Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize Vicki Haugen, who took over leadership of Vermilion Advantage 37 years ago.

Vermilion Advantage is the lead economic development office for Vermilion County, Illinois. Vicki began her tenure at Vermilion Advantage during a time when the business environment in Danville and Vermilion County was in turmoil. Major businesses, which had contributed for many years to the financial and economic health of the community, were leaving or considering doing so. Rather than be defeated by these setbacks, Vicki enlisted other community leaders to pull together and develop a coordinated plan to keep the losses to a minimum and attract replacements for those business that left.

Vicki saw early on that if the community was to survive and prosper, the political, business, education, and community leaders would need to work together. This became the focus of Vermilion Advantage. More than simply an advocate for the community, Vicki had a comprehensive vision focused on creating the next generation of community leaders and a skilled and educated workforce, diversifying the economic base of the county, and developing a cooperative environment between labor and management, to name just a few of her initiatives.

A major component of what Vicki has done is sell outside companies to the advantages of locating their operations in Vermilion County. Doing this for several decades has likely made Vicki the most informed and effective champion of Vermilion County. Her steady efforts over the past 37 years has had an inestimable impact on the community that she cares so much for.

Indeed, Vicki's efforts are a labor of love. She grew up in Vermilion County, graduated from Danville High School, and lives in the community she helped remake. Her tireless efforts, mental toughness, professionalism, and unshakable faith that Vermilion County was worth trying to save has made a difference worthy of recognition.

Madam Speaker, it is my pleasure and honor to rise today to recognize Vicki Haugen and to thank her for her leadership of Vermilion Advantage for these past 37 years. That leadership, by the way, has led to the creation of well over four thousand full-time jobs and counting. I wish Vicki all the best and Vermilion Advantage continued success.

Madam Speaker, Illinois' Clark County was formed in 1819 out of Crawford County. At the time of its formation, Clark County included about a third of Illinois and extended as far north as the present state of Wisconsin. Clark County was so large that it gave birth to many of its sister counties: Pike County and Fayette County in 1821, Edgar County two years later, and Coles County in 1830.

Clark County enjoys an illustrious history. The county was named for George Rogers Clark, the older brother of William Clark of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. George Rogers Clark was an officer of the army of Virginia that captured the Northwest Territory from the British during the Revolutionary War.

Clark County's first courthouse was a log house located in Aurora, and the county seat was in Darwin Township, but by popular vote Marshall was designated the new seat in 1839. In the late 1800s, county leaders believed they were outgrowing their latest building, so a fourth courthouse was built in 1887. The current courthouse, which is the county's fifth, has been in place since 1903.

The people of Clark County have planned many festivities to celebrate their bicentennial this year. The celebration began on January 9th with Clark County Trivia Night, and commemorative activities will extend to October. I am honored to be a part of that celebration.

Madam Speaker, I ask that we pay tribute to those hearty people who first settled in Clark County, and to the pioneering spirit that lives today in all its citizens. I stand today to salute Clark County on its 200th anniversary and to wish it the very best in the future.

Madam Speaker, I rise to include in the Record an article by Keith J. Hamel honoring the 150th Anniversary of the West Point Association of Graduates.

``On May 22, 2019, the West Point Association of Graduates

will turn 150 years old. Think about it--one hundred and

fifty years! When ``the Association,'' as it used to be

known, held its first organizational meeting in the office of

Dr. Horace Webster, Class of 1818, President of the College

of the City of New York, the light bulb had yet to be

invented; the telephone had not been patented; the U.S. flag

had only 37 stars; and the machine gun, dynamite, and the

torpedo were less than a decade old.

The year was 1869, an important year in the history of West

Point graduates. On March 4 of that year, Ulysses S. Grant,

Class of 1843, became the 18th President of the United

States. Grant, of course, received national acclaim for

commanding the Union Army to victory during the U.S. Civil

War, accepting the surrender of Confederate forces from

another West Point graduate, Robert E. Lee, Class of 1829.

That recent conflict, roughly four years over by the time a

handful of graduates met in Webster's office one Saturday

afternoon for that first meeting, is often cited as the

reason the ``Association'' was formed; that is, to heal the

divide between West Point graduates who fought on opposing

sides of the U.S. Civil War. While it may be romanticized,

such a theory is plausible. After all, bridging chasms seemed

to be the spirit of the age in 1869. On May 2 of that year

the ``golden spike'' of the First Transcontinental Railroad

was driven into the ground at Promontory Summit of Utah

Territory, linking America's East Coast with its West Coast.

Later that year, on November 17, the Suez Canal officially

opened, finally completing a centuries-old idea to create a

waterway between the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean.

Yet when Robert Anderson, Class of 1825, wrote to Sylvanus

Thayer, Class of 1808, on January 28, 1869 to propose the

formation of ``an association of the graduates of the

Military Academy,'' he never mentioned the Civil War as a

raison d'etre for this endeavor (and Anderson was the officer

in charge of Fort Sumter when it was fired upon by P. G. T.

Beauregard, Class of 1838, to start that war!) Instead,

Anderson plainly told Thayer he wanted to form an association

``to see what should be done to perfect and perpetuate this

truly national Institution,'' [West Point] and, in his

February 12, 1869 reply to Anderson, Thayer agreed.

Three months later, 15 graduates gathered in Webster's

office for the purposes of officially forming an

``Association of the Graduates of the U.S. Military

Academy.'' Neither the Civil War nor the ``perpetuation'' of

West Point was explicitly mentioned in the minutes from that

meeting. Instead, the graduates present, including Anderson,

passed seven resolutions, the last pertaining to the

``fundamental principle that the characteristic of this

Association shall be.'' According to the ``Preliminary

Meeting'' minutes, Reverend Dr. Francis Vinton, Class of

1830, Assistant Minister of Trinity Church in New York City,

introduced a resolution that the Association be ``formed

purely for the promotion of social and fraternal

intercourse.'' Vinton's resolution became Article II of the

new Association's Constitution: ``The objects of this

Association shall be to cherish the memories of our Alma

Mater, and to promote the social intercourse and fraternal

fellowship of its graduates.''

Does this end the debate regarding the purpose of the

Association of Graduates' founding? Not quite. Article IV of

the Association's original Constitution complicates matters.

It states, ``Political, or any other discussions foreign to

the purposes of the Association, as set forth in this

Constitution, or any proceedings of such a tendency, are

declared inimical to the purposes of this organization, and

are prohibited.'' Such an article calls attention to itself

and seems to support the notion that the recent U.S. Civil

War and its political aftermath might impede the formation of

an Association of West Point Graduates. Furthermore, Article

III, paragraph 2, states, ``The oldest graduate belonging to

the Association shall be President; and in his absence the

senior graduate present shall preside at the meeting of the

Association.'' This made Thayer the Association's

``official'' first president. Although Thayer never attended

a meeting of the Association of Graduates (and,

interestingly, his name does not appear on the roll of

members until 1872), this passage marries Thayer's legacy

with the creation of the Association, including his desire to

form such an organization for the benefit of West Point.

Going forward, both implicit political matters and the

promotion of West Point routinely enter into the dialogue

regarding the Association's early history and business.

Take the Association's first public act after a committee

of 13 graduates, chaired by Webster, met on June 16, 1869 and

drafted the constitution and bylaws for the new Association.

Soon after, the committee mailed the proposed constitution

and bylaws to all graduates; 128 joined (of more than 1,350

living graduates), including three former Confederate

officers: Richard S. Ewell, Class of 1840; James Longstreet,

Class of 1842; and Nathaniel R. Chambliss, Class of May 1861.

In fact, Ewell sent a letter back with his dues stating, ``I

cannot think that any graduate of the Academy would, unless

blinded by prejudices, decline to aid the work of reuniting .

. . a bond broken asunder by civil discord and war.''

Conversely, Simon Bolivar Buckner, Class of 1844, the first

Confederate general to surrender an Army to Union forces,

perhaps stinging from so-called ``Radical Republicans''

attempts to strip ex-rebels of their right to vote and hold

office in the First Reconstruction Act (1867), wrote back to

the committee saying, ``Fraternal fellowship can exist only

in the light of an acknowledged equality, [which] is

denounced by the legislation of the central government which

extends its fostering care to our class of graduates of our

Alma Mater and at the same time prescribes the other . . . an

acknowledgement of the inequality which renders agreeable

social intercourse impossible.'' Buckner's sentiment becomes

an important theme taken up by committee member Charles

Davies, Class of 1815, in his address to graduates at the

Association's first reunion on June 17, 1870.

Forty-three graduates sat in the pews of the West Point

Chapel (now known as the Old Cadet Chapel) to hear Davies'

address. Although no Southern graduates attended that first

open meeting (more likely due to the prohibitive cost of

travel than to ideological allegiances), Davies used poetic

language in his speech to delicately and diplomatically

address the issue raised by Buckner, that is the seeming rift

between graduates who fought on opposite sides of the U.S.

Civil War. ``We come together as the scattered members of a

household after a long separation--some full of years, some

full of honors,'' said Davies, recalling the metaphor of a

``divided house'' used by President Abraham Lincoln in a

famous 1858 speech. Why would Davies use such language? The

answer is reunification. But, digging deeper, it is not just

a reunification of graduates from the North and the South; it

is a reunification between West Point graduates and the

United States of America. Just one sentence prior, Davies

said, ``We come together under the old flag, dear to every

American heart, to recall and contemplate that springtime of

life . . . .'' In this and his future reunion addresses,

Davies continually uses a ``reunification with the country''

theme to tacitly unite graduates from the North and from the

South behind a single purpose.

``We meet to revive cherished memories . . . and to renew,

together, vows of perpetual allegiance to our country,''

Davies said in the opening to his 1870 address. As noted by

George Pappas in his book To the Point: The United States

Military Academy 1802-1902, ``The defection of southern

cadets and graduates, termed treason by many antagonists, was

used as a stepping-stone for criticizing West Point in

general and its graduates in particular.'' The Civil War

thrust West Point and its graduates, particularly those who

defected to fight for the Confederate cause, into the

national spotlight, and, as noted by Harry Williams in his

article ``The Attack Upon West Point During the Civil War,''

``. . . the [Academy] faced and weathered a series of

dangerous attacks designed to destroy its existence.''

Those who gathered in those early reunions must have been

aware that West Point stood on precarious footing in the

years immediately following the Civil War, as well as the

distrust felt for Southern graduates. In his address at the

Second Annual Reunion on June 17, 1871, Davies' concluding

words seem to be as much for the graduates as for a public he

felt may still be wary of the future political intentions of

West Point alumni ``But above all, fellow graduates,'' Davies

said, ``let us remember that the nation which sustains and

has spread its mantle over this institution, expects from

every graduate, at all times, and wheresoever he may be,

the full measure of his duty.'' Then in his last (and

longest) address to graduates, commemorating the

centennial of the Battle of Bunker Hill (1875), Davies

made his most overt gesture to reunification between

graduates from the North and South via renewed allegiance

to the nation. He began by reminding graduates of the

resolution passed at the annual meeting a year earlier to

invite graduates from ``all sections of the country'' to

the 1875 reunion. Seven of the Association's 12 former

Confederate officer members attended this reunion, the

most ever up to that point. ``[W]e have come here today,

to bury within the circuit of these mountains all

recollections which can separate us from each other, or

from our common country,'' Davies said, ``. . . and to say

to all, for each, and to each for all, that from this

auspicious day, all the graduates of this Institution will

recognize each other as friends. Henceforth, and forever,

we have one flag--one country--one destiny.''

Interestingly, before championing the patriotism of West

Point graduates, Davies

lauded the accomplishments of West Point itself through its

graduates. ``We behold, also, a great Institution,'' he said

in his 1875 address, ``. . . scattering science and knowledge

over the nation,'' which seems to pay homage to Thayer and

Anderson's original aim for the Association, ``to see what

should be done to perfect and perpetuate this truly national

Institution.'' Davies died in 1876, and, according to David

Pinder '86, in his paper ``The Association of Graduates of

the U.S. Military Academy, 1869-1902: The Healing Years,''

the leadership of the AOG passed to George Cullum, Class of

1833. One of the original 15 members of the Association,

Cullum became a member of AOG's Executive Committee in 1871

and chaired this committee until his death in 1892. A year

before those 15 grads met in Webster's office to form the

Association, Cullum published the first edition of his three-

volume Biographical Register of the Officers of the United

States Military Academy, which he described in its preface as

a record of West Point graduates' service to the nation so as

to give ``world-renown to their Alma Mater.'' In the preface

to his third edition of the Register, published in 1891,

Cullum's intent became more explicit. There he wrote that he

hoped ``this last legacy to Alma Mater and her numerous sons

may further prove the usefulness of that noble national

institution,'' nearly echoing Thayer and Anderson's original

aim for the Association. While reunification seemed to be

Davies' primary ambition, championing the accomplishments of

graduates for the glory of West Point was clearly the

achievement for which Cullum was known. In fact, at that

first meeting in 1870, the first order of business after

approving the constitution and by-laws was adopting a

resolution that gave thanks to Cullum ``for his truthful and

admirable annals of the Military Academy and its Graduates.''

Cullum demonstrated his philosophy for West Point and its

graduates in the biographies he wrote for ``Necrology,'' that

section of the Association's published annual report

identifying the graduates who had died since the last

meeting. In the 1871 Annual Reunion, the first to acknowledge

the author of each graduate's biography, Cullum is cited as

having written five of them, the first being for Ethan Allen

Hitchcock, Class of 1817. And while other authors devoted

paragraphs to the deceased, Cullum wrote pages (Hitchcock's

biography is 10 pages long). Cullum continued writing

``Necrology'' biographies right up until his own death, the

last one for Montgomery C. Meigs, Class of 1836, who died

January 2, 1892. Cullum himself died February 28 of that

year, and his own ``Necrology'' biography appears just six

pages after Meigs'.

Cullum had started writing an extended biography of Thayer

for the 1873 Annual Reunion, but, according to a Secretary

note in that record, Cullum's absence in Europe prevented the

completion of it in time for publication. Ten years later,

Cullum likely incorporated portions of that biography into

the momentous address he delivered at the unveiling of the

Thayer Statue on June 11, 1883, touting Thayer's impact on

West Point and the nation. Consider this passage: ``With each

evolving year of Colonel Thayer's Superintendency, class

after class was graduated, adding to our army 570 officers,

of whom the nation may be justly proud, for in that galaxy

are many bright particular stars which have given lustre to

our arms, illuminated the paths of science, brightened halls

of learning, and adorned various vocations of usefulness.''

Cullum was perpetuating the national institution of West

Point by demonstrating the perfections of its honorific

father. But this is not all that Cullum did as the

Association's de facto leader.

Cullum had been Chairman of the Thayer Monument Committee,

which was established at the June 12, 1873 annual meeting,

and was instrumental in bringing Thayer's remains from his

hometown of South Braintree, Massachusetts to West Point.

This accomplishment could be viewed as the Association's

first official act of external business (a year earlier the

Executive Committee resolved to have the body of Joseph

Swift, Class of 1802, exhumed and re-interred at the West

Point Cemetery, but this ambition never materialized).

Thayer's remains were re-interred at West Point on November

8, 1877, but the monument intended to honor his memory

remained unfinished, as only $1,225 of an anticipated $3,100

had been raised from graduates. At the 10th Annual Reunion on

June 12, 1879, feeling that the plans to obtain funds to

build a stone memorial of Thayer for placement on the Plain

were ``impractical,'' Cullum proposed that a smaller monument

be built over Thayer's grave. However, in his address at that

reunion, Cullum's classmate Francis H. Smith, Class of 1833,

the first Southern graduate to speak before AOG members,

implored graduates not to forget the original monument plan,

saying, ``He was a noble specimen of West Point character,

and I trust the scheme will not be abandoned of putting, in

enduring marble or bronze, a colossal statue of Brvt. Brig.

Gen. Sylvanus Thayer, the father of the U.S. Military

Academy.''

A year later, at the 11th Annual Reunion, George Andrews,

Class of 1851, Treasurer of the Thayer Monument Fund,

reported that all but $160 of the funds needed for the

monument remained uncollected. The project was further

delayed when the committee hired the New England Granite

Company ``to execute a statue eight feet three inches high,

standing upon a well-proportioned pedestal of eight feet,

both of pure white granite,'' and the cost jumped to $4,000.

To raise money to cover the escalating cost, Cullum

reportedly addressed ``personal letters to each living

graduate who has a diploma signed by General Thayer.'' In his

June 10, 1882 Thayer Monument Committee report to AOG's

Executive Committee, Cullum noted that the statue would be

ready by winter, ``in ample time to be erected before the

Reunion of this Association in June 1883'' (it was completed

on June 9, 1883, which would have been Thayer's 98th

birthday). At the 14th Annual Reunion on June 12, 1883,

Cullum furnished a final report on the Thayer Monument to the

Association, saying the statue ``is worthy of the great

Superintendent, whose majestic port [sic] and intellectual

visage [it] so faithfully represents; and it is worthy of

this Association which has preserved, amid so many

difficulties, to raise such a memorial to the `Father of the

Military Academy.' '' Showing its appreciation for Cullum's

efforts to bring the Thayer Monument to fruition, the

Executive Committee unanimously passed a resolution that

thanked him for admirably performing his duties.

A year after erecting Thayer Monument, AOG moved on to its

next order of major business, another project that took years

to materialize and one that ultimately depended greatly on

Cullum. At the 15th Annual Reunion in 1884, John S.

McCalmont, Class of 1842, proposed that Congress should be

petitioned to make an appropriation for the purposes of

furnishing a hall for AOG use at West Point, given that the

Association had received so many gifts of manuscripts,

portraits, books, letters, and more and had no room to safely

keep them or exhibit them. The matter was tabled and

reintroduced three years later at the 1887 meeting, but

members felt that the USMA Board of Visitors would have

better luck securing the funds from Congress for building

such a hall than their resolution. ``The Association of

Graduates cannot raise the necessary money,'' Charles Braden,

Class of 1869, AOG's Secretary at that time, flatly stated.

Then, given the lack of reference to it in meeting notes, the

Executive Committee seems to forget about this idea for a

memorial hall for half a decade, but Cullum did not forget.

Upon his death, Cullum bequeathed $250,000 to the U.S.

government for the purposes of erecting a such a hall at West

Point.

According to a March 7, 1892 New York Times article

reporting on his will, Cullum's gift, ``Follow[ed] an idea

which he had for some years entertained.'' Part of that idea

likely involved Cullum's 1891 proposal that Executive

Committee incorporate the Association under the laws of New

York state. The committee unanimously adopted Cullum's

proposal and filed a certificate of incorporation in November

of that year. As some have hypothesized, Cullum proposed this

idea because he had already made his estate plans, and,

rather than gift his considerable fortune to what might be

characterized as an informal fraternal club, he wanted to

leave it to an organization with legitimacy and longevity.

Furthermore, showing his prescience, Cullum explicitly

stated in his will for the memorial hall to be built ``at

farthest within five years after my death'' (perhaps

because he witnessed no movement on an idea that

originated in 1884!). Cullum's bequest was formally

accepted by an act of Congress, and the architectural firm

McKim, Mead & White was appointed in 1894 to design the

building. Construction began in 1896, with the cornerstone

being ceremoniously laid on April 15, and construction was

completed on December 21, 1898. After it was furnished

(Cullum also left $20,000 in his will for this purpose),

the hall was dedicated on June 12, 1900, the date of the

31st Annual Reunion. According to a July 1900 article by

Charles Larned, Class of 1870, in Junior Munsey Magazine,

``This hall is distinctly a monument to West Point and all

that it stands for, given by a son of the Academy to his

brother alumni and their well beloved mother; designed to

commemorate their deeds, to preserve their names, and to

bear witness to the enduring work of the foremost military

school of the age.''

Thirty-one years after its founding, the Association of the

Graduates of the U.S. Military Academy had 473 members on its

rolls, and those members now had a home at West Point. In his

will, Cullum indicated that it was his desire that the gifted

memorial hall be used for ``the Assemblage and Dinners of the

Association of Graduates of the United States Military

Academy, and, if practicable, I wish that lodging

accommodations should be provided in some part of it for the

members of that Association while attending its annual

reunions.'' Furthermore, they now had funds. Cullum's will

also provided $10,000 for ``the current and necessary

expenses'' of the Association. This is the genesis of what is

now known as the West Point Association of Graduates' ``Long

Gray Line Endowment.'' While Cullum was Chairman of AOG's

Executive Committee, AOG's balance sheet consistently ran

between $1,000-$1,500, but, thanks to his gift, it grew by

300 percent in one year.

At the turn of the 20th century the Association, now with a

home and with funds, started to focus on growth and

accountability. This began with two notable changes to the

Association's Constitution and Bylaws. First, in 1897, the

Executive Committee decided that an elected graduate, rather

that the oldest graduate, would serve as the Association's

President, and voted accordingly to change Article III of the

Constitution. They nominated George Greene, Class of 1823, to

be President, and he was unanimously elected (ironically,

Greene was also the oldest graduate on the Association's

membership roll). Then, at the 1900 Annual Reunion, the

Executive Committee voted to amend the Bylaws so that

initiation fees were reduced from a one-time $10 payment to

an initial $2 fee with an additional $1 paid each subsequent

year for the next decade. The prorated fee cycle spurred

growth in new membership. In 1898, only three graduates

elected to pay the prescribed $10 initiation fee; in 1902,

more than 70 paid the new $2 fee. New membership also

fostered more graduate participation. In 1899, only seven

members attended the 30th annual reunion, but in 1902

reportedly some 350 graduates returned to West Point for the

annual alumni reunion.

During the dedication of Cullum Hall, Alexander S. Webb,

Class of 1855, who was present in Webster's office at the

original May 22, 1869 meeting, looked back on that historic

day and gave a brief account of the organization of the

Association. No records exist of his remarks, but it is easy

to imagine he would have said that the 15 graduates who

gathered to form an ``Association of the Graduates of the

U.S. Military Academy'' would be proud that, 31 years later,

their idea had figuratively and literally found a home, that

more and more graduates were coming back to that home each

year, and that the Association was continuing to promote the

social intercourse and fraternal fellowship of USMA

graduates.''

Madam Speaker, I rise to draw my colleagues' attention to Global Recycling Day on March 18. Global Recycling Day was created in 2018 to help recognize, and celebrate, the importance recycling plays in preserving our primary resources and securing the future of our planet.

The creation of Global Recycling Day is aimed at the promotion of a global and united approach to recycling. The mission of Global Recycling Day is to help world leaders understand that recycling is too important not to be a global issue, and to ask all citizens of the world to think of recyclables in terms of what they are: valuable resources, not waste. By combining as many voices and efforts as possible on a single day, together we are raising awareness of the urgent need to be more reliable recyclers and more conscientious consumers.

There are six major natural resources on the planet, Madam Speaker-- water, air, coal, oil, natural gas and minerals. I think recyclables ought to be thought of as the world's Seventh Resource.

Recycling prevents more CO2 emissions each year than those generated by the entire aviation industry, while simultaneously reducing the need to extract the Earth's finite virgin natural resources. Without recycling, all our used refrigerators, plastic bottles, packing boxes, cars, cell phones and paper cups would contribute to the growing waste mountains, which are either incinerated or sent to landfill--never to be used again.

In the United States alone, we recycle more than 130 million metric tons of scrap materials every year and employ more than 130,000 American workers. These valuable materials go directly back into the manufacturing chain, helping manufacturers be more energy efficient.

Global Recycling Day 2019 will work to get more young people engaged with the power of the Seventh Resource through a variety of key partnerships. The initiative will also work with businesses and entrepreneurs globally to share their innovation, concepts and ideas for better recycling practices in the future.

As the House Recycling Caucus Co-Chair, I am committed to helping foster economically viable and sustainable recycling in the United States to protect our environment, save energy and conserve natural resources for my kid's and their kid's futures.

Recycling is the easiest way all of us can make a positive difference in our planet's future while supporting our economy through the creation of tens of thousands of jobs.

Madam Speaker, I would like to ask that my colleagues join me in celebrating Global Recycling Day by getting involved and, of course, by recycling.

Madam Speaker, I rise to include in the Record an article by Keith J. Hamel honoring the 150th Anniversary of the West Point Association of Graduates.

``On May 22, 2019, the West Point Association of Graduates

will turn 150 years old. Think about it--one hundred and

fifty years! When ``the Association,'' as it used to be

known, held its first organizational meeting in the office of

Dr. Horace Webster, Class of 1818, President of the College

of the City of New York, the light bulb had yet to be

invented; the telephone had not been patented; the U.S. flag

had only 37 stars; and the machine gun, dynamite, and the

torpedo were less than a decade old.

The year was 1869, an important year in the history of West

Point graduates. On March 4 of that year, Ulysses S. Grant,

Class of 1843, became the 18th President of the United

States. Grant, of course, received national acclaim for

commanding the Union Army to victory during the U.S. Civil

War, accepting the surrender of Confederate forces from

another West Point graduate, Robert E. Lee, Class of 1829.

That recent conflict, roughly four years over by the time a

handful of graduates met in Webster's office one Saturday

afternoon for that first meeting, is often cited as the

reason the ``Association'' was formed; that is, to heal the

divide between West Point graduates who fought on opposing

sides of the U.S. Civil War. While it may be romanticized,

such a theory is plausible. After all, bridging chasms seemed

to be the spirit of the age in 1869. On May 2 of that year

the ``golden spike'' of the First Transcontinental Railroad

was driven into the ground at Promontory Summit of Utah

Territory, linking America's East Coast with its West Coast.

Later that year, on November 17, the Suez Canal officially

opened, finally completing a centuries-old idea to create a

waterway between the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean.

Yet when Robert Anderson, Class of 1825, wrote to Sylvanus

Thayer, Class of 1808, on January 28, 1869 to propose the

formation of ``an association of the graduates of the

Military Academy,'' he never mentioned the Civil War as a

raison d'etre for this endeavor (and Anderson was the officer

in charge of Fort Sumter when it was fired upon by P.G.T.

Beauregard, Class of 1838, to start that war!) Instead,

Anderson plainly told Thayer he wanted to form an association

``to see what should be done to perfect and perpetuate this

truly national Institution,'' [West Point] and, in his

February 12, 1869 reply to Anderson, Thayer agreed.

Three months later, 15 graduates gathered in Webster's

office for the purposes of officially forming an

``Association of the Graduates of the U.S. Military

Academy.'' Neither the Civil War nor the ``perpetuation'' of

West Point was explicitly mentioned in the minutes from that

meeting. Instead, the graduates present, including Anderson,

passed seven resolutions, the last pertaining to the

``fundamental principle that the characteristic of this

Association shall be.'' According to the ``Preliminary

Meeting'' minutes, Reverend Dr. Francis Vinton, Class of

1830, Assistant Minister of Trinity Church in New York City,

introduced a resolution that the Association be ``formed

purely for the promotion of social and fraternal

intercourse.'' Vinton's resolution became Article II of the

new Association's Constitution: ``The objects of this

Association shall be to cherish the memories of our Alma

Mater, and to promote the social intercourse and fraternal

fellowship of its graduates.''

Does this end the debate regarding the purpose of the

Association of Graduates' founding? Not quite. Article IV of

the Association's original Constitution complicates matters.

It states, ``Political, or any other discussions foreign to

the purposes of the Association, as set forth in this

Constitution, or any proceedings of such a tendency, are

declared inimical to the purposes of this organization, and

are prohibited.'' Such an article calls attention to itself

and seems to support the notion that the recent U.S. Civil

War and its political aftermath might impede the formation of

an Association of West Point Graduates. Furthermore, Article

III, 2, states, ``The oldest graduate belonging to the

Association shall be President; and in his absence the senior

graduate present shall preside at the meeting of the

Association.'' This made Thayer the ``official'' first

president. Although Thayer never attended a meeting of the

Association of Graduates (and, interestingly, his name does

not appear on the roll of members until 1872), this passage

marries Thayer's legacy with the creation of the Association,

including his desire to form such an organization for the

benefit of West Point. Going forward, both implicit political

matters and the promotion of West Point routinely enter into

the dialogue regarding the Association's early history and

business.

Take the Association's first public act after a committee

of 13 graduates, chaired by Webster, met on June 16, 1869 and

drafted the constitution and bylaws for the new Association.

Soon after, the committee mailed the proposed constitution

and bylaws to all graduates; 128 joined (of more than 1,350

living graduates), including three former Confederate

officers: Richard S. Ewell, Class of 1840; James Longstreet,

Class of 1842; and Nathaniel R. Chambliss, Class of May 1861.

In fact, Ewell sent a letter back with his dues stating, ``I

cannot think that any graduate of the Academy would, unless

blinded by prejudices, decline to aid the work of reuniting .

. . a bond broken asunder by civil discord and war.''

Conversely, Simon Bolivar Buckner, Class of 1844, the first

Confederate general to surrender an Army to Union forces,

perhaps stinging from so-called ``Radical Republicans''

attempts to strip ex-rebels of their right to vote and hold

office in the First Reconstruction Act (1867), wrote back to

the committee saying, ``Fraternal fellowship can exist only

in the light of an acknowledged equality, [which] is

denounced by the legislation of the central government which

extends its fostering care to our class of graduates of our

Alma Mater and at the same time prescribes the other . . . an

acknowledgement of the inequality which renders agreeable

social intercourse impossible.'' Buckner's sentiment becomes

an important theme taken up by committee member Charles

Davies, Class of 1815, in his address to graduates at the

Association's first reunion on June 17, 1870.

Forty-three graduates sat in the pews of the West Point

Chapel (now known as the Old Cadet Chapel) to hear Davies'

address.

Although no Southern graduates attended that first open

meeting (more likely due to the prohibitive cost of travel

than to ideological allegiances), Davies used poetic language

in his speech to delicately and diplomatically address the

issue raised by Buckner, that is the seeming rift between

graduates who fought on opposite sides of the U.S. Civil War.

``We come together as the scattered members of a household

after a long separation--some full of years, some full of

honors,'' said Davies, recalling the metaphor of a ``divided

house'' used by President Abraham Lincoln in a famous 1858

speech. Why would Davies use such language? The answer is

reunification. But, digging deeper, it is not just a

reunification of graduates from the North and the South; it

is a reunification between West Point graduates and the

United States of America. Just one sentence prior, Davies

said, ``We come together under the old flag, dear to every

American heart, to recall and contemplate that springtime of

life . . . .'' In this and his future reunion addresses,

Davies continually uses a ``reunification with the country''

theme to tacitly unite graduates from the North and from the

South behind a single purpose.

``We meet to revive cherished memories . . . and to renew,

together, vows of perpetual allegiance to our country,''

Davies said in the opening to his 1870 address. As noted by

George Pappas in his book To the Point: The United States

Military Academy 1802-1902, ``The defection of southern

cadets and graduates, termed treason by many antagonists, was

used as a stepping-stone for criticizing West Point in

general and its graduates in particular.'' The Civil War

thrust West Point and its graduates, particularly those who

defected to fight for the Confederate cause, into the

national spotlight, and, as noted by Harry Williams in his

article ``The Attack Upon West Point During the Civil War,''

``. . . the [Academy] faced and weathered a series of

dangerous attacks designed to destroy its existence.''

Those who gathered in those early reunions must have been

aware that West Point stood on precarious footing in the

years immediately following the Civil War, as well as the

distrust felt for Southern graduates. In his address at the

Second Annual Reunion on June 17, 1871, Davies' concluding

words seem to be as much for the graduates as for a public he

felt may still be wary of the future political intentions of

West Point alumni. ``But above all, fellow graduates,''

Davies said, ``let us remember that the nation which

sustains and has spread its mantle over this institution,

expects from every graduate, at all times, and wheresoever

he may be, the full measure of his duty.'' Then in his

last (and longest) address to graduates, commemorating the

centennial of the Battle of Bunker Hill (1875), Davies

made his most overt gesture to reunification between

graduates from the North and South via renewed allegiance

to the nation. He began by reminding graduates of the

resolution passed at the annual meeting a year earlier to

invite graduates from ``all sections of the country'' to

the 1875 reunion. Seven of the Association's 12 former

Confederate officer members attended this reunion, the

most ever up to that point. ``[W]e have come here today,

to bury within the circuit of these mountains all

recollections which can separate us from each other, or

from our common country,'' Davies said, `` . . . and to

say to all, for each, and to each for all, that from this

auspicious day, all the graduates of this Institution will

recognize each other as friends. Henceforth, and forever,

we have one flag--one country--one destiny.''

Interestingly, before championing the patriotism of West

Point graduates, Davies lauded the accomplishments of West

Point itself through its graduates. ``We behold, also, a

great Institution,'' he said in his 1875 address, ``. . .

scattering science and knowledge over the nation,'' which

seems to pay homage to Thayer and Anderson's original aim for

the Association, ``to see what should be done to perfect and

perpetuate this truly national Institution.'' Davies died in

1876, and, according to David Pinder '86, in his paper ``The

Association of Graduates of the U.S. Military Academy, 1869-

1902: The Healing Years,'' the leadership of the AOG passed

to George Cullum, Class of 1833. One of the original 15

members of the Association, Cullum became a member of AOG's

Executive Committee in 1871 and chaired this committee until

his death in 1892. A year before those 15 grads met in

Webster's office to form the Association, Cullum published

the first edition of his three-volume Biographical Register

of the Officers of the United States Military Academy, which

he described in its preface as a record of West Point

graduates' service to the nation so as to give ``world-renown

to their Alma Mater.'' In the preface to his third edition of

the Register, published in 1891, Cullum's intent became more

explicit. There he wrote that he hoped ``this last legacy to

Alma Mater and her numerous sons may further prove the

usefulness of that noble national institution,'' nearly

echoing Thayer and Anderson's original aim for the

Association. While reunification seemed to be Davies' primary

ambition, championing the accomplishments of graduates for

the glory of West Point was clearly the achievement for which

Cullum was known. In fact, at that first meeting in 1870, the

first order of business after approving the constitution and

by-laws was adopting a resolution that gave thanks to Cullum

``for his truthful and admirable annals of the Military

Academy and its Graduates.''

Cullum demonstrated his philosophy for West Point and its

graduates in the biographies he wrote for ``Necrology,'' that

section of the Association's published annual report

identifying the graduates who had died since the last

meeting. In the 1871 Annual Reunion, the first to acknowledge

the author of each graduate's biography, Cullum is cited as

having written five of them, the first being for Ethan Allen

Hitchcock, Class of 1817. And while other authors devoted

paragraphs to the deceased, Cullum wrote pages (Hitchcock's

biography is 10 pages long). Cullum continued writing

``Necrology'' biographies right up until his own death, the

last one for Montgomery C. Meigs, Class of 1836, who died

January 2, 1892. Cullum himself died February 28 of that

year, and his own ``Necrology'' biography appears just six

pages after Meigs'.

Cullum had started writing an extended biography of Thayer

for the 1873 Annual Reunion, but, according to a Secretary

note in that record, Cullum's absence in Europe prevented the

completion of it in time for publication. Ten years later,

Cullum likely incorporated portions of that biography into

the momentous address he delivered at the unveiling of the

Thayer Statue on June 11, 1883, touting Thayer's impact on

West Point and the nation. Consider this passage: ``With each

evolving year of Colonel Thayer's Superintendency, class

after class was graduated, adding to our army 570 officers,

of whom the nation may be justly proud, for in that galaxy

are many bright particular stars which have given lustre to

our arms, illuminated the paths of science, brightened halls

of learning, and adorned various vocations of usefulness.''

Cullum was perpetuating the national institution of West

Point by demonstrating the perfections of its honorific

father. But this is not all that Cullum did as the

Association's de facto leader.

Cullum had been Chairman of the Thayer Monument Committee,

which was established at the June 12, 1873 annual meeting,

and was instrumental in bringing Thayer's remains from his

hometown of South Braintree, Massachusetts to West Point.

This accomplishment could be viewed as the Association's

first official act of external business (a year earlier the

Executive Committee resolved to have the body of Joseph

Swift, Class of 1802, exhumed and re-interred at the West

Point Cemetery, but this ambition never materialized).

Thayer's remains were re-interred at West Point on November

8, 1877, but the monument intended to honor his memory

remained unfinished, as only $1,225 of an anticipated $3,100

had been raised from graduates. At the 10th Annual Reunion on

June 12, 1879, feeling that the plans to obtain funds to

build a stone memorial of Thayer for placement on the Plain

were ``impractical,'' Cullum proposed that a smaller monument

be built over Thayer's grave. However, in his address at that

reunion, Cullum's classmate Francis H. Smith, Class of 1833,

the first Southern graduate to speak before AOG members,

implored graduates not to forget the original monument plan,

saying, ``He was a noble specimen of West Point character,

and I trust the scheme will not be abandoned of putting, in

enduring marble or bronze, a colossal statue of Brvt. Brig.

Gen. Sylvanus Thayer, the father of the U.S. Military

Academy.''

A year later, at the 11th Annual Reunion, George Andrews,

Class of 1851, Treasurer of the Thayer Monument Fund,

reported that all but $160 of the funds needed for the

monument remained uncollected. The project was further

delayed when the committee hired the New England Granite

Company ``to execute a statue eight feet three inches high,

standing upon a well-proportioned pedestal of eight feet,

both of pure white granite,'' and the cost jumped to $4,000.

To raise money to cover the escalating cost, Cullum

reportedly addressed ``personal letters to each living

graduate who has a diploma signed by General Thayer.'' In his

June 10, 1882 Thayer Monument Committee report to AOG's

Executive Committee, Cullum noted that the statue would be

ready by winter, ``in ample time to be erected before the

Reunion of this Association in June 1883'' (it was completed

on June. 9, 1883, which would have been Thayer's 98th

birthday). At the 14th Annual Reunion on June 12, 1883,

Cullum furnished a final report on the Thayer Monument to the

Association, saying the statue ``is worthy of the great

Superintendent, whose majestic port [sic] and intellectual

visage [it] so faithfully represents; and it is worthy of

this Association which has preserved, amid so many

difficulties, to raise such a memorial to the `Father of the

Military Academy.' '' Showing its appreciation for Cullum's

efforts to bring the Thayer Monument to fruition, the

Executive Committee unanimously passed a resolution that

thanked him for admirably performing his duties.

A year after erecting Thayer Monument, AOG moved on to its

next order of major business, another project that took years

to materialize and one that ultimately depended greatly on

Cullum. At the 15th Annual Reunion in 1884, John S.

McCalmont, Class of 1842, proposed that Congress should be

petitioned to make an appropriation for the purposes of

furnishing a hall for AOG use at West Point, given that the

Association had received so many gifts of manuscripts,

portraits, books, letters, and more and had no room to safely

keep them or exhibit them. The matter was tabled and

reintroduced three years later at the 1887 meeting, but

members felt that the USMA Board of Visitors would have

better luck securing the

funds from Congress for building such a hall than their

resolution. ``The Association of Graduates cannot raise the

necessary money,'' Charles Braden, Class of 1869, AOG's

Secretary at that time, flatly stated. Then, given the lack

of reference to it in meeting notes, the Executive Committee

seems to forget about this idea for a memorial hall for half

a decade, but Cullum did not forget. Upon his death, Cullum

bequeathed $250,000 to the U.S. government for the purposes

of erecting such a hall at West Point.

According to a March 7, 1892 New York Times article

reporting on his will, Cullum's gift, ``Follow[ed] an idea

which he had for some years entertained.'' Part of that idea

likely involved Cullum's 1891 proposal that Executive

Committee incorporate the Association under the laws ofNew

York state. The committee unanimously adopted Cullum's

proposal and filed a certificate of incorporation in November

of that year. As some have hypothesized, Cullum proposed this

idea because he had already made his estate plans, and,

rather than gift his considerable fortune to what might be

characterized as an informal fraternal club, he wanted to

leave it to an organization with legitimacy and longevity.

Furthermore, showing his prescience, Cullum explicitly stated

in his will for the memorial hall to be built ``at farthest

within five years after my death'' (perhaps because he

witnessed no movement on an idea that originated in 1884!).

Cullum's bequest was formally accepted by an act of Congress,

and the architectural firm McKim, Mead & White was appointed

in 1894 to design the building. Construction began in 1896,

with the cornerstone being ceremoniously laid on April 15,

and construction was completed on December 21, 1898. After it

was furnished (Cullum also left $20,000 in his will for this

purpose), the hall was dedicated on June 12, 1900, the date

of the 31st Annual Reunion. According to a July 1900 article

by Charles Lamed, Class of 1870, in Junior Munsey Magazine,

``This hall is distinctly a monument to West Point and all

that it stands for, given by a son of the Academy to his

brother alumni and their well beloved mother; designed to

commemorate their deeds, to preserve their names, and to bear

witness to the enduring work of the foremost military school

of the age.''

Thirty-one years after its founding, the Association of the

Graduates of the U.S. Military Academy had 473 members on its

rolls, and those members now had a home at West Point. In his

will, Cullum indicated that it was his desire that the gifted

memorial hall be used for ``the Assemblage and Dinners of the

Association of Graduates of the United States Military

Academy, and, if practicable, I wish that lodging

accommodations should be provided in some part of it for the

members of that Association while attending its annual

reunions.'' Furthermore, they now had funds. Cullum's will

also provided $10,000 for ``the current and necessary

expenses'' of the Association. This is the genesis of what is

now known as the West Point Association of Graduates' ``Long

Gray Line Endowment.'' While Cullum was Chairman of AOG's

Executive Committee, AOG's balance sheet consistently ran

between $1,000-$1,500, but, thanks to his gift, it grew by 3

00 percent in one year.

At the turn of the 20th century the Association, now with a

home and with funds, started to focus on growth and

accountability. This began with two notable changes to the

Association's Constitution and Bylaws. First, in 1897, the

Executive Committee decided that an elected graduate, rather

that the oldest graduate, would serve as the Association's

President, and voted accordingly to change Article III of the

Constitution. They nominated George Greene, Class of 1823, to

be President, and he was unanimously elected (ironically,

Greene was also the oldest graduate on the Association's

membership roll). Then, at the 1900 Annual Reunion, the

Executive Committee voted to amend the Bylaws so that

initiation fees were reduced from a one-time $10 payment to

an initial $2 fee with an additional $1 paid each subsequent

year for the next decade. The prorated fee cycle spurred

growth in new membership. In 1898, only three graduates

elected to pay the prescribed $10 initiation fee; in 1902,

more than 70 paid the new $2 fee. New membership also

fostered more graduate participation. In 1899, only seven

members attended the 3Oth annual reunion, but in 1902

reportedly some 350 graduates returned to West Point for the

annual alumni reunion.

During the dedication of Cullum Hall, Alexander S. Webb,

Class of 1855, who was present in Webster's office at the

original May 22, 1869 meeting, looked back on that historic

day and gave a brief account of the organization of the

Association. No records exist of his remarks, but it is easy

to imagine he would have said that the 15 graduates who

gathered to form an ``Association of the Graduates of the

U.S. Military Academy'' would be proud that, 31 years later,

their idea had figuratively and literally found a home, that

more and more graduates were coming back to that home each

year, and that the Association was continuing to promote the

social intercourse and fraternal fellowship of USMA

graduates.''

Mr. Speaker, I am happy to be joined by my colleagues who graduated from West Point, our alma mater, and our colleague, who represents the West Point community and the area.

Why are we talking about the academy today? Well, we are close to what we call our Founders Day, which is March 17, but this is also a special year. It is the 150th anniversary of the Association of Graduates, which keeps the alumni informed and connected with our alma mater.

The 150th anniversary will be May 22, 2019, so we thought we would come down to the floor to talk about the experience and the importance of the military academies--of course, West Point being the oldest and the best--to our Nation and its security.

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Sean Patrick Maloney), from Hudson Valley, who represents West Point and the surrounding communities.

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for doing that great summation, because I brought my colleagues down here and they are probably going to talk a little bit more about the micro aspects of classes, friends, and experiences over the years. But I do appreciate the gentleman's work for and support of West Point and the community. And I know he will always be a good steward of the campus, the cadets, the staff, and the faculty, so I thank him for coming down.

Mr. Speaker, usually, we manage things here in the House by seniority based upon, again, elected Congress. But at West Point, it is a very competitive institution, and our seniority is based upon the graduation class. So I am going to turn things upside down here on the floor and go by seniority, which means one of our newly elected Members of Congress will get a chance to speak first.

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Green).

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague, and I appreciate his service in uniform and, of course, here on the floor. We are happy to have him here.

Next, I yield to the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Guthrie), almost my neighbor on the North American continent.

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his comments.

I think what Congressman Guthrie has said, article II of the Association of Graduates Constitution, states the object of this association shall be to cherish the memories of our alma mater and to promote the social intercourse and fraternal fellowship of its graduates, and I think we are seeing that tonight.

You see some snickering and some guffawing, and I think we all get transported back in time. In fact, in preparing for this, I did like Congressman Green and got a list of my classmates and then started working on notes on Friday night and Saturday. I am telling you, I had nightmares on Saturday night; I had nightmares on Sunday because that experience was brought back to life for me, which I cherished.

I am now happy to yield to the gentleman from Ohio, Congressman Davidson.

Before I turn it all over to him, one of the benefits that the academies do, and West Point does, is just doesn't get what they consider the brightest and the best in our secondary education system, but they make sure that they reach into our active military forces and find those young men and women who are showing to their chain of command exceptional opportunity with a chance to promote and become an officer. Congressman Davidson is one of those, and that is why I yield to him, the class of '95.

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for joining us tonight. He makes me think of a lot of things.

I want to make sure that we don't forget the staff and faculty, the Department of Army civilians, and the spouses and the families who make up the whole West Point experience.

A lot of times, staff and faculty will adopt a cadet to be their family while they are away. I am from Illinois, and New York was a pretty long distance. I was fortunate to be, in essence, adopted by Colonel Woodard and Mary Ellen Woodard. They were my pseudo family there, and, boy, did I need it. That was kind of joked about.

I also remember going and visiting many times instructors after hours on a program we called additional instruction. I thought I was smart in high school. I found out in college-level engineering school, I wasn't as smart as I thought I was. I needed a lot of assistance to get through the academic program there, so I appreciated it.

Many of those staff and faculty teachers were West Point graduates, so they not only had the book learning, but they knew the experience we were all going through.

I brought down my yearbook and paged through it. General Omar Bradley attended our graduation, which shows you the length, depth, and width of The Long Gray Line. It was a special time to be able to see that connection.

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Kansas (Mr. Watkins), our most junior graduate--maybe we would call him a plebe in our lexicon-- but a freshman Member of Congress.

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for joining us tonight.

We have people who watch and participate in the Army-Navy games. There is now a new kind of challenge for either the midshipmen or the Corps of Cadets, and it is a fight to see who sings second. If you watch the Army-Navy game, at the end, after a tremendous battle on the field of friendly strife, both sides will join together on each side, and they will listen as the alma maters are sung. The goal is to be the one who gets to sing second, because that means that you have won the football game.

I would like to read the alma mater of West Point.

Hail, Alma Mater dear,

To us be ever near.

Help us thy motto bear

Through all the years.

Let Duty be well performed.

Honor be e'er untarned

Country be ever armed.

West Point, by thee.

Guide us, thine own, aright

Teach us by day, by night,

To keep thine honor bright,

For thee to fight.

When we depart from thee,

Serving on land or sea,

May we stand loyal be,

West Point, to thee

And when our work is done,

Our course on earth is run,

May it be said, ``Well done''

Be thou at peace.''

E'er may that line of gray

Increase from day to day

Live, serve, and die, we pray,

West Point, for thee.

I want to talk about my class, the class of 1980, a little bit. They are now mostly part of that Long Gray Line. We have some still on Active Duty, but they are leaving soon, and they have served faithfully over the years.

Folks will recognize some of these names. Our motto was ``Pride and Excellence.'' These are the statistics I got from AOG. We all know that there is garbage in, garbage out, so some of my classmates are not updating their records. They may not be 100 percent accurate, but the numbers are pretty good.

We graduated with 902. We think there are 23 who are deceased.

We graduated 62 women. These are the pioneers. This is the first class of women who graduated from West Point. They are very close. I talk with many of them frequently, and we are all very proud of them. It was not easy for these women, as you can imagine, in an all-male institution, and they are a tribute to our class.

We have four four-star generals or officers. Two recently retired, Brooks and Perkins. We still have Thomas, who is the commander of Special Operations Command, and Votel, who is commander at CENTCOM. They are both retiring soon.

We had six lieutenant generals, Donohue, Cheek, Hodges, Lanza, Chipman, and Linnington, and they are retired.

We had eight major generals and nine brigadier generals, the one stars. I want to note Brigadier General Retired Anne MacDonald who, for our women classmates, rose to the highest ranks of military service.

We have religious leaders in our class, pastors, chaplains, deacons. One that I like to always catch up with and follow is Nancy Gucwa, who is a Benedictine Sister, Nancy Rose Gucwa, who retired as lieutenant colonel and then became a nun.

We have medical doctors, and we have university professors. I would also like to highlight Jeff Williams, our astronaut who has spent more time in space as a guide of the United States NASA program. Now there is a female astronaut who just surpassed him, but he has been in space quite a bit, and we are very, very proud of him.

I think what is also interesting is that people talk about the military academies and these institutions as the proverbial return on investment. I think my colleagues have talked about the selfless service of their classmates and the people they have met. I think the interesting thing that I came upon in just going over some data from my class is we know that every graduate, for the most part, goes to serve in Active Duty, and the desire is for a 20-year service at a minimum. But a lot of people choose not to do that. I think what surprised me was how many people picked up the mantle in other branches of service or in the Reserve program. So out of the 902, I think about 422 retired from military service, that is getting close to 50 percent.

What are those?

That is, obviously, the United States Army, the United States Army Reserve, and the United States Army National Guard. We had a couple retired from the Air Force, and we had one retire, I think from the Coast Guard. So

selfless service, even as a part-time, and those who follow the military today, if you are in the Reserves or you are in the Guard, you are working, and you can be deployed. It is not a weekend warrior status anymore. They are part of the total military force.

We also have published authors, college professors, master level, world-class athletes, and even an artist. Some of our classmates now have their children who are already graduates, who already served their time and are already out of the service, so generation after generation of families. That is just an example of one of our classes.

The Association of Graduates does a good job, as was noted here, trying to keep us connected to our alma mater. We have folks that come, not only from every one of the 50 States based on the way the nomination process goes, but we also have folks from foreign countries who are invited to serve and go through the program, and that is the unity the association of graduates attempts to do.

So this night was spent to really accomplish two things: one, to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Association of Graduates whose goal was to keep these bonds of friendship and keep reminding us of the goal of duty, honor, country.

Another part was to thank our classmates who have served with us, who help get us through the 4 years of training in the program, thanks to staff and faculty, thanks to the Department of Army Civilians, thanks to maintainers to allow us--really we should thank the national government for continuing to support the great institutions of higher military learning and training like West Point, Annapolis, the Air Force Academy, the Merchant Marine Academy, and the Coast Guard Academy.

I am going to end with the end of the Douglas MacArthur speech. Congressman Watkins read the first part. I was going to read that too because it is one of my favorites.

I will end on this, Mr. Speaker. This is the end of the speech General Douglas MacArthur gave to the Corps of Cadets: ``But in the evening of my memory, always I come back to West Point. Always there echoes and re-echoes: Duty, Honor, Country. Today marks my final roll call with you, but I want you to know that when I cross the river my last conscious thoughts will be of The Corps, and The Corps, and The Corps. I bid you farewell.''

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

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

Mr. Speaker, first, with apologies to our official reporter, and directed at you, ``let the good times roll,'' ``laissez les bons temps rouler.''

Mr. Speaker, H.R. 347, the Responsible Disposal Reauthorization Act of 2019, was introduced by our Colorado colleague, Scott Tipton, and cosponsored by my Energy and Commerce Committee colleague from Colorado, Diana DeGette.

H.R. 347 extends the authorization of the Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act of 1978 site in Mesa County, Colorado. The legislation was passed by the House last September, and the bill today is identical to what we passed last year, save a change in dates.

The legislation was considered by the Subcommittee on Environment and marked up through regular order. It was reported by the full committee with a bipartisan amendment by a voice vote.

Mining and processing of uranium generates a byproduct known as uranium mill tailings. Congress passed the Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act 4 years ago to establish the framework for DOE to dispose of mill tailings, which are left over from nuclear defense activities and the development of our commercial nuclear industry.

The act also authorized the Grand Junction, Colorado, site to serve as a disposal location. This is the only DOE uranium mill tailings disposal site remaining open in the Nation, so it is necessary for the final disposition of mill tailings discovered in communities.

H.R. 347 extends the site's current authorization until 2031. The extension will enable the site to plan long-term operations to protect public health and the environment.

Mr. Speaker, I urge passage of this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Tipton), the author of the legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I urge passage of the bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Speaker, H.R. 1138, a bill to reauthorize the West Valley Demonstration Project, was introduced recently by our New York colleague, Tom Reed. I also see my good friend, Brian Higgins on the floor, and I know the chairman has been personally involved with this for many, many, many years.

The House passed an essentially identical version of this bill this past September on suspension. Prior to that vote, the bipartisan legislation had moved through the Energy and Commerce Committee by regular order, including a legislative hearing and markups as part of our broader nuclear waste management agenda. It was reported by the full committee with a bipartisan amendment by a voice vote.

H.R. 1138 authorizes appropriations to support the Department of Energy's environmental remediation at its West Valley cleanup site in New York through 2026. It also directs a study to help Congress determine the final disposition of radioactive waste that DOE is cleaning up at the site.

H.R. 1138 continues the work of Congress to address the Federal Government's obligations for treatment and disposal of the legacy waste produced during the Cold War, and through the Federal Government's early efforts to develop a civilian nuclear energy industry.

The Department of Energy has successfully remediated 92 sites of this waste, but the most technologically challenging projects remain in process at 17 locations, one of which is the West Valley site.

In 1980, Congress passed the West Valley Demonstration Project Act to direct DOE to address legacy environmental issues and authorized appropriations only through fiscal year 1981. The project has not been reauthorized since that time, despite Congress funding DOE's work at the site for the past 37 years.

H.R. 1138 corrects this situation, provides a path to answering important questions concerning the waste disposition, and ensures spending at the site is subject to an active authorization.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting H.R. 1138, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Reed), the author of the legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting H.R. 1138, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I rise to recognize Mr. Allan G. Kimball, who is retiring after serving for 21 years as the Theatre Director of Southeastern Illinois College.

Mr. Kimball has been directing shows since 1977, working with several high school theatres and at Southeastern Illinois College. He has passionately worked hard to assist many students, encouraging them and nurturing their talents. His efforts have resulted with Mr. Kimball receiving two prestigious Illinois theatre awards during his career.

The community at Southeastern Illinois College has been greatly impacted by his service. His hard work and dedication prompted the college to name their theater stage after Mr. Kimball. The theatre will now be a symbol of his significant role at the college and a reminder of his passion and dedication.

Madam. Speaker, I would like to congratulate Mr. Kimball for his many years of service. I wish him and his family the very best in the future.

Madam Speaker, I rise to congratulate the Danville Schlarman High School girls' basketball team on winning the 2019 Illinois Class 1A championship. Schlarman defeated Lanark Eastland 62- 36 in the final. The win capped a 31-2 season and the Hilltoppers' second consecutive state title.

The tremendous amount of hard work and dedication the team put forth during the season was apparent in its dominant victories during the state playoffs. A 17-point win in the semifinals was the team's smallest margin of victory in postseason play. During the past two seasons, the Hilltoppers have posted a combined 62-3 record.

Head Coach Keith Peoples molded a team with both a high-powered offense and a stingy defense. The Hilltoppers scored 80 or more points seven times and yielded 20 or fewer on seven occasions. The 2018-19 team was led by four standout seniors--Destiny Dye, Janiah Newell, Anaya Peoples, and Sydney Gouard--along with junior Capria Brown.

It gives me great pleasure to extend my sincere congratulations to the entire team, which also included CeCe Damilano, Tannah Ceader, Taylor Fowler, Suzette Semersheim, Lauren Barnette, McKaylee Allen, and Emma Bogen. Coach Peoples was assisted by Jerry O'Neill, David Gouard, and Ollie Harrison, and team managers were Ana Fitzgerald, Elizabeth Stimac, and Molly Deboard.

Madam Speaker, the players, coaches, and entire school community should be very proud of their accomplishments. I wish the graduating seniors all the best in their future endeavors and good luck to those who will return for a chance to make it three in a row next season.

Madam Speaker, I rise to recognize the NACDS RxIMPACT Day on Capitol Hill that is coming up next week. This is a special day where we will have the chance to recognize the pharmacy industry's many contributions to the American healthcare system.

Organized by the National Association of Chain Drug Stores (NACDS), this event will take place on March 5-6, 2019. More than 400 individuals from all 50 states representing the pharmacy community-- including practicing pharmacists, pharmacy school faculty and students, state pharmacy association representatives, and pharmacy company leaders--will be on Capitol Hill. They will visit every House and Senate office to share their views with us about the importance of supporting their access agenda--legislative priorities that will ensure that our constituents will continue to have access to more than 40,000 community and neighborhood pharmacies across the country and be better able to utilize pharmacists to improve healthcare quality while reducing the cost of care.

Local pharmacists are important community leaders, who are trusted by their patients to efficiently provide high quality, convenient healthcare services. And as demand for healthcare services continues to grow, pharmacists are stepping in to fill gaps in healthcare delivery by partnering with physicians, nurses, and other healthcare providers to address the unmet need. Moreover, pharmacists continually innovate to provide unique services that improve overall patient health and wellness.

Further, in many communities the local pharmacist is a patient's most direct healthcare access point. This is particularly true in rural areas. In fact, 91 percent of Americans live within five miles of a community pharmacy. These pharmacies bring value to their communities by providing care to those who need it most--older Americans and those who manage chronic conditions, particularly in rural and underserved areas. In addition, pharmacists frequently work with patients to navigate specific pharmacy benefits and the use of generic substitutions to identify strategies to save money. Pharmacists also ensure medications are administered appropriately, and offer other preventative services that help improve patients overall wellbeing and quality of life.

The pharmacy advocates attending NACDS RxIMPACT Day on Capitol Hill will be educating members on their access agenda. As we debate the future of healthcare, the pharmacy community wishes to work with us to help develop solutions that put pharmacy's value to work for patients and payers. Specifically, NACDS's advocates will be seeking our support for policies that will help address prescription drug affordability and transparency through much-needed reform to DIR fees, a complicated fee structure imposed on pharmacies to participate in the Medicare Part D program. They will also highlight proposals designed to address the opioid epidemic.

I believe Congress should work with the 2019 NACDS RxIMPACT Day on Capitol Hill advocates to advance policies that support pharmacists in their effort to improve care, increase access, and lower costs.

Madam Speaker, I rise to recognize the Vandalia Historical Society for being awarded the Historic Preservation Award. This is a rare and prestigious award made possible through the hard work and dedication of the members of the Vandalia Historical Society.

This society sponsors a variety of fundraisers to help maintain the historic Vandalia Old National Capitol, the second capitol for the state of Illinois. The major project underway is the raising of funds for the replacement of all windows in the building. All upgrades and construction are historically accurate. Due to the efforts of this group, the building has been maintained for the public to enjoy, for school and tour groups to learn the history of this grand old building and to learn its importance to our state and national history.

Madam Speaker, due to their efforts, the Old State Capitol will be standing open to welcome future generations. It is my pleasure and honor to recognize the Vandalia Historical Society upon receiving the prestigious Historic Preservation Recognition Award, and I wish the society the best in all of its future endeavors.

Madam Speaker, I rise to congratulate a young student from my district who has achieved national recognition for exemplary volunteer service in her community. Ms. Elizabeth Weidner of Dieterich has been named one of the top honorees in Illinois by the 2019 Prudential Spirit of Community Awards program, an annual honor conferred on the most impressive student volunteers in each state and the District of Columbia.

Ms. Weidner is being recognized for bringing attention to the tragedy of childhood cancer through a website, social media, speeches, lobbying efforts, the recognition she has received as a top contender in several pageants, as well as being an ambassador for this cause. I had the pleasure of meeting Ms. Weidner a short while ago. I came away from our discussion very impressed with her in-depth knowledge of government programs aimed at addressing childhood cancer as well as her passion and character.

It's crucial that we encourage and support the kind of selfless contribution this young woman has made. People of all ages need to think more about how we, as individual citizens, can work together at the local level to ensure the health and vitality of our towns and neighborhoods. Volunteers like Ms. Weidner are inspiring examples to all of us, and are among our brightest hopes for a better tomorrow.

The program that brought this young role model to our attention--The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards--was created by Prudential Financial in partnership with the National Association of Secondary School Principals in 1995 to impress upon all youth volunteers that their contributions are critically important and highly valued, and to inspire other young people to follow their example. Over the past 24 years, the program has become the nation's largest youth recognition effort based solely on community service. It has honored more than 125,000 young volunteers at the local, state and national level.

Madam Speaker, Ms. Weidner should be extremely proud to have been singled out from the thousands of dedicated volunteers who participated in this year's program. I heartily applaud Ms. Weidner for her initiative in seeking to make her community a better place to live, and for the positive impact she has had on the lives of others. Her actions show that young Americans can--and do--play important roles in our communities, and that America's community spirit continues to hold tremendous promise for the future.

Madam Speaker, I rise in honor of the National Court Reporters Association's Court Reporting and Captioning Week.

The NCRA supports and promotes excellence among those who capture and convert spoken words to text. These skills provide a foundation of public transparency for our courts, government hearings, and even our very own House of Representatives.

Court Reporting and Captioning Week is a nationwide initiative. It brings awareness to the importance of the work that court reporters and captioners do. Without the records they provide, assuring accountability and oversight over government institutions would be impossible. For this reason, court reporters, captioners, and the NCRA stand as part of the foundation of our democracy.

Madam Speaker, I commend the NCRA for its work and the work of its members, and I congratulate the NCRA on celebrating Court Reporting and Captioning Week.

Madam Speaker, I rise to recognize the community of St. Rose, Illinois on the occasion of its 150th anniversary.

The residents of St. Rose have displayed a great deal of dedication, energy, and time in preparation for her sesquicentennial celebration and have planned a diverse schedule of events guaranteed to entertain all who attend. The village and township of St. Rose have been an integral part of the state of Illinois for 150 years, and the citizens of St. Rose have played an important role in Illinois history, life, and government.

In recognition of this background and St. Rose's celebration, the State of Illinois decreed that the weekend of October 7th be designated as St. Rose Sesquicentennial Weekend.

Madam Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in acknowledging the hard work and dedication of the people of St. Rose, and I wish the community all the best in the future.