Commending the University of Nebraska-Lincoln volleyball team for winning the NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championship.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 99) commending the University of Nebraska-Lincoln volleyball team for winning the NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championship, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that Members may have 5 legislative days to insert material relevant to House Resolution 99 into the Record.

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

(Mrs. DAVIS of California asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Mr. Speaker, I want to congratulate the University of Nebraska-Lincoln for winning the NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championship.

On December 16, 2006, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Huskers volleyball team won the 2006 NCAA Division I Championship by defeating the Stanford University Cardinals at the Qwest Center in Omaha, Nebraska.

I want to extend my congratulations to head coach John Cook, head assistant coach Lee Meas, assistant coach Charlene Johnson-Tagaloa, and the director of volleyball operations Lindsay Wischmeier. Also supporting the team was athletic director Steve Pederson and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln chancellor Harvey Perlman.

The Huskers, Mr. Speaker, had an exceptional record of 33-1 and had four All-Americans on their team. Junior Sarah Pavan also won the 2006- 2007 Honda Sports Award. This award is given to the Nation's top collegiate female volleyball player. Pavan was also named the ESPN Magazine Academic All-American of the Year.

And I also want to extend my congratulations to the Stanford University Cardinals. The Cardinals had a record of 30-4. The Cardinals were the PAC-10 Conference champions and were honored by four women receiving All-American honors.

Student athletes, as we know, balance a rigorous school workload with the many practices and games in which they compete.

So I am proud of all the student athletes for their dedication to their school work and their sport. The NCAA promotes its 380,000 student athletes to work with numerous service organizations, including the American Red Cross, Habitat for Humanity and the American Cancer Society.

Winning the national championship and finishing the season with a 33- 1 record has brought positive national recognition and attention to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and I know that the fans of the university will cherish this moment as they look forward to the 2007 season.

Mr. Speaker, once again, I congratulate the University of Nebraska- Lincoln for their success.

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

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

Mr. Speaker, I am just going to close on this resolution and thank my colleagues for bringing it to the floor. This is House Resolution 99, which commends the University of Nebraska- Lincoln volleyball team for winning the NCAA Division I women's volleyball championship. It has been fun for me to listen to my colleagues as they commend this spectacular team. And even though I am a Californian, I still want to let them know that this is a wonderful accomplishment, and particularly, I applaud the women athletes that were part of this contest.

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

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

Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to rise in support of House Resolution 99. This resolution honors the top-ranked University of Nebraska women's volleyball team for their victory over the second-ranked Stanford University Cardinals. The Huskers rallied to defeat Stanford 3-1 for their third NCAA Division I women's volleyball championship in front of a record crowd of 17,209 fans at the Quest Center in Omaha.

Led by four All-Americans, including national player of the year Sarah Pavan, the Huskers won the school's ninth Big 12 title in 11 years with a 19-1 Big 12 record, and a 33-1 overall record. This is the second national title that the team has won with head coach John Cook leading the team.

I extend my congratulations to Coach John Cook, all of the hardworking players, the fans and the University of Nebraska. I am happy to join my good friends and colleagues, Representatives Smith, Fortenberry, and Terry, in honoring this exceptional team and all of its accomplishments, and wish all involved success in the future.

My only regret, since I enjoy playing volleyball myself, is that I never had the opportunity to watch them play in person. But it would have been a real pleasure, had I been able to.

I ask my colleagues to support this resolution.

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

Mr. Speaker, on behalf of Mr. Smith, the sponsor of this resolution, I apologize on his behalf that he is unable to be here, but he dearly wanted to be here to speak on this resolution. In his absence, I am next pleased to yield 3 minutes to another gentleman from Nebraska (Mr. Fortenberry).

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

Mr. Speaker, first of all, I want to thank the previous speaker for commending me for my support of Nebraska athletes. That is certainly true, except for one time when I was invited to speak to a conference at the University of Nebraska. At this conference, I was speaking on teaching better mathematics in elementary schools. Then I saw a huge billboard as I was driving into Lincoln to give the speech, and I saw how badly they needed my speech on mathematics, because there was a big billboard that announced ``Welcome to the University of Nebraska. Home of the number one football team in America.'' Well, that year, of course, Michigan was the number one team, but Nebraska refused to concede that.

Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to yield 3 minutes to another gentleman from Nebraska (Mr. Terry).

Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers, so I am pleased to yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, yes, we enjoy, ranking member, former chairman, Michigan Stater, having that 1997 national championship trophy prominently displayed when you walk into the athletic facilities. It is too bad that we weren't able to leave that game on the field back then, but I am sure that Nebraska would have won by 30 or 40 points.

Now, I have to defend the football team, Mr. Speaker, when challenged like that.

But I am so proud of our women's volleyball team and to be a cosponsor with Adrian Smith of this resolution. What an incredible achievement. Our volleyball team started the season ranked number one with high expectations and ended the season number one in a hard-fought duel with Stanford, the number two rated team in the Nation. And some even had the audacity to think that Stanford was a better team. But, boy, it was the match of a century, two titans battling it out. And the University of Nebraska in the fifth game prevailed for the national championship.

Not only are we proud of the University of Nebraska women's volleyball team for their play on the court but also those in attendance. My hometown of Omaha hosted the national championship tournament, and we now hold the record for attendance for a women's volleyball match in America; 17,200 fans attended each session. I think that speaks well of the sports enthusiasm in Nebraska.

I also want to acknowledge one of the players on that team, Sarah Pavan, a junior, who has become the second player in NCAA history to be named the American Volleyball Coaches Association Player of the Year and Academic All-American of the year from ESPN Magazine. That is truly a student athlete.

I urge all of my colleagues to join the Nebraska delegation today in recognizing the outstanding play of our volleyball team, the coaching and the support that this volleyball team has from its fans in Nebraska.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in favor of House Resolution 99, congratulating the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Women's Volleyball team on winning the 2006 NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championship. December 16, 2006 marked the completion of a phenomenal year that resulted in a 33-1 record and the program's third national title, not to mention the largest audience ever for a woman's college volleyball game.

The hard work and determination of this team exudes the spirit of achievement that is reflected within the people of the great State of Nebraska. Junior Sarah Pavan has continued a Husker tradition of achievement in athletics and academics by being named the ESPN the Magazine Academic All-American of the Year. This honor brings the university's all-time total of Academic All-Americans to 234 and 29 for the program. These totals lead the nation in both categories.

Head coach John Cook, along with the entire coaching staff, should be commended for their training and dedication to a team that became only the third team in NCAA history to be ranked number one in the American Volleyball Coaches Association poll for an entire season. Also to the credit of Coach Cook, this is the second title that the team has earned under his direction.

Therefore, I ask my colleagues to consider the great honor that the University of Nebraska Volleyball team has brought to themselves, their families, their university, and the State of Nebraska and vote for House Resolution 99.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Michigan for his time and his commendations of the University of Nebraska volleyball team.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to also thank Representative Adrian Smith for originally sponsoring this resolution congratulating all the members of the volleyball team. I am pleased to cosponsor this resolution as well to bring attention to the national successes of this team out of Lincoln.

Just a month ago, as it was mentioned, the team won the 2006 NCAA Division I women's volleyball championship. I am very proud of the Husker team and particularly proud to say that this team represents all of Nebraska.

Mr. Speaker, success isn't something that just happens. It takes forethought, hard work, persistence and dedication, and the members of the Huskers women's volleyball team certainly earned it.

Every member of the team should be commended for her dedication, as well as Head Coach John Cook, who led the team with skill and discipline. Under Coach Cook's leadership, the team finished the season with an astounding record of 33-1. Not only did Coach Cook lead this team to a national championship, but this is his third time in that leadership seat.

The University of Nebraska women's volleyball team is a shining example of the best that Nebraska has to offer. Again, I would like to congratulate the team.