[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 100 (Wednesday, July 9, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1428]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              MOTHER JONES

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. RUSH D. HOLT

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, July 9, 2003

  Mr. HOLT. Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor a memorable figure in our 
Nation's labor history and to recognize the role of my district in 
history. Today, we commemorate the accomplishments of Mother Mary 
Harris Jones, a pioneer in the courageous battle to protect society's 
most vulnerable. I would like to commend the New Jersey State AFL-CIO, 
particularly President Charles Wowkanech and Secretary-Treasurer Laurel 
Brennan, for preparing the public recognition of a woman of tremendous 
fortitude. Their leadership on behalf of working people in this State 
follows in the tradition of Mother Jones. If she were here today she 
would be proud that her legacy is being so well served by two of New 
Jersey's most respected leaders.
  The dawn of the 20th century was a bright time for many in America, 
as our industrial and economic strength leapt forward to meet a new 
era. For too many, though, it was a dreary, dangerous, and 
disheartening time. Simply by virtue of the circumstances of their 
birth, thousands of this Nation's poorest children were forced to work 
in dangerous conditions in mining and textile industries. Many were 
robbed of life. Those who survived often suffered a lifetime of chronic 
maladies.
  This inequity had no place in Mother Jones's vision of America, and 
Jones fought vigorously for justice. In the spring of 1903, this fight 
brought her to Princeton, New Jersey, with an army of 100,000 textile 
workers that included 16,000 children, who had left their jobs in the 
Philadelphia area so that a nation might recognize their plight. Mother 
Jones stood before a crowd of professors, students, and citizens at 
Princeton University, bringing to the gates of higher education those 
children who were robbed of even the chance to read or write. Children 
at this demonstration carried signs saying, ``I want to go to school.'' 
She showed them James Ashworth, whose ten-year-old spine was contorted 
from carrying 75-pound bundles of yarn, 10 hours each day, earning $3 
per week. She spoke, and a generation was given the hope that a better 
day would come and the courage to take action against more powerful 
forces.
  Mother Jones sparked the Nation's consciousness that day in 
Princeton. Her army took the first steps toward equity for workers and 
the abolition of child labor in America. One hundred years later, we 
should remember her fight, and I hope that all Americans learn from 
this woman's moral strength and her concern for our poorest children. 
As we reenact the events of that day and dedicate a memorial to honor 
Mother Jones, we must continue to speak out for those whose voices are 
unheard. In so doing we must defend the right to organize, earn a 
decent living, work in a safe environment, and ensure that all in 
America share in the progress of this Nation.

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