Recognizing the 150th anniversary of John Brown's raid in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia.

I thank Mr. Lynch and Mr. Jordan for their great descriptions of John Brown's raid and the importance to our Nation's history. I'd also like to thank Chairman Towns and Ranking Member Issa for bringing this resolution forward.

In my home State of West Virginia, we're very proud of our rich history and heritage. We proudly boast that ours is the only State formed as a result of the Civil War when we seceded from Virginia and joined the Union to become the 35th State. In 1863, we were signed into our statehood very proudly by President Abraham Lincoln. Yet, as any good history teacher will tell you, the abolitionist movement in our State has roots deeper than the Civil War itself.

This month, we are celebrating the 150th anniversary of John Brown's historic raid on Harpers Ferry, which is just a short distance from our Nation's Capital, which helped to ignite the abolitionist movement and led to the War Between the States.

Our State motto is ``Mountaineers are Always Free,'' and it is those principles that guided John Brown into his controversial raid. I rise today to note this year's anniversary and also celebrate the full heritage and history of this West Virginia town, Harpers Ferry, which is located beneath the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Long before its first settlement, Harpers Ferry's natural beauty caught

the attention of Thomas Jefferson, who stood above the confluence of the Shenandoah and Potomac Rivers and noted that the region's beauty was ``worth a voyage across the Atlantic.'' And I must say, its splendor is equally as captivating today as it was more than 220 years ago, particularly at this time of year when visitors, thousands of visitors, are now flocking to Harpers Ferry National Park to take in the beautiful autumn colors.

Jefferson's fellow statesman George Washington was similarly impressed with the community's strategic location and in 1794 recommended that Congress designate Harpers Ferry, which was then in Virginia, as a site for a Federal Armory and Arsenal.

With the establishment of the armory, the community grew into a bustling factory town, where John Hall created the first interchangeable parts for firearms. His inventions led to the mass production of thousands of muskets and rifles, many of which would supply Lewis and Clark on their journey of westward expansion.

But as we all well know, it was John Brown's 1859 historic raid which truly established Harpers Ferry's place in our history. That summer, John Brown settled into a nearby farm in Maryland under the alias of Isaac Smith and laid plans to seize the armory and lead a revolt to spread across the South with hopes of ending slavery.

As the gentleman from Massachusetts mentioned, on the night of October 16, 1859, 150 years ago, he gathered with his provisional army of 21 men and seized the town, taking the town's bridges, Halls Rifle Works, the Federal Armory and Arsenal, and several hostages. As the fighting continued, news of the revolt spread across the region until Lieutenant Colonel Robert E. Lee and Lieutenant J.E.B. Stuart ordered 90 marines to storm the engine house where John Brown and his men had taken refuge.

Upon his capture, John Brown was tried and convicted of murder, conspiring to rebel, and treason. He was sentenced to death by hanging in another historic town just down the road from Harpers Ferry, in present-day Charles Town, where on the day of his death, in addition to what the gentleman said, he wrote, ``I am now quite certain that the crimes of this guilty land will never be purged away but with blood.''

Unfortunately, we now know that his words held true as it took the bloody and divisive struggle of the Civil War to finally bring freedom to a people long enslaved. John Brown's raid will forever be known as one of the seminal events which led to the Civil War. His death brought the slavery debate to the forefront of our Nation divided. In the North, Brown was considered a ``martyr,'' and in the South, he was a ``terrorist.'' Yet, regardless of how he may be revered in history, his bold actions helped lead the fight for freedom and the end of slavery.

After once again proving its geographic importance during the Civil War, Harpers Ferry became an epicenter for the fight for equality and civil rights movement. It became the home to Storer College, an integrated institution to educate newly freed slaves, with the campus later serving as the site of the Nation's first Niagara Movement meeting. It was at that meeting where the scholar W.E.B. Du Bois delivered his address which led to the creation of the NAACP, an organization which this year celebrated its 100th anniversary.

Mr. Speaker, as you can see, Harpers Ferry is a town rich in history, and it is only fitting that during the 150th anniversary of John Brown's raid, the Harpers Ferry National Park has held several commemorative events, particularly last weekend to recognize the sesquicentennial and remember the contributions made by those who have come before us.

I simply call on the rest of my colleagues to support the passage of H. Res. 568, and I would also encourage those near-and-far Americans to visit Harpers Ferry and the surrounding area to share in the deep history and tradition that we have in our State of West Virginia that's also part of what we will be commemorating later, that is, the 150-year anniversary of the beginning of the Civil War here in our Nation.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 568) recognizing the 150th anniversary of John Brown's raid in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may

have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and add any extraneous materials.

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

Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, I am pleased to present House Resolution 568 for consideration. This resolution recognizes the 150th anniversary of John Brown's raid at Harpers Ferry in what is now West Virginia. The measure before us was introduced on June 19th, 2009, by my friend and colleague Representative Capito of West Virginia and enjoys the support of over 50 Members of Congress.

Mr. Speaker, the controversial but passionate abolitionist John Brown organized the raid in Harpers Ferry, which served as a precursor to the Civil War and as a driving force behind the abolishment of the unjust institution of slavery. This moment in our Nation's history also stands as a testament to the strength and courage of all of those Americans who have advanced the antislavery and civil rights movements, not only in our country, but beyond our borders as well.

Intent on leading an uprising in the South that would end the practice of slavery in the summer of 1859, John Brown began to develop a plan to raid the Federal armory and arsenal in the small town of Harpers Ferry, located in present-day West Virginia. In preparation for the raid, Brown rented the nearby Kennedy farmhouse, and with his small provisional army of 21 men, with arms supplied by northern abolition groups, he took residence several miles from the arsenal site.

On the night of October 16th, 1859, Brown and his men advanced towards Harpers Ferry and quickly succeeded in capturing both bridges along the Shenandoah River, the U.S. Armory and Arsenal, the U.S. Rifle Works on Hall's Island, and several hostages, including Lewis Washington, grand-nephew of John Washington, and John Allstadt.

By the morning of October 17th, 1859, news of the raid had spread, and as a result, local farmers and militia swiftly descended on Brown and his men and surrounded the arsenal. A bloody battle thereafter ensued, and by the afternoon of October 17th, President James Buchanan had ordered a detachment of 90 United States Marines to march on Harpers Ferry under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Robert E. Lee of the United States 2nd Calvary.

On the morning of October 18th, 1859, Lee ordered his men to storm the engine house adjacent to the arsenal, resulting in the capture of John Brown and his remaining men. Sixteen men were killed in the raid at Harpers Ferry, including 10 of John Brown's men.

Brown subsequently faced charges of murder, conspiring with slaves to rebel, and treason against the State of Virginia. On November 2nd, 1859, following a 5-day trial, Brown was convicted of all charges and sentenced to hang on the gallows.

Brown's address to the Virginia court on the last day of his trial evidenced his strong conviction regarding the justness of his actions at Harpers Ferry, when he said:

``Had I interfered in the manner which I admit, had I so interfered in behalf of the rich, the powerful, the intelligent, the so-called great, or in behalf of any of their friends, and suffered and sacrificed what I have in this interference, it would have been all right, and every man in this court would have deemed it an act worthy of reward rather than punishment.''

Brown was thereafter executed on December 2, 1859, and through his death, the slave liberation movement gained a hero.

Mr. Speaker, the raid organized by John Brown at Harpers Ferry in October of 1859 was a critical moment in our Nation's history and served to move our country forward in its struggle to abolish slavery. As noted by his good friend, Frederick Douglass, who, while opposing Brown's violent tactics, said, ``If John Brown did not end the war that ended slavery, he did at least begin the war that ended slavery.''

Let us recognize the important place in our history that John Brown and the raid on Harpers Ferry played in the history of our Nation's civil rights movement through the passage of House Resolution 568. I urge my colleagues to join myself and the lead sponsor of this measure, Mrs. Capito of West Virginia, in supporting this legislation.

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

I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, in closing, we ask Members on both sides to support Mrs. Capito on her resolution, House Resolution 568.

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

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

I rise today in support of H. Res. 568, recognizing the 150th anniversary of John Brown's raid in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia. And I will be brief because I want to save the bulk of our time for Mrs. Capito, who is the sponsor of this bill and has done a great job with it.

John Brown's life should remind us all that freedom is priceless. He did what he saw was necessary to combat an inhuman evil, the enslavement of human beings. Although it did cost him his life, the memory of Harpers Ferry is a testimony to how strong action is sometimes necessary to protect what is honorable and what is right.

John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry on October 16th through October 18th, 1859, was an attempt by the part of John Brown to start an armed slave revolt.

Harpers Ferry was the site for the federal arsenal and seizing the location would allow Brown and his men to arm thousands of Southern slaves. Out of context, Harpers Ferry may seem like a rash violent act. But in light of pre-Civil War tensions, the raid was the impassioned start of a larger battle where liberty was on the line.

John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry, although unsuccessful, helped galvanize the Northern abolitionist movement into stronger direct action.

He was able to show them how morality would not be enough to persuade the South to abandon slavery--which was essential to their rural plantation economy.

John Brown's life should remind us all that freedom is priceless. He did what he saw necessary to combat an inhuman evil--the enslavement of human beings. Although it did cost him his life, the memory of Harpers Ferry is a testimony to how strong action is sometimes necessary to protect what is honorable and what is right.

After the Civil War, Frederick Douglass said in a lecture he gave honoring John Brown, ``His zeal in the cause of freedom was infinitely superior to mine. Mine was as the taper light; his was as the burning sun. I could speak for the slave. John Brown could fight for the slave. I could live for the slave; John Brown could die for him''. Passing the resolution to commemorate the 150th anniversary of John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry honors what this man save his life to achieve--freedom for all peoples.

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

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as she may consume to a good friend, the distinguished gentlewoman from West Virginia (Mrs. Capito), the sponsor of this legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time and urge passage.