Jim Ryun

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the 75th Anniversary of the Topeka High School building. Topeka High is the largest high school in the Kansas capital, with more than 2,000 students in the student body. It is also a focal point of pride for the entire community.

Most recognized by its 165-foot bell tower, the school owes its gothic architecture to Chester Woodward, a local financier and bibliophile, who led the Board of Education during the school's construction. At least three British landmarks inspired the Troy campus, including Henry VIII's Great Hall at Hampton Court Palace and the College Tower of Magdalen College, Oxford.

But the school's gothic architecture is not its only notable feature. Topeka High also has a unique relationship with the Navy's oldest warship, the U.S.S. Constitution, ``Old Ironsides.'' Its cross jack spar is the school's main flagpole on THS Constitution Plaza. In June 2005, the building was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

More important than the physical structure though, are the men and women who have taught and studied at Topeka High School since its doors opened in 1871. Over 40,000 students have proudly worn the colors of black and gold since then. Its alumni include a Vice President of the United States, a U.S. Senator, a university president, a Fortune 500 CEO, a World War II fighter pilot, and four Rhodes Scholars among many other distinguished alumni.

Like any venerable institution, Topeka High School's faculty and student body has earned numerous awards. Topeka High has boasted numerous State and National champions in debate, forensics, Junior ROTC drill, music, foreign language, math, and athletic competitions. As an institution, THS has previously been recognized with the Bellamy Flag Award as best school in the State, and the U.S. Department of Education recognized Topeka High in 1989 as a School of Excellence.

So on the occasion of this 75th Anniversary, it is with great respect and admiration that I recognize the students, teachers, and administrators of Topeka High School. The school continues to be a cornerstone of the Topeka community. It is my hope that we can honor the legacy of those who have created this great school by committing to the education of the next generation of leaders for Topeka, Kansas, and the Nation.

Madam Speaker, it is my privilege today to rise in support of S. 203, the National Heritage Areas Act. I specifically rise in support of the language in the bill establishing the Freedom's Frontier Heritage Area in eastern Kansas and western Missouri. It is my honor to be the lead author on this language and am grateful to the rest of the Kansas delegation and to Mr. Skelton for all their involvement in this bipartisan bill.

Today's consideration marks a major milestone after years of hard work at the grass-roots level. Countless individuals in my district and surrounding areas have worked tirelessly to bring this to this point, and I am grateful to each of them.

Freedom's Frontier Heritage Area will be pivotal in telling the stories of one of the most crucial periods in this Nation's history. During the lead-up to the Civil War, Kansas and Missouri played crucial and sometimes tragic roles in our struggle for unity and freedom. These are stories worth telling and worth preserving for our children and our grandchildren. Designation of this area is an extremely important act and will benefit many generations to come.

While the approval of the Kansas-Nebraska Act in 1854 repealed the Missouri Compromise of 1820 and gave new territories the right to vote themselves into the Union as either free States or slave States, this was only the beginning of the struggle. The real cost of this fight would be paid by those who occupied those regions bordering the traditional line separating free States from slave States.

Today, we stand as a united country and are much closer to the ideals set forth in our Constitution that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The liberty of all Americans is due in large part to the courageous occupants of yesterday's Freedom Frontier.

I am pleased to support this bill today, and I ask my colleagues to join me in ensuring that these stories will be told for generations to come. Support the Freedom's Frontier Heritage Act and National Heritage Areas Act.

MR. WALDEN of Oregon. Thank you for your comments and work on this important legislation. I think it is incredibly important to help people understand these issues and our past.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this rule and the underlying legislation, House Joint Resolution 88, the Marriage Protection Amendment.

It is on behalf of the many families of the Second District of Kansas that I urge my colleagues to give our State legislators the opportunity to ratify the definition of marriage as a union between one man and one woman.

Mr. Speaker, we have reached a point in history where some have forgotten that it is the family, not the government, that is the fundamental building block of our society. This constitutional amendment would be entirely unnecessary were it not for the activist judges who are recklessly imposing their creative definitions of marriage upon citizens within their jurisdiction.

They have assailed the very anchor of family, the marriage between one man and one woman. It seems obvious to me and to 70 percent of Kansans who voted for a State constitutional amendment, that when we have strong families rooted in a marriage between one man and one woman, we give the next generation the best chance for the American Dream. When we have strong families, we have strong schools, stronger communities, and a stronger Nation.

Some would say that my beliefs are simplistic and old-fashioned. But the facts are in, and the facts say there are real consequences when society does not protect marriage and the family. But don't take my word for it. Just ask former President Clinton's own domestic policy adviser, Bill Galston, who wrote, from the standpoint of economic well- being and sound psychological development, the evidence indicates that the intact two-parent family is generally preferable to the available alternatives. It follows that a prime purpose of a sound family policy is to strengthen such families by promoting their formation and retarding their breakdown whenever possible.

Dr. Galston's research indicates what many of us, what we already know through studies, that kids are better off in an intact family that begins with a marriage between one man and one woman. I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting the rule and the underlying legislation.