Mr. DENT. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the Allen Organ Company, which was founded in Allentown, Pennsylvania, by Jerome Markowitz, in 1937.

We are fast approaching the 40th anniversary of the technology used in the Allen Digital Computer Organ, the world's first digital instrument. Introduced the same year as the digital calculator, these were the first two applications of the digital technology that is so prevalent in our world today. For nearly 40 years, digital music has provided quality, versatile, and economical music to performing artists and houses of worship.

In 2004, the Smithsonian Institution acquired the very first Allen Digital Organ, which was manufactured in 1971 and originally installed in St. Andrew's Lutheran Church in Easton, Pennsylvania. This recognition is a great honor for the Allen Organ Company and the inventive people in my district who have been crafting high-quality instruments for decades.

Today, the Jerome Markowitz Memorial Center serves to display the technological advancements that Allen Organ has made over the years which have contributed to the advancement of electronic music. Allen Organ's early advances in digital technology paved the way for modern digital sound devices, such as CDs, personal computer sound cards, and portable media devices. From the company's first patent for an analog organ in 1938 through the digital revolution, Allen Organ has been a pioneer in the advancement of electronic music.

Jerome's son, Steve Markowitz, is currently the president of the company, which has been run by the same family for seventy-three years. From humble beginnings, the Allen Organ Company now employs roughly 200 of my constituents in the Lehigh Valley and has installed 80,000 instruments in more than 80 countries. In closing, Madam Speaker, I would like to applaud the Allen Organ Company and its employees for their enduring dedication to the furtherance of digital music technology.

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