronco Nation, already know; the Boise State Broncos can play with the best.

Some have suggested that maybe Boise State doesn't have as tough a schedule as some other teams. I will tell you that on their schedule this year I think they played six teams that were in bowl games in post season. They had a pretty tough schedule, and they beat them all.

The 2007 Fiesta Bowl will go down in the books as one of the best and most exciting games in the history of college football. Both teams played with talents and heart, unwilling to let mistakes or shifts in momentum force their hands. And when, with only moments left in regulation, it looked like it was all over, the Broncos knew otherwise and turned to the back of their playbook.

Plays like the ``hook-and-lateral'' and the now famous ``Statue of Liberty'' required creativity, skill and guts. The talented Broncos executed them perfectly, winning the game in the heart-stopping last seconds of overtime. Head Coach Chris Peterson and his players should be commended for their courage, resolve and ability.

Last week Coach Peterson was awarded the Paul ``Bear'' Bryant Award and was named 2006 National Coach of the Year. He and his talented coaching staff will continue striving to make a winning program even better.

The BSU Bronco football program has taken gifted, big-hearted young men and created an impressive legacy in the making. The Broncos have won the last five consecutive Western Athletic Conference football championships and, with the Nation's top scoring Division I-A football team for the last seven seasons.

Their roster includes such talents as quarterback Jared Zabransky, the game's Offensive Most Valuable Player, who completed his college football career with a 33-5 record as starting quarterback; Marty Tadman, Defensive MVP of the game; and Ian Johnson, one of the Nation's most exciting running backs, who scored the game-winning two-point conversion in overtime, and after the game proposed to his fiancee, now a Boise State cheerleader. I don't know if I would have had that much courage, quite frankly, to propose to someone on national television. But it just shows the heart and courage of this team.

These stars are just a few examples of the determination, talent and heart that make up the whole Bronco football team. The entire team should be commended for both its success on the field and the character displayed by each individual.

The Boise State Broncos football team has made us proud; has made the State of Idaho, the City of Boise proud, and I am glad that we have this chance to recognize them today.

And in case anybody wonders if this is just about football, I will tell you, in talking to the President of the University, he said that after the Bronco season, the number of applications for the

postgraduate program has skyrocketed. So this is more than just about football. It is about national recognition for a team and a school, and the outstanding character of that school and the educational opportunities it provides to people from all over this country.

Madam Speaker, I thank you for allowing me to speak on this and for bringing this to the floor today. This Saturday they have a parade and a day of recognition for the Boise State team, and I am sure that they will be very honored to have this.

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

Madam Speaker, I rise in support of House Resolution 43. This resolution recognizes the stellar undefeated season of the Boise State Broncos, as well as their dazzling 43-42 win over the University of Oklahoma Sooners at the 2007 Bowl Championship Series' Fiesta Bowl.

Boise State was wisely considered the underdog going into the game and walked away with an impressive victory. Many considered it to be the best college football game ever played. I urge my colleagues to support this resolution.

Madam Speaker, I yield the balance of my time to the gentleman from Idaho (Mr. Simpson), and I ask unanimous consent that he be allowed to control that time.

Madam Speaker, pursuant to my leave of absence, I am submitting for the Record how I would have voted if I had been present earlier today.

I would have voted ``aye'' on all suspension measures put to the House for a rollcall vote which are as follows:

Rollcall No. 24 ``aye''--H. Res. 61--observing and celebrating the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr. Rollcall No. 25 ``aye''--H. Res 39--Commending the University of Florida Gators for their victory in the 2006 BCS. Rollcall No. 26 ``aye''--H. Res. 43--Commending the Boise State University Broncos football team for winning the 2007 Fiesta Bowl and Completing an undefeated season

Madam Speaker, on rollcall No. 26; on the motion to suspend the rules and agree to H. Res. 43, had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.''