Byron Dorgan: “this is a picture of a little red wagon. On the side of this little red wagon it says ``Radio Flyer.'' Most of us…”

“this is a picture of a little red wagon. On the side of this little red wagon it says ``Radio Flyer.'' Most of us understand what this little red wagon is because we have actually had one of these red wagons. I had one. My guess is the person now occupying the Chair has had a little red wagon. Even in Nevada they have little red wagons. Senator Reid, no doubt, has ridden in one of these. I didn't know until recently much about the red wagons, but that they were wonderful and fun, and if you turn the front wheels too sharp, sometimes they tip over. This little red wagon is enjoyed by these two young children as it has been enjoyed for decades and decades. This wagon is called the Radio Flyer. It comes from a company created in 1917 by an Italian immigrant woodworker named Antonio Pasin. He had a one-room workshop in New York City where he made wooden wagons by hand. He called them Liberty Coasters, after the Statue of Liberty. He later renamed them ``Radio Flyers'' because he always had an admiration for airplanes. That is how Radio Flyers came on the side of little red wagons sold all over the country. The company was inherited by Antonio's children and then inherited by his grandchildren located in Chicago, IL. For almost a century, they turned out these marvelous little red metal wagons made here in this country by working men and women who are proud to make them--that is, until earlier last month.…”