kudos to our artist, little tim ashton, thank you for representing.applause] your work inspires us, and hopefully, this experience can inspire all of us in this room to go home and do a little bit more than we ever thought we could. our generations seven times from now depend on it. godspeed, thank you for having me here. [applause] >> ladies and gentlemen, the honorable adrian smith, united states representative from the third district of nebraska. [applause] rep. smith: thank you, mr. speaker, senator fischer, the willa cather committee. this is a great place for both of nebraska's statues. i'm so grateful to be here. willa cather's formative years in red cloud, nebraska, introduced her to the planes and those who made them their home. a number for works feature honest rich retellings of the challenges faced by an the intimate relationship to the land. she herself was a trailblazer in the literary world. even after moving from nebraska, her experiences stayed with her and testified to the unique spirit of nebraska in many of her thomas works of lite