[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 100 (Wednesday, July 18, 2001)]
[House]
[Page H4202]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      ON THE FREEDOM SHIP AMISTAD

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Simmons) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. SIMMONS. Mr. Speaker, a year ago the Mystic Seaport, which is 
located in my district, constructed and launched a replica of the 
freedom schooner Amistad. Today, I rise to salute some of the craftsmen 
and the contractors who participated in the construction of that craft 
and helped to make it seaworthy.
  Most of us know the story of the ship and of its history, which was 
the subject of a movie by Steven Spielberg. The Amistad was a Spanish 
schooner traveling the coast of Cuba in 1839 with a cargo of 53 men and 
women on board, men and women of African origin who had been enslaved. 
Under the leadership of Joseph Cinque, they rose up against their 
captors, seized the ship, and attempted to sail back to Africa.
  The ship eventually made landfall off of Long Island and was brought 
to new London, Connecticut, where the Africans were taken prisoner. 
They eventually went on trial and won their freedom after John Quincy 
Adams argued their case before the U.S. Supreme Court.
  Today, a replica of the Amistad, constructed by the Mystic Seaport, 
is a living museum of this part of our Nation's history; but we would 
not have this replica, we would not have this educational tool, if it 
were not for the hard work of many individuals who donated their time 
and resources to the effort.
  A notable example of this cooperation are the members of the 
Southeastern Connecticut chapter of the Plumbing-Heating-Cooling 
Contractors Association who donated over $100,000 of time and resources 
to install the plumbing, heating and cooling systems as the ship was 
built at Mystic Seaport. Under the leadership of Walter Woycik, more 
than 20 volunteers from 11 Connecticut firms made sure that all the 
heating, cooling and plumbing equipment was installed and up to the 
stringent Coast Guard standards. This, in turn, assured that the 
Amistad can put to sea as a living, working, sailing classroom to teach 
this important story of our people's struggle for freedom.
  What these individuals constructed is more than simply a replica of a 
ship. The Amistad is a symbol of the struggle for human rights and 
human dignity, and it is a reminder that all people deserve to be and 
want to be free.
  More than a century after the Amistad incident, this replica is a 
symbol of America's values, as spelled out in our Declaration of 
Independence and in our Constitution, that all men are created equal, 
that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, 
and that these include, life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
  As we celebrate our freedom, let us also thank those volunteers who 
made possible the construction of this replica of the freedom schooner 
Amistad.

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