Max Baucus: “I am proud to rise today and announce a historic event in my home State. For only the second time in the history of…”

“I am proud to rise today and announce a historic event in my home State. For only the second time in the history of Montana, our great State will welcome the President of Ireland. President Mary McAleese has displayed courage, intellect, determination, and passion as she has guided her country for nearly a decade. During this time her country has experienced unprecedented growth, quickly rising to the upper echelons of nations. President McAleese will make an inaugural pilgrimage to a city whose history has been intimately tied with Ireland's for more than a century. In 1882, a lone Irish immigrant, driven by the work ethic instilled in his homeland and his desire to succeed, made a discovery that would forever change the face of Montana, the West, and America. The city was Butte, MT, and the man was Marcus Daly. Three hundred feet into the belly of the Earth, Daly set off an explosion that unearthed a revolution. Before his amazed eyes lay one of the riches veins of copper the world had every seen, and with it the unknowing hopes of millions of Irish immigrants. Butte, and its neighbor to the northwest Anaconda, quickly became thriving metropolises turning these mining communities into a virtual mosaic of nationalities and ethnicities. When walking down the street, one could hear the chatter of Eastern Europeans, smell cooking from the Middle East, or view native dress from Scandinavia. But above all was the voice of the Irish.…”