C-SPAN was launched on March 19, 1979,[10] in time for the first televised session made available by the House of Representatives, beginning with a speech by then-Tennessee representative Al Gore.[2][12] Upon its debut, only 3.5 million homes were wired for C-SPAN,[13] and the network had just three employees.[14] C-SPAN began full-time operations on September 14, 1982.