Chris Dodd: “I rise--and will be joined by my friend and colleague from Alaska--to speak about a remarkable gift that was made to our…”

“I rise--and will be joined by my friend and colleague from Alaska--to speak about a remarkable gift that was made to our wonderful country yesterday. Yesterday, it was announced that the Library of Congress--the greatest library in the world--would receive the single largest gift in its history--$60 million--to promote scholarly excellence. Like a university, the center will have endowed chairs in a number of fields. The remarkable gift by a remarkable person will also establish a $1 million annual prize for lifetime achievement in scholarly endeavors. The gift has been made by a wonderful man whom I have known for many years and for whom I have great admiration, John Kluge. He is also a very good friend of the Senator from Alaska. John Kluge immigrated to our shores from Germany nearly eight decades ago. He began his working life selling shoes, clothes, and stationery, and moved up from there to become one of our nation's most successful businessmen. Like many others whose lives followed a similar path, Mr. Kluge has decided to give something back to the country that has given him so much over his years of living in this Nation. His remarkable gift of $60 million will benefit all Americans by raising standards of scholarly excellence, and blazing new paths of knowledge in areas of science, the humanities, and the social sciences. It will also, in my view, be immensely beneficial to our institutions of government.…”