Speaker. as one who represents an area which proudly claims to be the birthplace of the American Industrial Revolutionthe HudsonMohawk region of upstate New YorkI have a very special interest in the history of the laborers who powered that revolution and all of the incredible economic expansion of this Nation ever since. From the time when early Industrialists first harnessed the power of New Yorks rivers to operate sawmills and flour mills. to the construction of the great Erie and Champlain Canals. which opened our frontiers and fostered vast new Industries of all kinds. at all of the Incredible American enterprises of the 1800s such as iron and railroads and textiles. right up to the high technology and service industries of today. the miracle of American enterprise which has changed the world has been built upon the able labors of working men and women. Indeed. the story of these workers. their organization and their advancement is truly the story of the American dreamof immigrants risking all to seek something better for their children. of canals and railroads opening up new markets and tapping tremendous resources. and of the struggle of workers to better their lot and to share in the benefits of the prosperity they helped to create. Several years ago. the localities of the HudsonMohawk region joined together to form a commission to study. commemorate. and present the story of these workers who laid the rails. operated the looms. stoked the furnaces. and forged the iron during the early decades of our industrialization. And it is that effort which has helped to give birth to the bill now before us. namely. a national commitment to record and preserve the very special history of American labor and to see that the full story of their work. trails. advances. and setbacks is never forgotten.
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immigrants