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MEANING OF INDEPENDENCE DAY
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Thompson) for 5 minutes.
Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, a quick web search on the meaning of Independence Day will give you the dictionary definition: A day celebrating the anniversary of national independence.
For a nation built upon the foundations of freedom, such as the United States of America, there is much more to the meaning of Independence Day than can be described in a dictionary.
For Americans, Independence Day is about the people who have lived and died in the defense of freedom. Crispus Attucks, who was killed by British troops in the Boston Massacre, has long been honored as an American hero and the first casualty of the Revolutionary War. Mr. Attucks has proved to be the first in a long legacy of American heroes.
Each and every generation of Americans has had their share of men and women willing to pursue a more perfect realization of that most basic of human rights, freedom.
Freedom against tyranny was the primary motive during the Revolutionary War for our first President, George Washington, alongside the Founding Fathers, who designed the government for our new Nation and the troops who fought for its right to exist.
The great efforts of President Abraham Lincoln during the most trying time in our Nation's history, the Civil War, led armies of brave soldiers who fought not only for the reunification of the country but also the freedom of people held in slavery.
This noble fight was taken up not only by soldiers but by civilians who worked in support of those in combat, such as Clara Barton, Army nurse and founder of the American National Red Cross.
Hundreds of thousands of young men lost their lives during the Second World War fighting fascism in Europe and around the world. Presidents Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Harry Truman, alongside generals including Eisenhower, Patton, and MacArthur, provided the leadership and strategy necessary to allow our soldiers to gain victory and preserve freedom.
As a nation, we have believed in and fought for freedom for so long that it can easily be taken for granted. This is a trap that we must be extra vigilant not to fall into. As President Reagan aptly stated, freedom ``is not passed to our children in the bloodstream.''
Pursuing freedom for over 200 years has been the result of a conscious choice, in each era, by every generation. We must continue to make that choice in this era and in this generation.
Mr. Speaker, you may have noticed that in my examples from the Revolutionary War, Civil War, and Second World War, I named politicians who served our soldiers and citizens. Make no mistake, it is the soldiers and the citizens of our Nation who do the work to preserve freedom. Therefore, it is the solemn duty of those of us who work in government to lead and represent the people so that they can continue to live in freedom.
I urge each and every government official, and especially my fellow Members of Congress, to make the choice to pursue freedom, as so many generations have before us. In this way, we honor the lives of past heroes such as Crispus Attucks and ensure freedom will be defended by future generations.
Mr. Speaker, that is the meaning of Independence Day that could never fit in a dictionary.
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SOURCE: Congressional Record Vol. 167, No. 113
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