[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 81 (Wednesday, June 11, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Page S5549]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   AMERICA'S FREEMASONRY AND FLAG DAY

   Mr. MOYNIHAN. Mr. President, as our Nation prepares to 
celebrate Flag Day on the 14th of this month, I rise to pay tribute to 
over 1 million men who belong to the largest and oldest fraternal 
organization in the world, America's Freemasonry. Since the Continental 
Congress adopted the Stars and Stripes as our Nation's flag on June 14, 
1777, Masons have given this beloved symbol their staunch support.
  It is nearly 48 years since President Harry S. Truman signed an act 
of Congress recognizing Flag Day as a national holiday. Truman's 
contribution as a Mason follows the efforts of other great Masonic 
national leaders. Adm. John Paul Jones flew Old Glory at Quiberon Bay, 
France on February 13, 1778, in the first recognition of the United 
States by a foreign nation. Nearly 200 years later, Astronaut Edwin 
``Buzz'' Aldrin traveled with an American flag to the Moon. With their 
distinguished moral code and immutable patriotism, these and other 
Masons, including Francis Scott Key, helped to advance the flag as a 
true symbol of our Nation.
  Senator Robert C. Winthrop (1809-1894) of Massachusetts once said, 
``Our flag is our national ensign, pure and simple, behold it! Listen 
to it! Every star has a tongue, every stripe is articulate.'' Indeed, 
with the constant help of America's Freemasonry, the U.S. flag has been 
seen in every corner of the world and has been recognized as an emblem 
of our continued democracy.

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