[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 40 (Friday, March 3, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3451-S3452]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                        A HAPPY DAY FOR FLORIDA

  Mr. GRAHAM. Mr. President, this is a happy day for my State of 
Florida. One hundred and fifty years ago today, March 3, 1845, 
President John Tyler signed legislation which this Senate had passed 2 
days earlier making Florida the 27th State to join the Union.
  I am pleased to stand on the Senate floor today and express my 
appreciation to America for having accepted our State as a member of 
the United States and for the benefits that Florida has gained by that 
membership.
  Florida has a long history that predates its period of statehood. In 
fact, Florida was the first point in North America to be discovered by 
Europeans when Ponce de Leon came upon the coast of Florida near what 
is now St. 
[[Page S3452]] Augustine at Easter time in 1513. He spent a brief 
period of time in the State, enough to declare it the fountain of 
youth. In Florida, he looked for a place where one could bathe himself 
and receive eternal youth.
  Not much longer, 1565, another Spaniard, Pedro Menendez de Aviles, 
established the first European city in North America in the location 
that is currently St. Augustine.
  Florida had a tumultuous history during its prestatehood/
preterritorial days. In the 18th century, Florida was peripherally 
involved in what was called the French and Indian War in North America. 
Florida was also involved in the Seven Years' War in Europe, at the 
conclusion of which, in 1763, the British Navy occupied Havana Harbor.
  At the Treaty of Paris in 1763, the Spanish were given a choice. They 
could either have the British remove their navy from Havana or they 
could retain ownership of east Florida and west Florida--west Florida 
being the extension of the State from the Apalachicola River to the 
Mississippi River.
  The majority whip, who joins me on the floor today, should take pride 
in this discussion of Florida. For almost 300 years, the southern part 
of Mississippi was part of the territory of Florida.
  The Spanish decided that they would prefer to keep Havana. So the 
Floridas were transferred to Great Britain.
  Florida stayed a British territory throughout the period of the 
American Revolution. At the end of the American Revolution in 1784, the 
Spanish had occupied Nassau, and the British received the same type of 
offer that they had made 21 years earlier: Would they prefer to have 
Nassau or the Floridas?
  The British decided they would prefer to have Nassau, and the 
Floridas reverted back to Spanish control. Floridians had to have a 
fairly high threshold to deal with rejection in the 18th century.
  But by 1819, the citizens of Florida had decided that their future 
was not with a European colonial power but was with the United States. 
That decision was sealed in 1819. In 1821 Florida became a territory of 
the United States of America and the two parts of Florida were combined 
into a single territory. Tallahassee was selected by its first 
territorial Governor, Gen. Andrew Jackson, to be the capital of the 
territory of Florida.
  In 1845, Florida's territory had matured, and the United States was 
prepared to extend full statehood to Florida. Today, we celebrate the 
150th anniversary of that statehood.
  Mr. President, I would like to briefly comment on some of the changes 
that have occurred in the 150 years since Florida joined the Union. It 
is said that the one constant in Florida is change. If you do not like 
something about the State today, just wait a while because it will 
certainly be different tomorrow. That has certainly characterized our 
State during the last 150 years.
  Maybe the most dramatic statement of that change is the sheer 
demographic size of Florida. When Florida entered the Union 150 years 
ago today, it was the smallest State in the Union with a population of 
approximately 55,000. Today, it is the fourth largest State with a 
population that now exceeds 14 million. Florida is projected to have a 
population of over 19 million by the year 2020 and by the middle of the 
next century to have a population approaching 40 million.
  Florida in 1845 was a State very much on the periphery of the United 
States of America. It was a long way from almost anyplace in the 
country to Florida. And it was a long way from any one point in Florida 
to another. Legislators who represented the Florida Keys, in order to 
get to Tallahassee, had to take a boat to Philadelphia and then a train 
back to Thomasville, GA, from which they would take a carriage drive to 
get to Tallahassee.
  Florida was remote. It was largely cut off from the mainstream of 
American life in 1845. Today, Florida has become, in many ways, the 
linchpin of our emerging relationships within the hemisphere. Florida 
has become a central point for trade and commerce and cultural 
exchange, not only within the United States but particularly between 
North America, the Caribbean, and Latin America.
  Florida has become a State which is living in the future that will be 
all America's in the 21st century. The population of our citizens now, 
particularly the almost 19 percent over the age of 65, reflects what 
the rest of America's population will be by the end of the first 
quarter of the 21st century.
  Florida is leading in technology and arts and culture. It has become 
a predictor of national trends. In 1845, Florida was a very homogeneous 
State. Most of our citizens had very similar backgrounds. Today Florida 
is one of the most diverse States in the Nation.
  The list of countries from which schoolchildren and the largest 
public systems in Florida is virtually a list of the nations of the 
world. Florida is a State which has become, as some describe it, the 
``big paella'' of America. It is the place in which people from all 
around the world now live in large numbers. They are becoming 
contributing members to our State and our Nation, but also with a 
fierce pride in their native culture.
  Florida is becoming a model of the kind of cultural diversity that 
benefits America. It was with great pride in December of last year that 
Florida had the privilege of hosting the Summit of the Americas, the 
first gathering in a quarter of a century of the heads of government of 
the Western Hemisphere. The summit was the first time in which all of 
those present were democratically elected heads of government. The 
summit is illustrative of the centrality of Florida in the new 
relationship within our hemisphere.
  Mr. President, Florida is helping the United States in establishing 
this relationship with the other Americas, but maybe Florida's greatest 
role for the 21st century will be as a model of how persons from 
different cultural backgrounds, different ethnic, racial, and religious 
backgrounds can live together in peace.
  It has been suggested that the challenge of the 21st century will be 
the challenge of whether Bosnia is our collective future. Will we live 
in a world in which people who are different than their neighbors will 
find it impossible to live a life of dignity, respect, and peace?
  While our State has not been immune from some of the abrasions of 
cultural diversity, we are proud of the degree to which we are building 
a society from a diverse community.
  So, Mr. President, this is a happy and celebratory day for our State 
of Florida. It comes, I hope, as an event which might serve to assuage 
some of the contention that was felt here yesterday and maybe 
reverberates today. One hundred fifty years is a short time in the 
history of the planet but a long time in the political history of this 
Nation. It illustrates the good decisions that were made in this 
Chamber on March 1, 1845, when the Senate of the 54th Congress had the 
wisdom to enact the legislation that would create the 27th State of the 
Nation. Our challenge today is to create a record that Americans will 
look back on 150 years from now with pride.
  So we thank America for allowing us to join the United States of 
America. We are proud of what we have contributed. We are pleased to be 
a full member of this greatest Nation in the history of the world. 
Thank you.
  Mr. LOTT addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Coverdell). The Chair recognizes the 
Senator from Mississippi.
  Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that in addition to 
the previously agreed to 5 minutes, that I have an additional 2 minutes 
without interruption, for a total of 7 minutes.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  

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