This month the United States Congress is 200 years old - and the anniversary of the first meeting of the Continental Congress in September 1774 is marked by a ceremony at noon today in the House of Representatives at which the broadcaster Alistair Cooke , author of the BBC2 series America, will make the major address.
This invitation makes Alistair Cooke the fourth native-born Englishman to address Congress. The others were Prime Ministers Churchill, Eden and Attlee.
Edited highlights of the ceremony introduced by ROBERT MACNEIL
Producer TAM FRY