Steven Holt: “I rise in support of the Lifetime Innovations of Thomas Edison Act, originally sponsored by my colleague Mr. Payne from…”

“I rise in support of the Lifetime Innovations of Thomas Edison Act, originally sponsored by my colleague Mr. Payne from New Jersey, with others of us from New Jersey joining him. The legislation before us would reclassify the Edison home and laboratory as a National Historic Park. First dedicated as the Edison National Historic site by the National Park Service in 1962, the site is badly in need of restoration. Dedicating this site as a National Historic Park and authorizing funding for the preservation of the Edison home and laboratory will preserve a national treasure. As you have heard from my colleague, the collection there, as well as the buildings themselves, are of great historical national importance. Thomas Edison was one of America's most prominent inventors. From starting one of the first industrial laboratories, something that is often forgotten, to inventing the first incandescent light bulb, the motion picture, the phonograph, et cetera, Edison played an integral role in the technological advances that helped spur America's industrial revolution. Mr. Edison held over 1,000 patents in the United States and other countries, was named by Life magazine as the man of the millennium, and awarded the Congressional Gold Medal by the Congress in 1928 for his development and application of inventions that have revolutionized civilization. Thomas Edison certainly deserves to be remembered and his collection deserves to be preserved.”