[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 11 (Thursday, February 12, 1998)]
[House]
[Page H452]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                    IN TRIBUTE TO AMERICA'S PATRIOTS

  (Mr. ROGAN asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. ROGAN. Mr. Speaker, 200 years ago George Washington, in his 
farewell address, said that the love of liberty was interwoven into the 
ligament of every American heart.
  Our country has changed much over the last two centuries. But one 
thing that has not changed is the sentiment Washington expressed: The 
love of liberty still burns in every American heart. On countless 
battlefields around the world, American patriots for over two centuries 
have repeatedly taught us the eternal truth: freedom is never free.
  We are reminded of their ready sacrifice today, as the Speaker of the 
House so eloquently noted, as we reflect upon those now who serve 
overseas in harm's way, and also as we reflect upon the fact that 25 
years ago, our first American prisoners of war returned from Vietnam. 
One of those brave patriots who answered the call of freedom and paid 
an immeasurable price serves in this body with us today: The 
distinguished gentleman from Texas Mr. Johnson.
  I am honored to join the Speaker and my colleagues in paying tribute 
to Sam Johnson, and all those patriots like him, for their heroism, for 
their sacrifice, and most of all for their love of liberty.

                          ____________________