[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 31 (Thursday, February 16, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E361]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


    COMMEMORATION OF THE 97TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE DESTRUCTION OF THE 
  BATTLESHIP U.S.S. ``MAINE'' AND RECOGNITION OF THE CREATION OF THE 
   U.S.S. BATTLESHIP ``MAINE'' CENTENNIAL COMMISSION IN KEY WEST, FL

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                           HON. PETER DEUTSCH

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, February 15, 1995
  Mr. DEUTSCH. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to ask that my colleagues in 
the House join me in commemorating the 97th anniversary of the 
destruction of the battleship U.S.S. Maine in Havana Harbor, Cuba, on 
this day, February 15, 1898.
  Today in the city of Key West, FL, a prominent group of citizens has 
gathered to announce the formation of the U.S.S. Battleship Maine 
Centennial Commission. They are meeting at the historic Key West Custom 
House where on the second floor a naval court of inquiry convened by 
President William McKinley met to hear testimony from all the 
survivors, officers and crew, of the U.S.S. Maine, on several occasions 
in March 1898.
  The centennial commission, under the sponsorship of the Key West Art 
& Historical Society, and Richard Warren, chairman, City Commissioner 
Joseph Pais, vice chair, and Radm. Ret. Nick Gee, vice chair, wish to 
call to the attention of all Americans the importance of commemorating 
the 100th anniversary of this tragic event that destroyed the proud 
battleship, that killed 260 crew and officers out of 350, and that 
propelled this great Nation into a war with Spain to the cry of 
``Remember the Maine.'' This war, the Spanish-American War, that 
``splendid little war,'' would lead to the freedom of the Philippines. 
Puerto Rico, Guam, and the island of Cuba.
  Today in Key West, this group of citizens prepares to honor the men 
of the Maine who died without the ability to defend themselves in 
Havana Harbor on February 15, 1898. They will honor that great steel 
battleship that had celebrated Christmas of 1897 in Key West Harbor and 
been ready to sail forth to Cuba on January 24, 1898, to assist, if 
necessary, Americans in the city on Havana, Cuba. These citizens will 
proudly remember the Maine and all of the great naval vessels that have 
visited the port of Key West and the near waters. Today they will 
recall the great Cuban patriots that gathered in Key West throughout 
the 1890's in the long struggle to cast off the yoke of Spanish tyranny 
that had laid waste to Cuba. Key West will remember those days in which 
journalists, war correspondents, Members of Congress, and military 
leaders strode to the dusty streets following the story that war always 
unfolds. These were people like Frederic Remington, Robley D. Evans, 
Stephen Crane, Randolph Hearst, Richard Harding Davis, Admirals Sampson 
and Schley, and Clara Barton of the Red Cross.
  Presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter have, thus far, joined me as 
honorary members of the U.S.S. Maine Centennial Commission. During the 
next several months the commission will be seeking members from 
throughout the United States, the great State of Florida, and that 
little bit of paradise called Key West. I call on all of us here 
assembled to join Key West and the centennial commission in recognizing 
their proud efforts. And, together, let us all remember that battleship 
U.S.S. Maine and her crew.


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