A friend sends me this tidbit from the Congressional Record:

Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, yesterday and a few weeks ago, I invoked the
movie “Groundhog Day” starring Bill Murray to provide a perspective on
consideration of our tax reconciliation package. For the edification of my
esteemed colleagues and other interested parties, I ask unanimous consent
that an article originally published in the February 14, 2005, issue of
“National Review” titled, “A Movie for All Time,” be printed in the
RECORD. This article provides some information on the film and its enduring
popularity.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in the
RECORD, as follows:
[From the National Review, Feb. 14, 2005]
A Movie For All Time
(By Jonah Goldberg)
Here’s a line, you’ll either recognize, or you won’t: “This is one time
where television really fails to capture the true excitement of a large
squirrel predicting the weather.” If you don’t recognize this little gem,
you’ve either never seen Groundhog Day or you’re not a fan of what is, in my
opinion, one of the best films of the last 40 years. As the day of the
groundhog again approaches, it seems only fitting to celebrate what will
almost undoubtedly join It’s a Wonderful Life in the pantheon of America’s
most uplifting, morally serious, enjoyable, and timeless movies.
When I set out to write this article, I thought it’d be fun to do a quirky
homage to an offbeat flick, one I think is brilliant as both comedy and
moral philosophy. But while doing what I intended to be cursory
research–how much reporting do you need for a review of a twelve-year-old
movie that plays constantly on cable?–I discovered that I wasn’t alone in
my interest. In the years since its release the film has been taken up by
Jews, Catholics, Evangelicals, Hindus, Buddhists, Wiccans, and followers of
the oppressed Chinese Falun Gong movement. Meanwhile, the Internet brims
with weighty philosophical treatises on the deep Platonist, Aristotelian,
and existentialist themes providing the skin and bones beneath the film’s
clown makeup. On National Review Online’s group blog, The Corner, I asked
readers to send in their views on the film. Over 200 e-mails later I had
learned that countless professors use it to teach ethics and a host of
philosophical approaches. Several pastors sent me excerpts from sermons in
which Groundhog Day was the central metaphor. And dozens of committed
Christians of all denominations related that it was one of their most
cherished movies.