[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 80 (Thursday, June 18, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1158]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

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                            HON. RON PACKARD

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, June 18, 1998

  Mr. PACKARD. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to reiterate my allegiance and 
pride in our nation, its flag and the words we speak to express these 
beliefs. Recently in my home district, a high school student refused to 
stand and say the words, ``I Pledge Allegiance to the Flag, of the 
United States of America, . . . '' While I have been disappointed to 
learn of the students refusal, perhaps it can serve as a reminder of 
just why we say the pledge.
  The words we call ``The Pledge of Allegiance'' were first written on 
paper in 1892 by Francis Bellamy, a Baptist minister. Bellamy was also 
a chairman of a committee of state superintendents of education in the 
National Education Association. Part of his job description was to 
prepare the program for the public schools' quadricentennial 
celebration for Columbus Day in 1892. Bellamy structured this public 
school program around a flag raising ceremony and a flag statute, now 
known as ``The Pledge of Allegiance.''
  Mr. Bellamy also jotted down a journal of what he was thinking while 
be formulated our nation's words of Allegiance. It reads, ``The true 
reason for allegiance to the Flag is the `republic for which it stands' 
. . . And what does that vast thing, the Republic mean? It is the 
concise political word for the Nation--the One Nation which the Civil 
War was fought to prove. To make the One Nation idea clear, we must 
specify that it is indivisible, as Webster and Lincoln used to repeat 
in their great speeches.''
  Mr. Speaker, as you know, everyday this Congress meets, someone in 
the U.S. House of Representatives gives a prayer and recites ``The 
Pledge of Allegiance.'' I personally see this as a symbol of respect 
and pride in our country, and I am thankful each day that I can serve 
our nation.

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