HON. THADDEUS G. McCOTTER

OF MICHIGAN

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Tuesday February 15, 2005

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to acknowledge and honor the thousands of Michigan Rotarians as they celebrate the 100th anniversary of the founding of Rotary, the world’s first service club.

On February 23, 1905, The Rotary Club of Chicago was established by Paul Harris, an attorney who wished to recapture through a professional club the same friendly, small town spirit he experienced in his youth. Finding like-minded committed individuals, over time the organization was called the Rotary, because of the club’s early practice of rotating meetings among members’ offices.

From this humble but hearty beginning, Rotary’s popularity burgeoned and clubs were formed from New York to San Francisco. By 1922 the organization began to expand outside of the United States, and so it adopted the name Rotary International to evidence its member clubs on six continents.

Throughout the years the organization has been remarkable for “doing good in the world.” For example in 1985, Rotarians made a commitment to immunize all of the world’s children against polio. Today, contributions to the Rotary Foundation total more than $80 million annually and support a wide range of humanitarian grants and educational programs; and Rotarians have mobilized hundreds of thousands of volunteers and have immunized more than one billion children worldwide. In point of fact, by the end of 2005 Rotary will have contributed close to $500 million to this cause alone.

Mr. Speaker, for 100 years Rotary has striven to meet the challenges of a changing world, including such pressing issues as environmental degradation, illiteracy, world hunger, and at risk children. Let us then pause our own hectic pace and honor Rotarians for bringing hope and help to all humanity.