{"database": "openregs", "table": "congressional_record", "rows": [["CREC-2000-12-15-pt1-PgE2198-2", "2000-12-15", 106, 2, null, null, "TRIBUTE TO ANTONIO MEUCCI", "HOUSE", "EXTENSIONS", "TRIBUTETO", "E2198", "E2199", "[{\"name\": \"Bill Pascrell, Jr.\", \"role\": \"speaking\"}]", null, "146 Cong. Rec. E2198", "Congressional Record, Volume 146 Issue 155 (Friday, December 15, 2000)\n\n[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 155 (Friday, December 15, 2000)]\n[Extensions of Remarks]\n[Pages E2198-E2199]\nFrom the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]\n\n                       TRIBUTE TO ANTONIO MEUCCI\n\n                                 ______\n\n                        HON. BILL PASCRELL, JR.\n\n                             of new jersey\n\n                    in the house of representatives\n\n                       Friday, December 15, 2000\n\n  Mr. PASCRELL. Mr. Speaker, Alexander Graham Bell is the man most\ncommonly given full credit for the invention of the telephone. The\ncourts awarded him one of the most valuable patents in American\nhistory, a patent that made him a millionaire and became the foundation\nfor one of America's largest corporations. Certainly, the telephone has\nbecome a tool of modern communications so fundamental that many of\ntoday's business and social activities would be inconceivable in its\nabsence. However, Bell's claim that he solely engineered the telephone\nwas hotly disputed by a number of other inventors, one of which I wish\nto speak of here today. My motive is not to disparage or discredit the\nlegend of Mr. Bell's findings, but rather to tell the story of Antonio\nMeucci, an Italian immigrant little known for his far-reaching\ncontributions to our society.\n  Antonio Meucci was born in San Frediano, near Florence, in April\n1808. He studied design and mechanical engineering at Florence's\nAcademy of Fine Arts and then worked in the\n\n[[Page E2199]]\n\nTeatro della Pergola and various other theaters as a stage technician\nuntil 1835. From there he accepted a job as a scenic designer and stage\ntechnician at the Teatro Tacon in Havana, Cuba.\n  Fascinated by technical research of any kind, Meucci read every\nscientific missive he could acquire. He spent a great deal of his spare\ntime in Havana on research and he soon gained notoriety for his\ncreative and productive mind. His purported inventions included a new\nmethod of galvanizing metal, which was applied to military equipment\nfor the Cuban government. He continued his work in the theater, but\nscience had become his indomitable passion.\n  One day, in his home, Meucci heard an exclamation of a friend, who\nwas in another room of the house, over a piece of copper wire running\nbetween them. He realized immediately that he had something that was\nmore important than any discovery he had ever made. With that\nrealization also came the understanding that to succeed as an inventor,\nhe would need an environment that truly fostered his inquisitive mind\nand vibrant spirit. He would come to America, to explore this new\ncommunication possibility.\n  He left Cuba for New York in 1850, settling in the Clifton section of\nStaten Island, a few miles from New York City. Though poor finances and\nlimited English plagued Meucci, he worked tirelessly in his endeavor to\nbring long distance communication to a practical stage.\n  In 1855, when his wife became partially paralyzed, Meucci set up a\ntelephone system which joined several rooms of his house with his\nworkshop in another building nearby. This was the first such\ninstallation anywhere. In 1860, when the instrument had become\npractical, Meucci organized a demonstration to attract financial\nbacking in which a singer's voice was clearly heard by spectators a\nconsiderable distance away. A description of the apparatus was soon\npublished in one of New York's Italian newspapers and the report with a\nmodel of the invention were taken to Italy with the goal of arranging\nproduction there. Unfortunately, the promises of financial support,\nwhich were so forthcoming after the original demonstration, never\nmaterialized.\n  Antonio Meucci refused to let this set back destroy his vision.\nThough the years that followed brought increasing poverty, he continued\nto produce new designs and specifications. Unable to raise the sum for\na definitive patent, Meucci filed a caveat, or notice of intent, that\nwas a preliminary description of his invention with the U.S. Patent\nOffice. His teletrofono was registered on December 28, 1871 with the\nrequirement that he file for converting it into a patent in 1874. Fate\nwould deal Meucci a cruel blow, however, as he fell victim to a near\nfatal boat explosion. While he lay in hospital, destitute and ill,\nMeucci allowed the provisional patent to lapse.\n  Two years after the expiration of Meucci's caveat, Bell took out a\npatent for his voice transmitting electrical device, which he called\nthe telephone. It is possible that sometimes several inventors have the\nsame idea at the same time. In this case, however, what has mattered is\nnot who had the idea for the telephone first, but who first turned the\nidea into a viable commercial enterprise. As we all know, it was Bell\nwho succeeded in that respect.\n  For too long Antonio Meucci has been only a footnote in our history\nbooks. At many local libraries, a search for Meucci in the card\ncatalogue yields nothing. His legacy deserves more. Remember that a\nfederal court in the 1880's found that Meucci's ideas were significant\nto the invention of the telephone and the Secretary of State at the\ntime issued a public statement that ``there exists sufficient proof to\ngive priority to Meucci in the invention of the telephone.''\n  Mr. Speaker, many people from many different nations have contributed\nto the greatness of America. Antonio Meucci was indeed one such person.\nHe is an example of someone who worked for the benefit of all. It is\nfitting that his efforts are recognized here today.\n\n                          ____________________"]], "columns": ["granule_id", "date", "congress", "session", "volume", "issue", "title", "chamber", "granule_class", "sub_granule_class", "page_start", "page_end", "speakers", "bills", "citation", "full_text"], "primary_keys": ["granule_id"], "primary_key_values": ["CREC-2000-12-15-pt1-PgE2198-2"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 74.24161187373102, "source": "Federal Register API & Regulations.gov API", "source_url": "https://www.federalregister.gov/developers/api/v1", "license": "Public Domain (U.S. Government data)", "license_url": "https://www.regulations.gov/faq"}