[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 32 (Tuesday, March 2, 1999)]
[House]
[Pages H857-H858]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         TEXAS INDEPENDENCE DAY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Shimkus). Under a previous order of the 
House, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Green) is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, today is a special day, particularly 
in Texas, because in Texas March 2 is Texas Independence Day. In 1836, 
163 years ago today, the Republic of Texas was born. As I left Houston 
this morning, spring is coming to Texas. The bluebonnets are blooming, 
and we are actually seeing a lot of changes, and that is what has 
happened in Texas.
  Mr. Speaker, let me set the stage for what happened 163 years ago. On 
March 1, 1836, 54 delegates representing settlements across Texas 
gathered for the Texas Convention of 1836 in a small farm village at 
Washington-on-the-Brazos.
  From the beginning, it was an event marked by haste and urgency 
because Santa Anna's forces were closing in on the defenders of the 
Alamo. Within days it would fall, setting off a chain reaction of 
defeats for the small Texas Army, which would nevertheless emerge 
victorious at the battle of San Jacinto 6 weeks later on April 21. 
March 2 is when the delegates in Washington-on-the-Brazos actually drew 
up the Constitution and declared independence.

[[Page H858]]

  Mr. Speaker, what were these brave Texans fighting for? Up to this 
point, it was simply to restore the Mexican Constitution of 1824, which 
had been suspended by Santa Anna.
  On the night of March 1, a group of five men stayed up late into the 
night drafting the document that would be approved the next day by the 
full convention, a document that echoes the lines of its American 
counterpart, the Texas Declaration of Independence.
  It started off in much the same way, with the words, ``When a 
government has ceased to protect the lives, liberty and property of the 
people.'' It spoke of the numerous injustices inflicted upon the 
settlers of the state of Coahuila y Tejas: the elimination of the 
state's legislative body, the denial of religious freedom, the 
elimination of the civil justice system, and the confiscation of 
firearms being the most intolerable, particularly in Texas.
  Finally, it ended with the declaration that, because of the injustice 
of Santa Anna's tyrannical government, Texans were severing their 
connection with the Mexican nation and declaring themselves ``a free, 
sovereign, and independent republic. . . fully invested with all the 
rights and attributes'' that belong to independent nations; and a 
declaration that they ``fearlessly and confidently'' committed their 
decision to ``the Supreme arbiter of the destinies of nations.''
  Over the next 2 weeks, a constitution was drafted and an interim 
government was formed, despite daily reports from the front detailing 
the collapse of the Alamo and subsequent advance of the Mexican Army 
through Texas. On March 17, 1836, the government was forced to flee 
Washington-on-the-Brazos on the news of the advance of General Santa 
Anna.
  Just over a month later, however, independence would be secured in 
the form of a victory over that same army by Sam Houston, a delegate at 
the very convention, and his courageous fighters at the battle of San 
Jacinto.
  Mr. Speaker, let me remind folks from Tennessee that Sam Houston 
served in this Congress from the State of Tennessee. I have at times 
kidded my friends from Tennessee saying, ``The best of Tennessee 
immigrated to Texas in the 1830s.''
  From that point on, Texas was firmly established in the community of 
nations; and for 10 years she stood and remained an independent nation, 
until President James K. Polk signed the treaty admitting Texas to the 
United States in 1845.
  Mr. Speaker, I hope the Congress and the whole country will join us 
today on March 2 in a day that in Texas we celebrate, our 
schoolchildren celebrate, Texas Independence Day.

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