Expressing support for the celebration of Patriots' Day and honoring the Nation's first patriots.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Illinois and the gentleman from South Dakota for their support for this resolution. The entire Massachusetts delegation appreciates the recognition which these couple of days have played in the history of our country, and over in the Senate, Senator Kennedy was able to pass the identical resolution, because it does mean a lot to Massachusetts and to Maine, as both States celebrate this day as a holiday. But it also means a lot to our country, because it was a shining moment in the history of the United States, because it was the beginning of the most enduring, free, and democratic experiment in the world. These were, after all, Minutemen, people who left their homes to fight an enemy from abroad, much like our Army reservists, our National Guardsmen are doing right now. These are the original Minutemen, the original guards, the original militia that fought to protect our country.

On April 19 in 1775, the American colonists in Lexington, in Concord, in Medford, in Arlington, in Lincoln, and in ``every Middlesex village and town rose'' up to claim their inherent right to govern themselves, free of the whims of the English king.

While this day is already celebrated as a State holiday in both the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and in the State of Maine, and the national significance of the events surrounding the ``shot heard 'round the world'' is unquestioned, the recent establishment of a national day of remembrance on September 11 as ``Patriot Day'' has understandably confused some Americans regarding ``Patriots' Day'' in April.

Today's resolution helps remind everyone that while we now observe a solemn moment in our country's history every September 11 in honor of the victims of that terrorist attack, the freedoms which we cherish had their origins more than 2 centuries ago. And the legacy of those fateful spring days in April of 1775 define the core of our American character.

The words are etched into the brains of every American school child and they resonate still:

``One if by land, 2 if by sea! Listen, my children, and you shall hear of the midnight ride of Paul Revere. Here once the embattled farmers stood and fired the shot heard 'round the world.''

It is the foundational poetry of a free people, the remembrance of our roots, and it is the inspiration for the annual proclamation of Patriots' Day, both in Massachusetts and Maine, and similar observances in many other States as the schools, historical societies and other organizations devoted to the living memory of American milestones make a special effort to relearn the lessons of the past as a guide to an uncertain future.

So today, we ask the House of Representatives to unite in celebration of Patriots' Day, a day of soaring significance not just to our own free people, but to people everywhere who aspire to a system of government that respects the rights and the liberties of all of its citizens.

Mr. Speaker, I will include for the Record at the conclusion of my remarks the poem ``Paul Revere's Ride'' by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and ``The Concord Hymn'' by Ralph Waldo Emerson. First, I would just carry on a little bit further than the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Davis) did with his reading of ``Paul Revere's Ride,'' although I will not read it in its entirety. His voice is something that I think does greater justice to the poem than I could possibly hope to attempt, but I will very briefly just remind people of that great poem.

Listen my children and you shall hear

Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere,

On the 18th of April, in seventy-five;

Hardly a man is now alive

Who remembers that famous day and year.

He said to his friend, ``If the British march

By land or sea from the town to-night,

Hang a lantern aloft in the belfry arch

Of the North Church tower as a signal light,--

One if by land, two if by sea;

And I on the opposite shore will be,

Ready to ride and spread the alarm

Through every Middlesex village and farm,

For the country folk to be up and to arm.

So through the night rode Paul Revere, and so through the night went his cry of alarm to every Middlesex village and farm; a cry of defiance and not of fear; a voice in the darkness, a knock at the door, and a word that will echo forevermore.

For born on the night wind of the past, through all of our history to the last, in the hour of darkness, in peril and need, the people will wake and listen to hear hurrying hoofbeats of that steed and the midnight message of Paul Revere.

This was the beginning of our country, and it is appropriately commemorated both by the celebration of Patriots' Day and by this resolution today.

I thank the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Davis) for his work, and I thank the gentleman from South Dakota (Mr. Janklow) once again for his eloquent words on this subject.

I include for the Record the poems ``Paul Revere's Ride'' by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and ``Concord Hymn'' by Ralph Waldo Emerson.

The poems referred to are as follows:

Paul Revere's Ride

(By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow)

Listen my children and you shall hear

Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere,

On the eighteenth of April, in Seventy-five;

Hardly a man is now alive

Who remembers that famous day and year.

He said to his friend, ``If the British march

By land or sea from the town to-night,

Hang a lantern aloft in the belfry arch

Of the North Church tower as a signal light,--

One if by land, and two if by sea;

And I on the opposite shore will be,

Ready to ride and spread the alarm

Through every Middlesex village and farm,

For the country folk to be up and to arm.''

Then he said ``Good-night!'' and with muffled oar

Silently rowed to the Charlestown shore,

Just as the moon rose over the bay,

Where swinging wide at her moorings lay

The Somerset, British man-of-war;

A phantom ship, with each mast and spar

Across the moon like a prison bar,

And a huge black hulk, that was magnified

By its own reflection in the tide.

Meanwhile, his friend through alley and street

Wanders and watches, with eager ears,

Till in the silence around him he hears

The muster of men at the barrack door,

The sound of arms, and the tramp of feet,

And the measured tread of the grenadiers,

Marching down to their boats on the shore.

Then he climbed the tower of the Old North Church,

By the wooden stars, with stealthy tread,

To the belfry chamber overhead,

And startled the pigeons from their perch

On the sombre rafters, that round him made

Masses and moving shapes of shade,--

By the trembling ladder, steep and tall,

To the highest window in the wall,

Where he paused to listen and look down

A moment on the roofs of the town

And the moonlight flowing over all.

Beneath, in the churchyard, lay the dead,

In their night encampment on the hill,

Wrapped in silence so deep and still

That he could hear, like a sentinel's tread,

The watchful night-wind, as it went

Creeping along from tent to tent,

And seeming to whisper, ``All is well!''

A moment only he feels the spell

Of the place and the hour, and the secret dread

Of the lonely belfry and the dead;

For suddenly all his thoughts are bent

On a shadowy something far away,

Where the river widens to meet the bay,--

A line of black that bends and floats

On the rising tide like a bridge of boats.

Meanwhile, impatient to mount and ride,

Booted and spurred, with a heavy stride

On the opposite shore walked Paul Revere.

Now he patted his horse's side,

Now he gazed at the landscape far and near,

Then, impetuous, stamped the earth,

And turned and tightened his saddle girth;

But mostly he watched with eager search

The belfry tower of the Old North Church,

As it rose above the graves on the hill,

Lonely and spectral and sombre and still.

And lo! as he looks, on the belfry's height

A glimmer, and then a gleam of light!

He springs to the saddle, the bridle he turns,

But lingers and gazes, till full on his sight

A second lamp in the belfry burns.

A hurry of hoofs in a village street,

A shape in the moonlight, a bulk in the dark,

And beneath, from the pebbles, in passing, a spark

Struck out by a steed flying fearless and fleet;

That was all! And yet, through the gloom and the light,

The fate of a nation was riding that night;

And the spark struck out by that steed, in his flight,

Kindled the land into flame with its heat.

He has left the village and mounted the steep,

And beneath him, tranquil and broad and deep,

Is the Mystic, meeting the ocean tides;

And under the alders that skirt its edge,

Now soft on the sand, now loud on the ledge,

Is heard the tramp of his steed as he rides.

It was twelve by the village clock

When he crossed the bridge into Medford town.

He heard the crowing of the cock,

And the barking of the farmer's dog,

And felt the damp of the river fog,

That rises after the sun goes down.

It was one by the village clock,

When he galloped into Lexington.

He saw the gilded weathercock

Swim in the moonlight as he passed,

And the meeting-house windows, black and bare,

Gaze at him with a spectral glare,

As if they already stood aghast

At the bloody work they would look upon.

It was two by the village clock,

When he came to the bridge in Concord town.

He heard the bleating of the flock,

And the twitter of birds among the trees,

And felt the breath of the morning breeze

Blowing over the meadow brown.

And one was safe and asleep in his bed

Who at the bridge would be first to fall,

Who that day would be lying dead,

Pierced by a British musket ball.

You know the rest. In the books you have read

How the British Regulars fired and fled,--

How the farmers gave them ball for ball,

From behind each fence and farmyard wall,

Chasing the redcoats down the lane,

Then crossing the fields to emerge again

Under the trees at the turn of the road,

And only pausing to fire and load.

So through the night rode Paul Revere;

And so through the night went his cry of alarm

To every Middlesex village and farm,--

A cry of defiance, and not of fear,

A voice in the darkness, a knock at the door,

And a word that shall echo for evermore!

For, borne on the night-wind of the Past,

Through all our history, to the last,

In the hour of darkness and peril and need,

The people will waken and listen to hear

The hurrying hoof-beats of that steed,

And the midnight message of Paul Revere.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 149) expressing support for the celebration of Patriot's Day and honoring the Nation's first patriots, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks on H. Con. Res. 149.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, House concurrent resolution 149 introduced by my distinguished colleague, the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Markey), expresses the support of this Congress for Patriots' Day and honors this Nation's first patriots.

April 19, 1775 was an incredibly unique day in the world. In Lexington, Massachusetts and in Concord, Massachusetts, we had individuals who had gathered, patriots, none of them paid, none of them in any organized sense, but they gathered together in Lexington and Concord, having made a determination that they would no longer yield to the tyranny and the oppression that they perceived from their masters.

As these people gathered, one of the places they gathered was Concord Bridge. Colonel Prescott was there with these patriots. And as the Red Coats advanced he said, ``Don't fire unless fired upon. But if we must have war, let it begin here.''

And then shortly thereafter was the shot that has been described as having been heard round the world, as these patriots stood their ground against the oncoming British professional infantry and refused to yield and refused to back up. As a result of their having taken that stand, the Revolutionary War went forward and ultimately, this band of patriots that gathered on that day at Lexington and Concord were really the impetus that drove the colonialists to move forward, and ultimately to create the freedom that we know in this country today.

Seven years later, the Revolutionary War was over. The surrender had taken place, but the important thing is that these people, Colonel Prescott, Paul Revere, William Dawes and the others, many of whom we do not even know their names, were individuals who had drawn the line in the sand and determined that never again would they yield to those kinds of forces and tyranny.

What is the point of this resolution? The point of this resolution is that today, in today's world, we have a responsibility to continue to be reminded about these kinds of patriots. Even today, in the Nation of Iraq, we have patriots from this country policing the streets of that country, assisting the individuals in Iraq to move forward towards a more democratic future.

The important thing that we all have to recognize is just as those patriots back in 1775, these individuals today are also volunteers. They are volunteers in our active Armed Forces and they are volunteers from our Reserves and our National Guard, and men and women from our various branches.

So I would like to thank the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Markey) for having brought this to our attention that we should focus on this. The gentleman from Massachusetts has done a service to all of us, and I ask my colleagues to unanimously consent to the passage of this resolution commemorating April 19 as Patriots' Day and every year forward on that particular day.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Once again, I urge my colleagues to support this resolution. April 18, 1775: patriotism, sacrifice, and volunteerism, three of the basic principles that help create this country; things so important that a short time later they wrote in a document that there were self-evident truths: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. They wrote in that same document that all men and women were created equal, something this country has struggled to bring to reality, but something this country fulfills as a mission every single day.

So in the spirit of how this country was founded, sacrifice, patriotism, volunteerism, the Minutemen were individuals willing to die and pledge their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor for things that are more important than wealth or notoriety or publicity. That is the kind of tribute that we ought to continue to remind ourselves is our responsibility as Americans.

So, Mr. Speaker, I congratulate the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Markey) for authoring this. I would urge all my colleagues to please support this resolution.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. Speaker, I do want to offer my commendation to the gentleman from South Dakota (Mr. Janklow) and my dear and good friend and colleague, the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Markey), for bringing this important resolution here for consideration by this body.

I could not help but reminisce, Mr. Speaker, in listening to my dear friend, the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Markey), reciting this famous poem by the great writer, Longfellow. I reminisced that in my youth in this little high school in Hawaii where I was raised, Kahuku High School, we were literally required to memorize the whole poem by this great American writer Longfellow.

If I could just say basically,

Listen my children

And you shall hear

Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere

On the 18th of April in '75.

Hardly a man is now alive

Who remembers that famous day and year.

One if by land, two if by sea,

And I on the opposite shore shall be,

Ready to ride, to spread the alarm

To every Middlesex village and farm. . . .

Yes, that was the declaration, and I am sorry, I have forgotten the other verses.

I think the gentleman from South Dakota (Mr. Janklow) could not have said it better. What better, more fitting occasion for our congressional leadership, both in the Senate and in the House.

The great State of Massachusetts, one of the great founding States of this great Nation of ours, what a tremendous asset to our Nation. We think of Harvard University, we think of Ralph Waldo Emerson.

I remember what Mr. Emerson said, something that was a lesson to me as a youth, and maybe this is something we could also learn: ``The years teach much which the days never know.'' I bring this to the attention of my colleagues, Mr. Speaker, because I think it is important.

We talk about honoring Patriots' Day. As a Vietnam veteran, I think of all those who have made tremendous sacrifices, and the ultimate sacrifice. As I have said previously to my colleagues in this Chamber, we can always rebuild airplanes. We can make bullets, and if they are destroyed we can do it again. But when a person sacrifices his life to maintain our freedoms, that is the ultimate sacrifice.

I think it is most fitting as we discuss this issue of Patriots' Day, as we recall what happened on September 11, as we recall what happened in the situation that we are now in, and our unfortunate situation in the Vietnam

War, the Korean War, the two world wars, I do not need to recite to my colleagues what happens and what it means to be a patriot in this great Nation of ours.

Yes, it is not a perfect country. If we say that the greatest blessing of this Nation is based on its diversity, people from all different walks of life, from all different ethnicities and nationalities, that the United States truly is a microcosm of the whole world in itself, and we are here because we believe in the principle that nobody is above the law. This Nation is founded upon laws and not men.

How I appreciate the gentleman reminding me, my good friend, the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Davis), of how great this country is to all of us. I am sure our colleague, the gentleman from Rhode Island (Mr. Kennedy), would have said the same thing. Whether it be the Kennedys, the Markeys, the Faleomavaegas, what a beautiful Nation in the diversity it stands for.

Yes, we have problems. Some have asked what America means to me as a patriot. With all my own imperfections and weaknesses, I would say that what I recall was said on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in the summer of 1963 by an African American and a minister by the name of Martin Luther King, Junior, it could not have been said better what America is all about as patriots. That is, he had a dream. The dream is that one day his children will be judged not by the color of their skin but by their character. I think that is the essence of what America is about. This is what Patriots' Day is about. Thank God we live in a country that is free, that allows us to pursue our own sense of happiness, whatever that might be.

Again, I thank my good friend, the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Markey), for his eloquence and for bringing this resolution to the floor. I thank my good friend, the gentleman from South Dakota, for doing likewise.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, as the ranking member of the Committee on Government Reform's Special Panel on Postal Reform and Oversight, I join my colleague in the consideration of H. Con. Res. 149, legislation introduced by my good friend and colleague, the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Markey), on April 10, 2003.

H. Con. Res. 149 is a concurrent resolution expressing support for the celebration of Patriots' Day and honoring

the Nation's first patriots. The measure expresses support for the annual celebration of Patriots' Day and recognizes the extraordinary dedication to freedom demonstrated by the Nation's first patriots during the early days of the Battle for Independence in April of 1775. Finally, it honors those first patriots who lost their lives in defense of liberty and freedom. H. Con. Res. 149 has the support and cosponsorship of the entire Massachusetts delegation.

The dictionary defines patriot as ``a person who vigorously supports their country and is prepared to defend it.'' It is only fitting and proper that we join with the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Markey) and the Massachusetts congressional delegation and the Senate in honoring the men who allowed the Minutemen to assemble and confront the advancing British troops. The actions of those men, Paul Revere, William Dawes and Samuel Prescott, were the first great acts of patriotism of our Nation.

Who could ever forget the midnight ride of Paul Revere when he rode through the streets warning, ``The British are coming.'' His famous ride through the countryside was duly and forever celebrated by the American poet, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, in his poem entitled Paul Revere's Ride. I remember even as a small child learning that poem:

``Listen, my children, and you shall hear of the midnight ride of Paul Revere, on the 18th of April in '75; hardly a man is now alive who remembers that famous day and year.''

The passage of H. Con. Res. 149 will ensure that we will continue to honor and recognize the first patriots. We will also long remember and never forget the lists of patriots who have given their lives in the defense of our country. Every day, Mr. Speaker, men and women honor the definition of a patriot by bravely answering the call to support and defend the United States of America. We owe them a great deal of gratitude and, like the resolution before us, we owe it to their actions to forever preserve and protect the historic sites so that others will never forget the struggle for freedom.

I commend my colleague, the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Markey) for introducing this measure, and I urge its swift adoption.

Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Markey), the author of this resolution.

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from American Samoa (Mr. Faleomavaega), a place far from Massachusetts, which is an indication of how much this country has grown, expanded, and developed.

(Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I want to commend again the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Markey) for providing the opportunity for this moment. I believe that it is moments like this on the floor of this House that speak to the greatness of this Nation and how connected we are and how similar are our experiences. It does not matter whether one grew up in South Dakota, in Massachusetts, in American Samoa, or even in a little town in Arkansas, as I did, but there was a level of connectedness.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleagues for introducing this resolution (H. Con. Res. 149) and I applaud Congress for supporting the annual celebration of Patriots' Day.

Every year the states of Maine and Massachusetts celebrate the events of April 19th, 1775, when the first American patriots stood up to British troops, leading to the beginning of the Revolutionary War and the birth of our nation.

We need to do more to bring national recognition to this celebration of the brave men and women who sacrificed so much on the battlefield to help our nation achieve independence. It is important that we honor all of our first patriots and we should help many more Americans learn as much as possible about the birth of our nation and the hard-fought struggle that accompanied it.

That is why Congress should do more to preserve our precious heritage and to celebrate not just the events and battles that started the Revolutionary War, but all of the major battles that shaped the outcome of this historic conflict with has changed the ensuring course of human history.

We should certainly celebrate Paul Revere's midnight ride and the Battles of Lexington and Concord as the crucial opening salvos in our national struggle for independence. At the same time, we should also recognize that the Revolutionary War spanned six years and claimed the lives of nearly 4500 Americans, demonstrating not only the cost of liberty but also the willingness of colonial patriots to make the ultimate sacrifice to secure our freedom.

In particular, I want my colleagues to know that New Jersey was of critical importance during the American Revolution due to its strategic location between the British armies headquarters in New York City and the Continental Congress sitting in the City of Philadelphia. General George Washington spent almost half of the period of the American Revolution personally commanding troops of the Continential Army in New Jersey, including two severe winter encampments at Morristown.

The early turning point in the war played out across multiple battlefields in and around my congressional district in Central New Jersey. It was during ten fateful days of the American Revolution between December 25, 1776 and January 3, 1777 that General Washington recrossed the Delaware River and won crucial battles at Trenton and Princeton, after having retreated from New York City to Pennsylvania at the risk of near total defeat.

New Jersey's critical role in America's fight for independence is part of our national story and thus should be preserved for all Americans. This is why Congressman Frelinghuysen and I have introduced the Crossroads of the American Revolution National Historical Heritage Act of 2003 (H.R. 524). Our bill would establish a national heritage area to preserve, promote, and connect central New Jersey's extraordinary Revolutionary War battlefield sites through a greenway and interpretive programs for all Americans to enjoy. We hope this much-needed, bipartisan legislation can be enacted during the 108th Congress to protect these hallowed grounds and educate future generations about the struggle to create this great nation.

I wholeheartedly support the resolution before us and hope for an ever-widening celebration of Patriots' Day all across America, not just in Massachusetts and Maine. In the same spirit, I urge our bipartisan leadership and all of my colleagues to support prompt and favorable legislative action to create the Crossroads of the American Revolution National Heritage Area.