Hoyer Remarks in Support of Resolution Allowing the Greater Washington Soap Box Derby
WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman Steny H. Hoyer (MD-05) spoke on the Floor of the House of Representatives this afternoon in support of his resolution to allow the Greater Washington Soap Box Derby to take place on the grounds of the U.S. Capitol. The event, which takes place on June 17, includes youth from across the Washington Metropolitan area, including many from the Fifth District. Congressman Hoyer has sponsored a resolution in support of the race for the past 26 years. The House passed the resolution this afternoon. Below is a transcript of his remarks and a link to the video:
Click here to view the video.
"Mr. Speaker, I thank you very much and I thank the gentleman for yielding. I thank the Chairman for bringing this bill to the Floor. Mr. Speaker, as I was sitting here listening to Congressman [Hank] Johnson, I got so inspired that I just wanted to go out and jump in a soap box, or jump on a soap box to give my talk. I have been at this for a very long period of time. The Soap Box Derby has been going on for seventy-six years, thirty-six of those years I've had the great privilege of serving in this body.
"I rise each year to sponsor the resolution allowing the Greater Washington Soap Box Derby Association to hold its annual race on Capitol grounds. It's appropriate, I think, that it is here on the Capitol. The inspiration of the Capitol, the inspiration of the Dome, the inspiration and excitement of which Congressman Johnson just spoke, I think captures the sense of what soap box derby means.
"This year marks, as I said, the seventy-sixth year of the Derby Mr. Speaker, at which young people from around the region – from age eight all the way to age seventeen – compete in three divisions. Those divisions are Stock, Super Stock, and Masters. So you're talking about these sophisticated soap boxes, they're not your father's soap box that's for sure.
"It is not only a fun and exciting event; it is also educational and brings children together, young people together, young adults together with their parents, grandparents, siblings, and neighbors to plan and build their soap-box racers. You know one of the things we need in America is more engineers. I'm a lawyer, I don't know that we need more lawyers. We need doctors of course, but people tell me if we are going to make things in America, we need more engineers. People working with their hands, people who create, people who design, and that's what this Soap Box Derby is about. Doing so, participating in this contest, helps connect these young people with hands-on engineering and manufacturing lessons, which promote greater interest in the STEM fields, which we all talk about: science, technology, engineering, and math.
"This has been the case, Mr. Speaker, since the first Soap Box Derby in 1938, and this long tradition now continues in the twenty-first century. The winner in each division will then qualify to race against the regional champions from across the nation later this year at Derby Downs at the All-American Soap Box Derby in Akron, Ohio. This year, the greater Washington Soap Box Derby will be held on June 17.
"Mr. Speaker, the Derby has been called ‘the greatest amateur racing event in the world.' I don't know whether it is the greatest, but it is certainly one of the great contests in the world. And teaches participating youth about fortitude, about leadership, about engineering, sportsmanship, and pride of achievement. In addition to bringing families together, the Soap Box Derby brings communities closer together. Many of the racers are sponsored and cheered by their local civic groups, police, fire departments, and service organizations.
"I've been proud, as I said Mr. Speaker, to sponsor this resolution for twenty-six years, and I believe strongly in the importance of this tradition and am convinced of the very positive impact the Derby has on young people from my District who participate, and around this region, and around the country. Maryland's Fifth District has been home to a number of Greater Washington Soap Box Derby winners, including the winners from 2007, this in my district in the Washington Metropolitan area, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2012, 2013, and 2014. So the Washington region is millions of people, my young people and their advisors, otherwise maybe called parents, are doing pretty well in this. And we are proud of that. Our racers even won national championships in 2007 and 2008.
"I hope my colleagues, Mr. Speaker, will join me in supporting this resolution and thanking the organizers of the Greater Washington Soap Box Derby. I hope they will also join me in congratulating in advance all of the young people from the region who will be participating on June 17. I also want to thank my cosponsors, [Reps.] Gerry Connolly, Don Beyer, John Delaney, Jamie Raskin, Anthony Brown, Eleanor Holmes-Norton, and Barbara Comstock. This is a bipartisan resolution, I'm sure everybody will support it. And I'm sure that the excitement of which Congressman Johnson will be experienced by those young people as they race toward victory. And whether they win the number one spot, they will be winners for having participated in this creative contest that makes them better people. And I yield back the balance of my time."