Honoring African American inventors, past and present, for their leadership, courage, and significant contributions to our national competitiveness.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 966) honoring African American inventors, past and present, for their leadership, courage, and significant contributions to our national competitiveness.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous materials on H. Res. 966.

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

Mr. Speaker, in celebration of February as Black History Month, I offer this resolution to celebrate the accomplishments of four outstanding inventors.

The first, Garrett Augustus Morgan, lived from 1877 to 1963 and was a son of former slaves. He grew up in Kentucky on the family farm, but as an adolescent, he worked as a handyman for a wealthy Cincinnati landowner. Surely that early experience, as well as his education, influenced and shaped his interest as an inventor.

Among his inventions, Garrett Morgan designed a traffic signal that greatly improved public safety. In the early 1900s, bicycles, animal- powered carts, and motor vehicles shared the roads with pedestrians. Accidents frequently occurred between the vehicles. After witnessing a collision between an automobile and a horse-driven carriage, Morgan was convinced that something should be done to improve traffic safety. He was the first to be granted a patent for a traffic signal containing the caution provision.

Prior to Morgan's invention, most of the traffic signals in use featured only two positions: stop and go. Because the manually operated traffic signals of the day allowed no interval between the ``stop'' and ``go'' commands, collisions at busy intersections were common during the transition moving from one street to another. Morgan's traffic signal, as well as others, such as a safety hood and smoke protector, contributed greatly to public safety. Such a simple innovation, yet a major impact.

The second innovator mentioned in this resolution is Ernest Everett Just, who lived from 1883 to 1941. He grew up in Charleston, South Carolina, and was the son of a dock builder. He dedicated his life to cell biology research and earned a Ph.D at the University of Chicago. He studied the fundamental role of the cell surface in the development of organisms. He performed his research in the District of Columbia, Chicago, and Massachusetts, as well as in Italy, Germany, and France.

Ernest Just was truly a trailblazer during the time when African American researchers were rare and underappreciated.

The third individual to be honored is Archibald Alphonso Alexander, who lived from 1888 to 1958. Born in Iowa, the son of a janitor, Alexander was the first African American to graduate from the University of Iowa. He studied bridge design in London, England, and founded his own business in the 1920s. He and his partners designed and constructed many roads and bridges, including the Whitehurst Freeway, the Tidal Basin Bridge and an extension to the Baltimore-Washington Parkway.

He designed the Tuskegee Airfield and the Iowa State University heating and cooling system. He was truly a Renaissance man. He excelled in football, designed highway infrastructure, and served as Governor of the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Finally, my resolution honors David Nelson Crosthwait, Jr., who lived from 1898 to 1976. He was born in Nashville, Tennessee, and grew up in Kansas City, Missouri. After graduating from Purdue University in 1913 where he studied mechanical engineering, he took a job with the C.A. Dunham Company.

During his 40 years with the company, he became an expert on heat transfer, air ventilation, and central air-conditioning. He authored a manual on heating and cooling with water. He also wrote guides and standards as well as codes that dealt with heating, ventilation, refrigeration, and air-conditioning systems.

During the 1920s and 1930s, he invented an improved boiler, a new thermostat control, and a new differential vacuum pump, which were all more effective for the heating systems in larger buildings. He also held numerous patents and designed the heating systems for Radio City Music Hall and Rockefeller Center.

These four individuals and so many others overcame the tremendous personal challenges to excel in their careers and benefit society.

The National Society of Black Engineers has chosen to lift up these

innovators, and I thank the society for its helpful input in designing this resolution to honor these exceptional men.

Let their light shine as an example to the thousands of African American young students across the Nation. The message of their lives, that of Black History Month, and that of this resolution: with challenge comes perseverance, with perseverance comes endurance, with endurance comes strength, and with strength comes success.

It is my goal to wish success to all students of color who aspire to future careers in science, technology, engineering, and math.

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

Mr. Speaker, I have no requests for speaking, and I reserve.

Mr. Speaker, I would simply ask for support of H. Res. 966 and thank the Speaker, as well as the gentleman on the other side and all the staff for assisting.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H. Res. 966. It's fitting that this Congress is also considering the gentlelady from Texas', Mrs. Johnson's, resolution on the same day that we're celebrating National Engineers Week.

H. Res. 966 honors African American inventors, past and present, for their leadership, courage, and significant contributions to our national competitiveness. Three of the men we honor today were engineers; the fourth, a renowned biologist. Their contributions to our Nation are many; their drive to achieve success, often in the face of adversity, admirable; and their recognition today, highly deserved.

We owe a debt of gratitude to Garrett Augustus Morgan for the contributions he made to public safety with safety helmet, gas mask, and traffic signal inventions.

Ernest Everett Just's cellular work to help find a cure for sickle cell anemia and cancer helped him become one of the most well-respected scientists in his field.

Many of the roads we travel on in the D.C. area, including the Tidal Basin Bridge, the Whitehurst Freeway and much of the Baltimore- Washington Parkway, were designed by Archibald Alphonso Alexander.

Considered an expert in heat transfer, ventilation, and air conditioning, David Nelson Crosthwait, Jr., invented numerous practical heating devices. These include an improved boiler, thermostat control, and differential vacuum pump for larger buildings, such as Radio City Music Hall and Rockefeller Center.

These men are role models for our next generation of scientists and engineers. This Congress, through America COMPETES, has made great strides to ensure that our Nation continues to attract the best and the brightest to these admirable and important careers.

I support H. Res. 966 and encourage my colleagues to do the same.

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

Mr. Speaker, I yield back.

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

Madam Speaker, due to events in my district I will miss votes on February 14, 2008. Had I been present, the Record would reflect the following votes:

H. Res. 982, providing for the adoption of H. Res. 979 and H. Res. 980, contempt of Congress resolutions, ``yea.''

H. Res. 966, honoring African-American inventors, past and present, for their leadership, courage, and significant contributions to our national competitiveness, ``yea.''

H.R. 1834, National Ocean Exploration Program Act, ``yea.''

S. 2571, to make technical corrections to the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act, ``yea.''

H. Con. Res. 289, honoring and praising the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People on the occasion of its 99th anniversary, ``yea.''

H.R. 4169, American Braille Flag Memorial Act, ``yea.''

H. Res. 790, commending the people of the State of Washington for showing their support for the needs of the State of Washington's veterans and encouraging residents of the other States to pursue creative ways to show their own support for veterans, ``yea.''

H. Res. 963, supporting the goals and ideals of National Salute to Hospitalized Veterans Week, ``yea.''

H. Res. 972, supporting the goals and ideals of American Heart Month and National Wear Red Day, ``yea.''

Madam Speaker, I was unable to participate in the following vote. If I had been present, I would have voted as follows:

February 14, 2008, Rollcall vote 61, on motion to suspend the rules and agree--H. Res. 966, Honoring African-American inventors, past and present, for their leadership, courage, and significant contributions to our national competitiveness--I would have voted ``aye''.

Mr. Speaker, on Thursday, February 14, 2008, I was unavoidably detained and missed rollcall vote No. 61. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' (on motion to suspend the rules and agree to H. Res. 966, honoring African American inventors, past and present, for their leadership, courage, and significant contributions to our national competitiveness).