A resolution congratulating "A Prairie Home Companion" on its 40 years of engaging, humorous, and quality radio programming.

Madam President, I rise today to honor ``A Prairie Home Companion,'' which for 40 years has shared with its listeners the comings and goings of the good people of that most Minnesota of towns, Lake Wobegon--where as everyone knows, all the women are strong, all the men are good looking, and all the children are above average.

Only 12 people were in the audience for that very first broadcast on July 6, 1974, at the Janet Wallace Auditorium at Macalester College in Saint Paul. If those dozen people got there by car, they paid 55 cents per gallon to fill the tanks of their Ford Pintos or Plymouth Valiants. If they stopped for a McDonald's burger afterward, they paid 30 cents.

How things have changed--and not just the price of gas and burgers! Today, 40 years later, more than 600 radio stations carry ``A Prairie Home Companion'' to four million listeners every week from the historic Fitzgerald Theater in Saint Paul.

It has won a Peabody Award and has broadcast from nations including Canada, Ireland, Scotland, England, Germany and Iceland and nearly every State in the Nation. It has inspired a movie by the same name, which won four international awards. It has helped make Minnesota Public Radio and American Public Media household names.

And it has certainly made its creator and host, Garrison Keillor, a household name! Mr. Keillor has won Grammy and George Foster Peabody awards, not to mention the National Humanities Medal.

But one thing has not changed at all from that very first broadcast: This little variety program resonates with people. It has warmed our hearts with its stories, songs, poems and jokes. It has made us laugh, made us cry, and made us sing along. And it has given its millions of listeners a hometown they can call their own--right in the heart of Minnesota.

Madam President, I would like to congratulate Minnesota Public Radio, American Public Media, and the cast and crew of ``A Prairie Home Companion'' on 40 years of radio excellence. This is one show that is most certainly above average.

I ask unanimous consent the resolutions be agreed to, the preambles, where applicable, be agreed to, and the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table en bloc, with no intervening action or debate.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent the Senate proceed to the following resolutions which were submitted earlier today: S. Res. 490, S. Res. 491, S. Res. 492, and S. Res. 493.