Celebrating the birth of Abraham Lincoln and recognizing the prominence the Declaration of Independence played in the development of Abraham Lincoln's beliefs.

Mr. Speaker, it is with a great honor and a sense of humility as the senior Republican from the Land of Lincoln that I offer this resolution to celebrate the birthday of our Nation's 16th President. I want to first offer my deep thanks and gratitude to the chairman and ranking minority member of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Mr. Waxman of California and Mr. Davis of Virginia, respectively, for allowing this resolution to come up on the floor to coincide with President Lincoln's birthday. I recognize that this was an unusual procedure and that normal committee protocol was waived to expedite consideration of this resolution to time with Lincoln's birthday today. I also want to offer my profound appreciation to my good friend and fellow Illinoisan, Representative Danny Davis of Chicago, who made all of this possible to happen today.

Abraham Lincoln was born 199 years ago today to Thomas Lincoln and Nancy Hanks at Knob Creek Farm near Hodgenville, Kentucky, in Hardin County. Today starts a series of celebrations over the next 2 years to commemorate the life of Abraham Lincoln based on the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission Act, which was signed into law by President Bill Clinton in 2000. These commemorations include a special kick-off ceremony at Lincoln's boyhood home, the redesign of the Lincoln penny, a special bicentennial postage stamp, a rededication of the Lincoln Memorial, and a special joint session or meeting of Congress for ceremonies and activities related to Abraham Lincoln. I am absolutely delighted that the House will join in this kick-off celebration in Kentucky, albeit delayed because of an ice storm, with the debate over this resolution. This resolution will continue honoring Lincoln's legacy beyond the next 2 years by requesting the President to issue a proclamation every year in his honor as he does for many other great figures of American history.

In the fall of 1816, Thomas and Nancy Lincoln packed their belongings and their two children--Sarah, 9, and Abraham, 7--and left Kentucky bound for the new frontier of Spencer County in southern Indiana. Abraham Lincoln lived in Indiana for the next 14 years until he was 21 years old. However, in October 1818, when Abraham was 9 years old, his mother, Nancy Hanks Lincoln, died. His feelings for her were still strong some 40 years later when he said, ``All that I am or hope to be, I owe to my angel mother.''

In 1830, Thomas Lincoln, then re-married, decided to move the family to another new frontier--this time to the tiny village of Decatur, Illinois, located in Macon County. Hard working and intellectually inquisitive, Abraham Lincoln's first foray into public service came in 1832 when he was elected and served as a captain of an Illinois militia company during the Black Hawk War. Following his military service, Lincoln was elected to the Illinois legislature in 1834 from Sangamon County and was successively reelected until 1840. In 1846, Abraham Lincoln was elected to serve in this great House, where he ably represented central Illinois in the seat now held by my good friend and colleague, Representative Ray LaHood.

Lincoln grew to prominence as an attorney and a legislator with a reputation for fairness, honesty, and a belief that all men are created equal, endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights. He founded these beliefs in the ideals of the Declaration of Independence--a document which, as President, he would cite frequently as his inspiration for saving the Union and as the basis for his opposition to slavery. During a speech at Independence Hall in 1861, Lincoln stated, ``I have never had a feeling politically that did not spring from the sentiments embodied in the Declaration of Independence . . . [it is these sentiments] which gave liberty, not alone to the people of this country, but, I hope, to the world, for all future time.'' Lincoln's belief in the principles espoused by the Declaration formed the motivating moral and natural law principle for his opposition to the spread of slavery and his belief in slavery's ultimate demise.

Lincoln found his belief in the equality of men to be directly at odds with the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act in 1856. This legislation promulgated the concept of ``popular sovereignty''--the idea that State citizens should be able to determine the presence of slavery in their State by popular referendum. Lincoln's strong feelings against the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act propelled Lincoln to return to politics, and he began a bid for the U.S. Senate.

During his campaign for the Senate, Lincoln engaged in a series of seven debates with his opponent, Stephen Douglas. Now known as the Lincoln-Douglas debates, Lincoln's eloquence and studied opposition to the spread of slavery brought him into national prominence.

The second of these debates was held in Freeport, Illinois, a city in the district that I am privileged to represent, and was the origin of what is now known as the ``Freeport Doctrine.'' Cornered by Lincoln into choosing between the notion of popular sovereignty or the prohibition against outlawing slavery put forth by the infamous Dred Scott Supreme Court decision, Stephen Douglas responded that slavery could be prevented from any territory by the refusal of the people living in that territory to pass laws favorable to slavery. Likewise, if the people of the territory supported slavery, legislation would provide for its continued existence. While this doctrine would see Douglas reelected to the Senate over Lincoln, it would be a key factor in his loss in the 1860 Presidential election.

Lincoln's performance in the debates won him national prominence and a reputation for courage, character, and patriotism. These factors played heavily into his election to office as the 16th President of the United States on November 6, 1860.

Upon taking office, Lincoln was thrust into the throes of the Civil War. Leading a partitioned Union, Lincoln relied heavily on his political ideals born of the Declaration of Independence. On January 1, 1863, Lincoln issued what would become the most iconic document of his Presidency--the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing all the slaves in southern States that seceded from the Union. His commitment to the promises of the Declaration of Independence were further evidenced in the opening lines of his greatest speech at Gettysburg: ``Four score and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth, on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.''

On November 8, 1864, Abraham Lincoln was reelected to the Presidency by 55 percent of the popular vote. He continued to act as a courageous and principled leader until he was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth on April 14, 1865. Abraham Lincoln died on April 15, 1865.

Abraham Lincoln's profound and courageous belief in the equality of men and the sacredness of the American Union propelled him forward as one of the greatest Presidents our Nation has known. Last Sunday, at a White House ceremony honoring Abraham Lincoln, President George W. Bush said, ``he, of all the successors to George Washington, none had greater impact on the presidency and on the country . . . He was a fabulous man, a great President. His life was one of humble beginnings, and steadfast convictions. And so we celebrate his deeds, we lift up his ideals, and we honor this good man.''

Lincoln is a hero to so many of us here in this House on both sides of the aisle, as he is to me. The prominence of President Abraham Lincoln is an undisputed fact of American history. The man best known for freeing the slaves and saving an imperiled Union has attained iconic status among historians and citizens alike as evidenced by best selling books such as Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin that documented the political genius of Lincoln in winning the Presidency and governing the Nation.

And yet, this man of great genius, compassion and acumen lacks official Federal recognition for the day of his birth, February 12, because what is popularly known as President's Day is legally Washington's Birthday. While I do not wish to diminish the contributions George Washington made to the establishment of this great country, this resolution will finally give Lincoln his due without the cost of a separate Federal holiday by simply requesting the President each year to issue a proclamation honoring this great man and encouraging the people of the United States to observe his birthday with appropriate ceremonies and activities. The resolution also encourages State and local governments and local educational agencies to study and appreciate the reverence and respect Abraham Lincoln had for the Declaration of Independence in the development of American history, jurisprudence, and the spread of freedom around the world.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join me in honoring Abraham Lincoln today and in recognizing the profound influence the Declaration of Independence had upon Lincoln's political philosophy as a model for us to emulate.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the life of our 16th President, Abraham Lincoln, on the 199th anniversary of his birth in Hardin Country, Kentucky.

In the history of this great Nation, the Presidency of Abraham Lincoln can be counted among the best of the best. President Lincoln saved the Union not only from its dissolution through the Civil War, but from its own immoral practice of slavery.

From his earlier years in Kentucky and Illinois to his time in the State legislature and his term in this House, Abraham Lincoln developed a political animus fueled by an unshakeable belief in the natural rights espoused by the Founding Fathers four score and 87 years before he dedicated that sacred ground at Gettysburg. Those natural rights were most clearly enumerated by the Declaration of Independence as life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Addressing Independence Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1861, President Lincoln credited the wisdom of the Fathers with absolute clarity. ``I have never had a feeling politically that did not spring from the sentiments embodied in the Declaration of Independence,'' so he spoke.

President Lincoln's service to his country began in 1832 when he served with distinction and was elected to the rank of captain of an Illinois militia company in the Black Hawk War. That military service preceded his entry into politics when he was elected to the State legislature in 1834, where he served the citizens of Sangamon County until 1840.

In 1846, President Lincoln moved on to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives, serving one term before he decided not to seek reelection and return to private practice as a lawyer. Spurred by the turmoil that gripped the Nation after the passage of the Kansas- Nebraska Act of 1854, Lincoln decided to reenter the public arena, lending his clarion voice to the cause of liberty.

While speaking on the repeal of the Missouri Compromise in Peoria, Illinois, in July, 1854, then former Congressman Lincoln declared, ``No man is good enough to govern another man without the other's consent.''

In August 1858, Lincoln wrote, ``As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master. This expresses my idea of democracy.''

In his letter to Massachusetts Representative Henry L. Pierce in 1859, Lincoln wrote, ``Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves.''

In 1860, Abraham Lincoln took his political and moral philosophy to the White House in the midst of a national crisis that would lead the Nation to civil war. Abraham Lincoln's singular vision that the Union must be preserved guided this Nation through its darkest days.

Reelected with a clear majority in 1864, Lincoln saw the forces of liberty prevail as the war ended with the Union intact and slavery abolished. On April 15, 1865, a mere 6 weeks into his second term, President Lincoln was struck down by an assassin's bullet.

Two hundred years after he was born and 143 years after he sacrificed his life for his country, Abraham Lincoln is bound up in the mystic chords of our national memory as the man who fulfilled the promises of liberty and equality and humanity first put forth in our founding Declaration.

Mr. Speaker, the originator of this resolution, Don Manzullo, is on a plane, so obviously we can't yield him time. But I do want to point out that he offered this resolution and he has a statement which will be inserted into the Record.

I would just like to say that on the 150th anniversary of Lincoln's birth, Carl Sandberg, addressed Congress in this Chamber after it had officially adjourned. I highly recommend his address to anyone who loves this great American President.

Mr. Sanderg pointed out that Lincoln went to Gettysburg believing he would lose the next election, and in spite of that, instead of doing what political consultants would urge someone to do today, speak angrily about the South who couldn't vote for him, to unite the North to support him, Sandberg pointed out Lincoln spoke of the ``brave men living and dead who fought here.'' He didn't speak of North or South. This magnificent President was trying to heal the Nation. That came first. And as Carl Sandberg points out, this was at a time when American families had their sons fighting on both sides, and in one particular instance in one battle, a family lost both sons, one in Confederate gray and the other in northern blue. And they buried them on top of each other, with these words ``Only God knows which one was right.''

We can never study enough about this great President. The lessons he teaches us are lessons that we all could benefit from, still today, and in the future.

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

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 281) celebrating the birth of Abraham Lincoln and recognizing the prominence the Declaration of Independence played in the development of Abraham Lincoln's beliefs.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks.

Mr. Speaker, I join my colleagues in consideration of H. Con. Res. 281, which celebrates the birth of Abraham Lincoln and recognizes the prominence the Declaration

of Independence played in the development of Lincoln's beliefs.

H. Con. Res. 281 enjoys the support and cosponsorship of 54 Members of Congress and was introduced by Representative Donald Manzullo of Illinois on January 23, 2008. A similar measure, Mr. Speaker, S. Con. Res. 65, has been sponsored by our friend, Senator Richard Durbin.

As we honor Abraham Lincoln, it is important to note that the United States Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission was established by this Congress in 2000 to plan the national observance of the 200th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's birth in 2009.

The mission of the commission is to commemorate the 200th birthday of Abraham Lincoln, emphasizing the contribution of his thoughts and his ideals to America and to the world and serving as a catalyst for strengthening freedom, democracy, and equal opportunity for all.

The commission, which is co-chaired by Senator Richard Durbin and Representative Ray LaHood, is focused on informing the public about the impact Abraham Lincoln had on the development of our Nation and finding the best possible ways to honor his accomplishments.

The commission states: ``During the gravest crisis in American history, Lincoln preserved the Union, led the effort to eradicate slavery, and articulated the best aspirations of American democracy. We propose recalling these accomplishments in ways that will enlighten and inspire us both today and tomorrow. Remembering our past, we can better light the way to our future.''

For the next 2 years, there are numerous events scheduled to commemorate Abraham Lincoln. They include a rededication of the Lincoln Memorial here in Washington, DC, in 2009, citizenship ceremonies at Lincoln sites throughout that year, a redesigned 2009 penny series and $5 bill series, a 2009 bicentennial commemorative dollar coin and commemorative stamps.

Mr. Speaker, I urge the swift passage of this bill.

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

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman for his passion and for his comments on the life and work of Abraham Lincoln.

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

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

Mr. Speaker, H. Con. Res. 281 celebrates the birth of Abraham Lincoln and recognizes the prominence the Declaration of Independence played in the development of his beliefs.

I am honored and pleased to stand with my friends in the Illinois delegation as we honor our 16th President on his 199th birthday and kick off the nationwide bicentennial celebration of his birth.

Abraham Lincoln has achieved universal recognition as one of the greatest Presidents in American history. Today we recognize the life and legacy of the man who had the moral courage and political acumen to end the abominable practice of slavery in America and to save an imperiled Union from secession and civil war.

We also emphasize the prominent role the Declaration of Independence played in President Lincoln's political philosophy. President Lincoln often cited the Declaration of Independence as a basis for his opposition to slavery and as his inspiration for saving the Union. On his inaugural journey to Washington, President Lincoln stopped in Philadelphia at the site where the Declaration of Independence had been signed and declared, ``I have never had a feeling politically that did not spring from the sentiments embodied in the Declaration of Independence.'' In the Gettysburg Address, he defined the end of the war as a rededication to the ideals of that founding document.

H. Con. Res. 281 calls upon the President to issue an annual proclamation recognizing

the anniversary of the birth of our 16th President. It recognizes the activities of the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission, which initiates two years of commemorations beginning on February 12, 2008. It also encourages local governments and schools to spend sufficient time studying President Lincoln and his devotion to the Declaration of Independence. I urge my colleagues to give their enthusiastic support to this important legislation.

Madam Speaker, on February 12, 2008, I was unavoidably detained and missed votes. Listed below are the votes I missed and how I would have voted had I been there.

H. Res. 954, rollcall No. 43--Honoring the life of senior Border Patrol agent Luis A. Aguilar, who lost his life in the line of duty near Yuma, Arizona, on January 19, 2008. Had I been here, I would have voted ``yes.''

H. Res. 909, rollcall No. 44--Commemorating the courage of the Haitian soldiers that fought for American independence in the ``Siege of Savannah'' and for Haiti's independence and renunciation of slavery. Had I been here, I would have voted ``yes.''

H. Con. Res. 281, rollcall No. 45--Celebrating the birth of Abraham Lincoln and recognizing the prominence the Declaration of Independence played in the development of Abraham Lincoln's beliefs. Had I been here, I would have voted ``yes.''