[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 25 (Monday, March 3, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1807-S1808]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   TEXAS INDEPENDENCE DAY REMEMBRANCE

  Mrs. HUTCHISON. Mr. President, 161 years ago yesterday, 54 delegates 
of the Convention of 1836 signed the Texas declaration of independence 
at the village of Washington-on-the-Brazos, which is near Houston, TX. 
Each of the settlements of Texas were represented. Texas was, at the 
time, a territory of Mexico. The delegates hurriedly wrote and adopted 
the declaration of independence, prepared a constitution for the newly 
formed Republic of Texas and organized an interim government.
  Mr. President, my great-great-grandfather was one of the signers of 
the Texas Declaration of Independence. His law partner, Thomas 
Jefferson Rusk, was also one of the heroes of Texas' quest for 
independence. Thomas Rusk also went on to serve as a Senator from 
Texas, and was the first Senator to hold my Senate seat.
  So I have grown up knowing much about Texas history since its days as 
a territory of Mexico. In fact, my great-great-grandfather was the 
``alcalde,'' which was the mayor of the territory for the country of 
Mexico. Then, he, Thomas Rusk and Sam Houston, all hailing from 
Nacogdoches, TX, where my mother grew up, were leaders in the effort to 
wrest their independence from Mexico and for Texas to be able to set up 
its own government.
  I am proud, Mr. President, that Texas is the only State in America 
that was once an independent nation and, in fact, we were a republic 
for 9 years before becoming a State. So we like to recall the history 
of our independence, just as we do our history of American 
independence, every year. Yesterday in Texas we celebrated our Texas 
Independence Day.
  We commemorate the time that we became a nation, and we remember the 
brave and wonderful people, not only those who signed the declaration 
of independence that day, but those who were at the same time girding 
for war

[[Page S1808]]

at the Alamo several hundred miles away. Former Texas Senator John 
Tower began a tradition among Texas Senators. Senator Tower would read 
William Barret Travis' letter from the Alamo. As I alluded to a moment 
ago, as they were declaring independence at Washington-on-the-Brazos in 
1836, 6,000 Mexican troops were marching to the Alamo. They were 
marching to the Alamo to take on soldiers who had come from many 
States--Kentucky, Tennessee, South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, 
and so on--to help defend Texas in its stand against the Mexican Army 
at the Alamo.
  The declaration of independence said:

       . . . We, therefore . . . do hereby resolve and declare 
     that our political connection with the Mexican Nation has 
     forever ended, and that the people of Texas do now constitute 
     a free, sovereign and independent republic . . .

  Several days earlier, William Barret Travis had written from the 
Alamo his famous letter to the people of Texas and to all Americans. He 
knew that the Mexican Army was coming, and he knew that they had few 
people to help them defend the Alamo. Here is the letter by Colonel 
Travis:

       Fellow citizens and compatriots: I am besieged, by a 
     thousand or more of the Mexicans under Santa Anna--I have 
     sustained a continual bombardment and cannonade for 24 hours 
     and have not lost a man--the enemy has demanded a surrender 
     at discretion, otherwise, the garrison are to be put to the 
     sword, if the fort is taken--I have answered the demands with 
     a cannon shot, and our flag still waves proudly from the 
     wall--I shall never surrender or retreat. Then, I call on you 
     in the name of liberty, or patriotism and of everything 
     dear to the American character, to come to our aid, with 
     all dispatch--The enemy is receiving reinforcements daily 
     and will no doubt increase to three or four thousand in 
     four or five days. If this call is neglected, I am 
     determined to sustain myself as long as possible and die 
     like a soldier who never forgets what is due to his own 
     honor and that of his country--Victory or Death.
                                  William Barret Travis, Lt. Col.,
                                                        Commander.
       P.S. The Lord is on our side--when the enemy appeared in 
     sight we had not three bushels of corn--we have since found 
     in deserted houses 80 or 90 bushels and got into the walls 20 
     or 30 heads of beeves.

  Despite that declaration, Mr. President, we did not win independence 
from Mexico at the Alamo. In the battle of the Alamo, known as the ``13 
Days of Glory,'' 184 brave men died fending off Santa Anna's huge army. 
But the Alamo was crucial. It gave time to Gen. Sam Houston, who was 
the commander in chief of our Armed Forces, to get more volunteers and 
to decide when to take on this vast Mexican Army again. And because 
those brave men at the Alamo held out for so long, Houston had time to 
muster his forces. Gen. Sam Houston was wounded in the battle, but was 
able to take the surrender of General Santa Anna. Texas won her freedom 
on April 21, 1836.
  San Jacinto is near Houston, and home to the battle we commemorate as 
the ``Great Battle of Freedom.''
  So, Mr. President, I like to recall this time because it is an 
important time in the history of America as well as in the history of 
Texas. Our independent nation lasted for 9 years; for 9 years we 
brought our State together to prepare it for admission into the United 
States of America.
  In fact, the debate recorded in the Congressional Record on whether 
Texas would become a State was very interesting.
  Texas would join the Union if several conditions were met. Those 
conditions were outlined in a treaty. In the treaty, Texas was able to 
keep certain rights when she joined the Union--rights to her tidelands, 
rights to her public lands, which is why much of our public land is 
State owned rather than federally owned. This is why we have some 
different issues in Texas. We were able to control the tidelands 
because that was part of the treaty. We also had the right to turn into 
five States if the State of Texas decided to break away from the Union. 
Now, that causes a little concern here on Capitol Hill when they think 
of having the possibility of 10 Senators from Texas instead of 2. There 
are a few cold stares when that is brought up. But I must say that was 
all part of the treaty.
  The treaty did not pass because supporters couldn't muster the two-
thirds vote necessary to ratify it. So President John Tyler introduced 
a bill to annex Texas as a State. Texas became a State because of a 
bill, not a treaty. The interesting thing was that the bill passed by 
only one vote in each House of Congress. Any of those who think it 
might have been a mistake to annex Texas almost won a victory. We did 
have a long, hard-fought battle before we joined the Union. One of the 
annexation proposal's most vocal opponents at the time was President 
John Quincy Adams, who had returned to Congress by that time. He spoke 
every day on the floor against the annexation of Texas. The reason he 
was so far out on the limb against Texas is because he was afraid Texas 
would become another slave State. He did not want to disrupt the 
balance that existed in the United States of America at the time. Once 
we did become a State, I think we began a tradition of great 
contributions to the United States. And, of course, just recently we 
have become the second largest State in America--second to California, 
overtaking New York State.
  So that is a little bit of Texas history, which I am always glad to 
recall on Texas Independence Day. I like to read the letter from 
William Barret Travis to remind you of the pride Texans share for their 
independence from Mexico and their membership today in the United 
States of America. We are proud that we were an independent nation for 
9 years and then took our rightful place in the United States of 
America. I hope that people feel that we have earned the right to be 
proud of that, and also hope that people feel that Texas has done her 
part as a State.
  We are proud of our heritage. We are proud of our history. And most 
of all, today, I want to pay tribute to the brave men who died at the 
Alamo and the brave men, numbering among them the first Senator to hold 
my Senate seat, the first Senator to hold the other Texas Senate seat, 
Gen. Sam Houston, and my own great-great-grandfather who signed the 
Declaration of Independence and later became the chief justice of 
Nacogdoches County.
  These were brave men who forged a new nation at great cost. They went 
through many of the same things that our forebears in the United States 
of America did in wresting our independence from England. So I am proud 
of that. I am proud of the patriots who gave their lives for our 
freedom or who risked their lives for our freedom. I want to pay 
tribute to them today, and I will do so every year that I am able to 
serve as a Senator from the great State of Texas.
  Mr. President, I thank you for your indulgence, and I yield the 
floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the Senator from 
South Dakota [Mr. Johnson], is recognized to speak for up to 15 
minutes.

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