Volume 143, No. 91 covering the 1st Session of the 105th Congress (1997 - 1998) was published by the Congressional Record.
The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“HAPPY 150TH BIRTHDAY TO THE CITY OF NEW BEDFORD” mentioning the Environmental Protection Agency was published in the Extensions of Remarks section on pages E1327-E1328 on June 25, 1997.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
HAPPY 150TH BIRTHDAY TO THE CITY OF NEW BEDFORD
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HON. BARNEY FRANK
of massachusetts
in the house of representatives
Wednesday, June 25, 1997
Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts. Mr. Speaker. One of the legislative accomplishments of which I am most proud is my role, along with others in the Massachusetts Congressional delegation, in securing passage last year of the legislation which created a national park in the City of New Bedford, commemorating the City's crucial role as a world whaling center. The fact that New Bedford played a leading role in the history of whaling is of course chronicled most famously in Herman Melville's Moby-Dick, but, although the whaling industry has long since moved elsewhere and now largely come to an end, the city is still a remarkable storehouse of information on the history of whaling, and the establishment of the national park will bring that story to millions of visitors in the coming years.
While the people of New Bedford are looking forward to sharing that history--and the many other important contributions their city has made to American culture--they have been celebrating their history on their own for decades. In fact, I was honored to have had the chance to participate in a parade in April in honor of the 150th anniversary of New Bedford's incorporation as a city, an event attended by more than 50,000 people. Of course New Bedford as a community has existed much longer than 150 years, but it is surely no accident that its incorporation as a city dates to the heyday of the whaling industry there. Since 1847, New Bedford, like so many other American cities, has gone through many changes and many stages of economic development, but its residents have continued to work to make the city a better place to live, while still preserving its wonderful history.
And New Bedford has been an extraordinary city indeed. Beyond its role in the whaling industry, New Bedford has been the home of many
``firsts'' and other important events in American history, and I would like to take note of several. It is no surprise that the city was involved in a number of key maritime events, including, in the 1770s, the construction of Old Ironsides by George Claghorn, a New Bedford resident and ship builder. Also, in 1783, the American Ship Bedford, owned by William Rotch, Jr. of New Bedford, became the first vessel to display the American flag in English waters. And, it was in 1896 that the city's Joshua Slocum competed the first solo trip around the world in his sloop ``Spray.''
The city also played a key role in the fight for an end to slavery, and for fair treatment generally of African Americans. It was an important site on the Underground Railroad, and in 1838, a fugitive slave and his wife traveled to New Bedford from Newport, Rhode Island at the invitation of two quakers who invited him to share their carriage. Upon arriving in New Bedford, where he lived for several years and played an active role in the Underground Railroad, this former slave took the name of Frederick Douglass, and, under that name, became one of the best known African American authors and activists in our nation's history. In 1848, Lewis Temple, an African American blacksmith invented the Temple Toggle Harpoon, which revolutionized the whaling industry. And, in 1863, Sgt. William Carney of New Bedford saved the American flag in a Civil War battle at Fort Wagner, where he fought with members of the Massachusetts 54th Regiment, made up of black soldiers (a battle depicted in the film ``Glory''). Sgt. Carney was later the first black recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor.
Other New Bedford historical events of note include the 1853 opening of the city's Free Public Library (this was the nation's second free library, opening its doors just weeks after the first opened in Boston); the 1871 founding of St. John the Baptist Catholic Church, the first Portuguese Catholic Church in North America; and the 1874 writing of ``Robert's Rules of Order'' by Captain Henry Robert, then stationed at the city's Fort Taber (which was designed by Robert E. Lee).
Beyond these specific events, the history of New Bedford illustrates the strengths and challenges of older industrial area in our country from the latter half of the nineteenth century through the end of the twentieth. Most important, it demonstrates the importance of the commitment and character of a city's residents in creating a vibrant community.
The whaling industry which was so essential to New Bedford has of course ended as an ongoing commercial activity. But, the city remains one of the centers of fishing in the world, and one example of the creative spirit of the people of New Bedford is the extent to which they have blended the maritime history of the city into its ongoing economic life. Too often in America respect for history and tradition is somehow considered to be a detraction from a concern with current economic activity. Indeed, many urban areas in this country during the middle part of this century, began, in one way or another, to separate their waterfronts from their main commercial centers. In New Bedford, however, the waterfront has always had an important place of pride in the economic life and culture of the city, and this experience is a graphic repudiation of the idea that tradition and economic activity must perpetually be in conflict. Rather, as shown so clearly in New Bedford, they can be mutually reinforcing to everyone's benefit.
New Bedford also has a proud history as one of the industrial centers of this country, serving as an important hub of the garment and textile industry. While this has meant that the city--and the region--has also become an example of the shortsightedness of national trade and industrial policies which often promote the interests of some at the expense of others, once again, the spirit of the people of New Bedford has been strengthened by these adverse trends. And, now in its 151st year, New Bedford continues to strive for economic expansion that takes full advantage of twenty-first century norms. The city is striving hard for a number of improvements in the transportation grid which serves the region, and which, when brought to fruition, hold great promise for significant economic expansion.
Another area where New Bedford has an important lesson for the rest of the country is in dealing with the consequences of past environmental damage. Until fairly recently in our nation's history we paid very little attention to the negative effects of air and water pollution. For the past twenty-five years we have worked hard to address the environmental problems that have arisen in cities and towns throughout the country. New Bedford, as one of the older industrial areas of the country, was not immune from the effects of the pre-
environmental regime in which so little attention was paid to the cleanliness of our air and water. But, today, in cooperation with the Environmental Protection Agency, which has shown a great deal of responsiveness to the City's needs, New Bedford is an example of how to proceed in a constructive fashion to address past environmental difficulties while maximizing current economic potential. With the ongoing work to restore the city's harbor, ensure the protection of Buzzards Bay's waters, convert abandoned manufacturing sites into opportunities for new economic growth, explore the potential of aquaculture, and in so many other ways, the people of New Bedford continue to strive for an appropriate balance between sensitivity to the environment and economic growth.
Finally, New Bedford reminds America of a lesson which, sadly, the country appears to be very much in need of remembering: the importance of immigration in building this great country, culturally, socially and economically. As a port, New Bedford has long been a center of immigration. Today, people continue to immigrate in large numbers to the area from Portugal, the Azores, Madeira and the Republic of Cape Verde. All continue to be a source of vitality for the city, and those of us who point to the industrious and valued work force that constitutes one of the city's great assets know that immigration is a major factor in the composition of the work force. Furthermore, the city's example is an excellent argument in favor of a continuation of the generous attitude toward immigration that the United States has traditionally held, but which, unfortunately, is now being questioned in some quarters.
Mr. Speaker, in the years ahead at the appropriate anniversaries on which people take stock of the city's condition, I believe we will be able to look back to today as a period when the people of New Bedford, working together as they have so often in the past, continued to make important strides in both transforming the city's economy to prepare it for the twenty-first century and in preserving its incredibly rich legacy. I have represented New Bedford in the United States House of Representatives since January of 1993, and in that capacity it is a great honor as well as a distinct pleasure for me to join in celebrating with the people of the city on this glorious 150th birthday.
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