[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 30 (Thursday, March 7, 1996)]
[House]
[Pages H1970-H1971]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 ``RUSH LIMBAUGH IS A BIG, FAT IDIOT''

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mrs. Waldholtz). Under a previous order of 
the House, the gentlewoman from Colorado [Mrs. Schroeder] is recognized 
for 5 minutes.
  Mrs. SCHROEDER. Madam Speaker, humorist Al Franken, in his book 
``Rush Limbaugh Is a Big, Fat Idiot,'' I think was absolutely right. He 
points out how Rush plays so fast and loose with the facts, and, 
believe me, he did it again this week.
  For those of you who saw his show, he took my comments on this floor 
that I was talking about as we celebrate Woman's History Week, or 
History Month this month, and he was saying that it was all a bunch of 
poppycock.
  Well, I am here to set the record straight, and I think it is time 
every woman in America straightened her back and say enough of this 
nonsense.
  The first thing he took me to task for was saying that there was a 
revolutionary soldier, who was a woman, who was buried in West Point. 
Well, Rush has been chortling, ``Ho, ho, ho, Mrs. Schroeder is 
absolutely wrong, that can't be true.''
  Well, Rush you are wrong, and I am right. Let me tell you why.
  We were both referring to a woman named Molly Corbin. Molly Corbin 
indeed was in the Revolutionary War. She was a recipient of the first 
female veterans pension in American history, and, yes, she was reburied 
in West Point.
  That is what he keeps saying, ``Oh, but she wasn't even buried there, 
way after it, so it could not possibly have happened.'' But she was 
buried there in 1926 at the request of the Daughters of the American 
Revolution. Now, if he wants to pick a fight with them, go ahead, but I 
think they are going to win.
  I would like to put in the Record at this time, Madam Speaker, a 
letter from the Department of the Army, the U.S. Military Academy at 
West Point, verifying this fact.
  The letter referred to is as follows:

                                           Department of the Army,


                                        U.S. Military Academy,

                                 West Point, NY, November 8, 1989.
     Mr. Daniel Buck,
     Office of the Honorable Patricia Schroeder,
     Rayburn Building, Washington, DC.
       Dear Mr. Buck: The enclosed information may be helpful in 
     answering the question of Revolutionary War soldiers buried 
     at West Point.
       A news release from the Information Office of the United 
     States Military Academy in 1968, mentions the relocation of 
     graves of soldiers to the cemetery during the 1800's. The 
     grave of Ensign Dominick Trant is identified as the oldest 
     grave in the cemetery.
       A listing copied from a Walking Tour of the West Point 
     Cemetery identifies Trant as a member of the 9th 
     Massachusetts Regiment.
       Molly Corbin's remains were disinterred from the Old 
     Cemetery at Highlands Falls in 1926, and reburied at the West 
     Point Cemetery.
       Please do not hesitate to contact the Library if the 
     enclosed material does not sufficiently answer your question.
           Sincerely,
                                                 Judith A. Sibley,
                                  West Point Manuscript Librarian.

  Madam Speaker, the next item that he took me to task for was the 
issue about Martha Washington and the fact that George Washington had 
asked to have her expenses reimbursed while she had spent all three 
winters with the Revolutionary Army in winter camp.
  You see, at that time, as commander in chief, he had no money, no 
uniforms. Things were very, very tough. No one knew if they were going 
to win or not, and Martha Washington came in holding the troops 
together He felt that that was worth repayment and submitted this 
following bill. I have a copy of the bill that George Washington 
submitted to have Martha Washington reimbursed. It is for her expenses 
from 1775 through 1782.
  Madam Speaker, I include in the Record an article from the Washington 
Post talking about Margaret Corbin and an article from the World Book 
Encyclopedia talking about Margaret Corbin, who was the soldier in the 
Revolutionary Army.
  The articles referred to are as follows:

    Remembering Margaret Corbin, Daughter of the American Revolution

                        (By Chadwick Allen Harp)

       They may be barred by law from combat roles today, but 
     American women have a long tradition of fighting on the 
     battlefield that goes back to the Revolutionary War and a 
     young woman named Margaret Corbin.
       On Nov. 16, 1776, Hessians under British command attacked 
     Fort Washington on Manhattan Island, but encountered such 
     vigorous resistance and such rapid artillery volleys that 
     some remarked the Americans seemed possessed by demons. A 
     ridge later known as Fort Tyron was defended by the First 
     Company of Pennsylvania Artillery, and among the artillerists 
     was a young private named John Corbin. Beside him, handling 
     ammunition to feed the hungry cannon, was his wife, Margaret, 
     the daughter of a Scotch-Irish pioneer.
       Suddenly a Hessian ball or shell smashed into John Corbin, 
     fatally wounding him. But Margaret had no time to grieve; the 
     enemy's relentless siege continued, and the men of the 
     Pennsylvania company needed her help in the ranks more than 
     her wounded husband required her care and comfort. Margaret 
     immediately accepted the call to duty and stepped into John's 
     position at his cannon. Soldiers remarked later that Margaret 
     served ``with skill and vigor''--until Hessian grapeshot tore 
     into her, ripping away part of her breast and nearly severing 
     an arm.
       After the battle her comrades took their ``Captain Molly'' 
     across the Hudson River to Fort Lee, N.J., where she received 
     further medical care that ensured her recuperation. When she 
     finally was well enough to travel, Margaret relocated to the 
     Philadelphia area, continued her long-term recovery and 
     became one of the original members of the Invalid Regiment 
     created by Congress to care for disabled and crippled 
     soldiers.
       On June 29, 1779, the Supreme Executive Council of 
     Pennsylvania, the decision-making body of the executive 
     branch, allocated Margaret a $30 stipend ``to relieve her 
     present necessities'' and recommended that the Board of War 
     give her a pension. Barely a week later, Congress received a 
     letter from the Board of War supporting the Executive 
     Council's recommendation. Congress immediately authorized 
     that Margaret receive, for life, one-half of the monthly pay 
     allotted soldiers and, as a one-time allocation, a complete 
     outfit of clothing. By this act Congress pensioned the first 
     female veteran in American history.
       Margaret died near Hudson Highlands, N.Y., in 1800. In 
     1909, more than a century later, a tablet was put in place at 
     Fort Washington Avenue and Corbin Place in New York City 
     recognizing Margaret Corbin as the ``first woman to take a 
     soldier's part in the war for liberty.''
       Many other American women have since seen hostilities--
     among them Mary Ludwig Hays McCauley (``Molly Pitcher''), who 
     also stepped into her husband's position in the Revolutionary 
     War at the Battle of Monmouth in 1778; Civil War scout and 
     spy ``General'' Harriet Tubman; the more than 200 women 
     killed by enemy fire in World War II; the eight women whose 
     names are chiseled into the stone of the Vietnam Veterans 
     Memorial; and Capt. Linda Bray, who commanded a platoon of 
     military police in a 1989 Panama firefight.
       In a sense, Margaret Corbin honors them all. On March 16, 
     1926, the Daughters of the American Revolution arranged to 
     have Corbin's remains removed from Highland Falls, N.Y., to 
     the post cemetery at the United States Military Academy at 
     West Point. Next to the grave stands a memorial to the only 
     Revolutionary War soldier buried on academy grounds--an 
     artillery gunner, a hero and a woman.
                                                                    ____


                   [From the World Book Encyclopedia]

       Corbin, Margaret Cochran (1751-1800), became a heroine at 
     the Battle of Fort Washington in 1776, during the 
     Revolutionary War

[[Page H1971]]

     in America (1775-1783). She was born in Franklin County, 
     Pennsylvania. In 1756, Indians killed her father and captured 
     her mother. An uncle raised her.
       In 1775, Margaret's husband, John Corbin, enlisted in the 
     Continental Army, and he served as a gunner in the 
     Revolutionary War. Like many other soldiers' wives at the 
     time, Margaret joined her husband in camp to cook, wash, and 
     do other chores for the troops. At Fort Washington, on the 
     site of present-day New York City, John Corbin was killed. 
     Margaret replaced him at his cannon and fought until she was 
     seriously wounded.
       Corbin's wounds left her disabled. In 1779, the Continental 
     Congress awarded her a military pension, making her one of 
     the first women in the United States to receive such aid. 
     Corbin is buried in the military cemetery at West Point, N.Y.

  Madam Speaker, I also would like to refer Mr. Limbaugh to many other 
things. First of all, the mini page which is in most newspapers in 
America. The Mini Page came out last year and had a very, very 
extensive thing about women in the military through the years. I am 
very sorry he did not read this. I would hope he would try and get it 
from the library. But it pointed out there have been American women in 
the military, through today, the Revolutionary War and the Civil War. 
He might find this interesting reading.
  I would also point out that there is a 1996 calendar, as there have 
been others, done by women veterans, and this is pointed out through 
the years of all the different women throughout here. There is one for 
each month. Again, this might be a very good thing for his office. It 
might inform him that women did indeed contribute to this country.
  Now, there are other things that I would like to recommend he look 
at. There is a coloring book from the National Women's Hall of Fame, 
and maybe this would be simple enough. It could be a beginning point 
for him. He could start with this to find out that indeed there have 
been some women who have done some things.
  If he can get through that, then there is a little more detailed book 
that lists all sorts of women, where they were from, when they were 
born, what they accomplished, women scientists, women in the military, 
women aviators, women everything. It would absolutely break his little 
heart, and so I hope he works through that.
  Now, if he really gets to the big time, there is a little bit bigger 
book here that points out even more things about women in American 
history that I think are terribly, terribly important.
  I guess the real thing that we would like to point out to Mr. 
Limbaugh, the gentleman that they have called the big, fat idiot, I 
would like to quote to him from Clara Barton. Clara Barton said, ``From 
the storm lashed decks of the Mayflower to the present hour women have 
stood like a rock for the welfare of this country.''
  They have, and it is time we recognize it, and that is what we are 
trying to do. Rush Limbaugh, tune in.

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