AT LEAST FOR ME. AND MY FELLOW WEST VIRGINIANS. FOR TODAY IS
           THE 137TH ANNIVERSARY OF WEST VIRGINIA'S STATEHOOD IN 1863. AND
           LIKE THAT STAR, I THINK THAT I, TOO, GLOW JUST A BIT WITH PRIDE
           BASKING IN THE REFLECTED BEAUTY OF MY HOME STATE OF WEST

           VIRGINIA. I AM ESPECIALLY GLAD THAT WEST VIRGINIA'S BIRTHDAY
           FALLS IN JUNE. WHILE EVERY MONTH HAS ITS SPECIAL JOYS, JUNE IS
           AN EXCEPTIONALLY BEAUTIFUL MONTH IN WEST VIRGINIA. FULL OF
           WILDFLOWERS AND BIRD BIRDSONG, OF NEAT GARDENS LAID OUT IN
           ORDERLY ROWS, OF TREES STILL FRESH AND RICHLY GREEN. JUNE IS A

           MONTH OF OPTIMISM, OF OUTDOOR WEDDINGS AND PICNICS PICNICS, OF
           FRESH CORN STILL JUST A PROMISE ON THE STALK, OF CHILDREN
           LEARNING TO FISH ALONG QUIET STREAMS, AND OF KNOBBY-KNEED COLTS
           AND CALVES PEEKING SHYLY FROM BETWEEN THEIR MOTHER'S LEGS IN
           MEADOWS LUSH WITH GRASS. JUNE IS ENOUGH FOR CELEBRATING
           CELEBRATING. WE CELEBRATE A FAIRLY YOUNG STATE LAID OVER A VERY

           OLD FOUNDATION. THE HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA AS A STATE HAS
           LASTED FOR BUT AN INSTANT IN THE GEOLOGIC SCALE OF THE STEEPLY
           CURVING MOUNTAINS THAT COMPRISE MOST OF THE STATE'S LAND MASS.
           THE SOIL AND ROCK OF THESE MOUNTAINS WAS FIRST MOUNDED UP SOME
           900 MILLION YEARS AGO IN THE PRE-CAMBRIAN ERA. OVER TIME, THIS

           FIRST APPALACHIAN MOUNTAIN CHAIN ERODED TO FORM A SEABED DURING
           THE SHIFTING MOVEMENT OF THE CONTINENTS. AND THEN ABOUT 500
           MILLION YEARS AGO DURING THE ORDIVICEAN PERIOD, THE CONTINENTS
           DRIFTED BACK TOGETHER, AND THESE TITANIC FORCES PUSHED THAT SEA
           FLOOR UP UP, CREATING THE MULTIPLE PARALLEL RIDGES THAT FORM

           THE APPALACHIAN MOUNTAINS TODAY. DURING THESE SUBSEQUENT TR
           TRIASSIC AND JUROR RAS I CAN PERIODS KNOWN TO EVERY SCHOOLCHILD
           AS THE AGE OF DINOSAURS, THE CONTINENT SETTLED INTO THE
           CONFIGURATION THAT WE KNOW TODAY. THEY'RE STILL SETTLING. AND
           THE MOST RECENT 200 MILLION YEARS OF WIND AND RAIN AND SNOW AND
           ICE HAVE ERODED THE APPALACHIAN MOUNTAINS TO ABOUT HALF OF

           THEIR ORIGINAL HEIGHT, A HAPPENSTANCE THAT I AM SURE WEST
           VIRGINIA'S EARLY SETTLERS APPRECIATED AS THEY HAULED THEIR
           BELONGINGS OVER ROUGH TRACKS IN WOODEN-WHEELED CARTS. WEST
           VIRGINIA'S TOPOGRAPHY HAS ALWAYS BEEN IMPORTANT. IT'S SHAPED
           THE KIND OF AGRICULTURE STILL SEEN TODAY. SMALLER FAMILY FARMS

           CARVED OUT OF SHELTERED HOLLOWS, SMALL VALLEYS, AND STEEP HILL
           HILLSIDES. IT SHAPED THE KIND OF INDUSTRIES THAT DEVELOPED,
           FAVORING RESOURCE EXTRACTION OF FINE TIMBER, RICH COAL
           DEPOSITS, AND CHEMICALS OVER LAND-INTENSIVE LARGE-SCALE
           MANUFACTURING. IT SHAPED THE POLITICS OF WEST VIRGINIA'S
           HISTORY, CREATING A DIVIDE BETWEEN THE INDEPENDENT MOUNTAINEERS
           WHO SETTLED THESE HILLS AND THE REST OF WHAT WAS THEN THE

           COMMON WEALTH OF -- THE COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA. AND THE
           MOUNTAINS HAVE ALWAYS SERVED AS A KIND OF FORTRESS WALL AROUND
           THE HIDDEN BEAUTY OF THE STATE. AND BEFORE THE ADVENT OF MODERN
           HIGHWAYS, WHICH CAME LATE TO THE STATE OF WEST VIRGINIA AND
           WHICH ARE STILL COMING, IT TOOK A SPECIAL DETERMINATION INTO

           MAKE ONE'S WAY INTO OUR MOUNTAIN FASTESSES. A CHILD OF WAR,
           WEST VIRGINIA HAS THE SOMEWHAT DUBIOUS HONOR OF HOSTING THE
           FIRST MAJOR LAND BATTLE OF THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR AT POINT
           PLEASANT AS WELL AS THE LAST SKIRMISH OF THAT WAR AT FORT HENRY
           IN WHEELING IN 1782. NOW, THIS INFORMATION I CAME UPON IN A

           HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA WRITTEN BY A WEST VIRGINIAN. WEST
           VIRGINIA GAINED HER STATE STATEHOOD DURING THE CIVIL WAR AND
           HER HILLS ARE DOTTED WITH BATTLEFIELDS FROM THAT CONFLICT. MANY
           HISTORIANS, IN FACT, CONSIDER THE CLASH OF PHILIPE BETWEEN
           UNION COLONEL BENJAMIN F. KELLY AND HIS FIRST VIRGINIA
           PROVISIONAL REGIMEN, AND THE FORCES UNDER CONFEDERATE CERTAIN
           GEORGE A. POTTERFIELD ON THE MORNING OF JUNE 3, 1861, TO BE THE

           FIRST LAND BATTLE OF THE CIVIL WAR. SO FROM THESE VIOLATE
           BEGINNINGS, WEST VIRGINIA -- SO FROM THESE VIOLENT BEGINNINGS,
           WEST VIRGINIA HAS COME A LONG WAY IN JUST 137 YEARS TO HOST AN
           INTERNATIONAL PEACE CONFERENCE EARLIER THIS YEAR IN
           SHEPARDSTOWN. WEST VIRGINIA HAS COME A LONG WAY AS WELL FROM
           HER EARLY DAYS AS A RESOURCE RICH PROVIDER OF BUILDING BLOCK
           ESSENTIALS LIKE COAL AND CHEMICALS AND TIMBER TO A DIVERSIFIED

           ECONOMY OF OLD STAPLES AND LEADING-EDGE INFORMATION-AGE HIGH
           TECHNOLOGY. AND WEST VIRGINIA HAS COME A LONG WAY FROM BEING A
           QUIET BACKWATER REGION OF NARROW, WINDING GRAVEL AND DIRT ROADS
           THAT KEPT PEOPLE ISOLATED AND INSULAR TO A STATE TRAVERSED BY
           MODERN, SAFE, BUSINESS-ATTRACTING HIGHWAYS. I'VE SEEN THESE

           CHANGES HAPPEN HAPPEN. I CAN REMEMBER THE OLD DIRT ROADS, THE
           OLD GRAVEL ROADS. I CAN REMEMBER WHEN THERE WERE ONLY FOUR
           MILES. AND PRIOR TO THAT, I CAN REMEMBER -- I CAN REMEMBER
           PRIOR TO THAT. BUT WHEN I WAS IN THE STATE LEGISLATURE IN 1947,
           WEST VIRGINIA ONLY HAD FOUR MILES OF DIVIDED FOUR-LANE
           HIGHWAYS. LET ME SAY THAT AGAIN. IN 1947 -- 53 YEARS AGO --

           WHEN I WAS IN THE WEST VIRGINIA LEGISLATURE, WEST VIRGINIA ONLY
           HAD FOUR MILES OF DIVIDED FOUR-LANE HIGHWAYS. AND IT'S MUCH
           DIFFERENT NOW. WEST VIRGINIA HAS AT LEAST BETWEEN 900 AND 1,000

           MILES OF FOUR-LANE DIVIDED HIGHWAYS. FOUR-LANE DIVIDED
           HIGHWAYS. NOW, THERE ARE SOME PEOPLE WHO WOULD LIKE TO SEE US
           GO BACK TO THE TIME WHEN WE ONLY HAD FOUR MILES OF DIVIDED
           FOUR-LANE HIGHWAYS. IN SOME WAYS, I WOULD LIKE TO GO BACK TO
           THAT TIME, TOO, BUT CERTAINLY I DON'T WANT TO GO BACK TO THAT
           CIRCUMSTANCE. WEST VIRGINIA HAS BLOSSOMED AS SHE HAS MATURED,

           REACHING OUT GRACEFULLY TO THE FUTURE WHILE PRESERVING AND
           HONORING THE RICH HISTORY OF HER PAST. AS A STATE, WEST
           VIRGINIA IS AGING AND HER POPULATION IS AGING AS WELL. WEST
           VIRGINIA BOASTS THE OLDEST MEDIAN AGE IN THE NATION. I LIKE TO
           THIS THAT THIS STATISTIC IN PART PROVES THAT WEST VIRGINIA IS
           AS ATTRACTIVE A PLACE IN WHICH TO RETIRE AS ARE SOME OF THE

           MORE STEAMY STATES IN THE NATION. OF COURSE, WEST VIRGINIA'S
           BRACING CLIMATE, WITH ITS BREATHTAKING SEASONAL CHANGES, MAY BE
           RESPONSIBLE FOR KEEPING WEST VIRGINIA'S ELDERS ACTIVE LONG
           AFTER RETIREMENT. THERE'S ALWAYS A GARDEN TO PLANT, ALWAYS
           LEAVES TO RAKE, OR SIMPLY BEAUTIFUL WALKS TO TAKE, ACTIVITIES
           THAT KEEP THE JOINTS -- THE JOINTS IN THE ARMS AND IN THE LEGS

           -- KEEP THE JOINTS AGILE AND THE MIND BUSY. AGE AND THE WISDOM
           THAT CAN ONLY BE ACCUMULATED WITH EXPERIENCE IS RESPECTED IN
           THE MOUNTAINEER STATE. JUST TWO WEEKS AGO, THE STATE HOSTED THE
           FIRST-EVER UNITED NATIONS INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON RURAL
           AGING, TAKING ITS PLACE AT THE FOREFRONT OF EFFORTS TO KEEP THE
           60% OF SENIORS AROUND THE WORLD WHO LIVE IN RURAL AREAS

           HEALTHY, ACTIVE, AND INDEPENDENT. AND YET, MR. PRESIDENT,
           DESPITE ALL THE CHANGES, ONE THING HAS REMAINED CONSTANT IN
           WEST VIRGINIA; NAMELY, THE DOWN-TO-EARTH, FAITH IN GOD -- WE
           HAVE NO HESITANCY IN USING THAT WORD AND NOT USING IT IN VAIN.
           THERE'S A TENDENCY THESE DAYS TO KIND OF -- KIND OF PUT THE LID

           ON USING THE WORD "GOD." NO, DON'T USE HIS NAME. DON'T -- DON'T
           USE GOD'S NAME. I'M -- I'M AGAINST USING HIS NAME IN VAIN. I
           CAN'T SAY THAT I HAVEN'T DONE THAT IN MY TIME. BUT I'M VERY
           MUCH OPPOSED TO THAT. BUT I'M NOT OPPOSED TO USING GOD'S NAME
           IN SCHOOLS OR ANYWHERE ELSE. I'M FOR THAT. AND I'LL HAVE FOR

           HESITANCY TO USE IT MYSELF. I HAVE NO HESITANCY WHATSOEVER.
           WEST VIRGINIANS ARE TAUGHT TO HONOR THEIR MOTHER AND FATHER AND
           TO DO WHAT IS RIGHT, EVEN IF THAT IS NOT THE EASIEST PATH. IN
           WEST VIRGINIA, WE TRY TO LIVE BY THE GOLDEN RULE AND ALWAYS
           REMEMBER TO GIVE THANKS TO THE CREATOR FOR THE MANY BLESSINGS
           HE HAS BESTOWED UPON US. YOU OUGHT TO GO BACK AND READ THE
           MAYFLOWER COMPACT AND SEE HOW THOSE MEN AND WOMEN FELT ABOUT

           GOD, THE MAYFLOWER COMPACT. WELL, IN A TIME WHEN SOCIETY IS
           FOCUSED ON SPEED AND INSTANT GRATIFICATION, WEST VIRGINIANS
           KNOW THE VALUE OF TAKING TIME TO ENJOY THE BEAUTY AROUND THEM.
           THOSE VALUES THAT HAVE SURVIVED FOR 137 YEARS I FULLY EXPECT
           WILL BE AROUND FOR ANOTHER 137 YEARS AT LEAST. SO AT 137 -- AGE

           137, 137TH BIRTHDAY, WEST VIRGINIA IS A YOUNGSTER ON THE
           GEOLOGIC TIME SCALE AND JUST ENTERING HER MIDDLE AGE ON THE
           POLITICAL SCALE. IN TERMS OF HER POPULATION'S AGE, WELL, LET US
           BE POLITE AND SAY ONLY THAT SHE IS OF A CERTAIN AGE. STILL, AT
           LEAST THE FEW STIPULATES AWAY -- STILL, AT LEAST, A FEW STEPS

           AWAY FROM BECOMING A GRAND DAM DAME -- GRANDDAME -- BUT ALL I
           WILL SAY IS THAT SHE CERTAINLY IS GRAND. WEST VIRGINIA -- HOW I
           LOVE YOU EVERY STREAMLET, SHRUB AND STONE EVEN THE CLOUDS THAT
           FLIT ABOVE YOU SEEM ALWAYS TO BE MINE OWN YOUR STEEP HILLSIDES

           CLAD IN GRANDEUR ALWAYS RUGGED, BOLD AND FREE SING WITH EVER
           SWELLING CHORUS MONTANE SEMPER LIBERIE ALWAYS FREE TO LITTLE
           STREAMLETS AS THEY GLIDE AND RACE ALONG JOIN THEIR MUSIC TO THE
           ANTHEM AND THE ZEPHERS SONG ALWAYS FREE THE MOUNTAIN TORRENT IN
           ITS HASTE TO REACH THE SEA SHALT -- SHOUTS ITS CHALLENGE TO THE

           HILLSIDES AND THE ECHO ANSWERS
{END: 2000/06/20 TIME: 19-15 , Tue.  106TH SENATE, SECOND SESSION}