[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 171 (Saturday, November 22, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2398]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      IN RECOGNITION OF AN INTERFAITH CELEBRATION OF THANKSGIVING

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                        HON. CAROLYN B. MALONEY

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, November 21, 2003

  Mrs. MALONEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to a group of 
congregations in my district that will come together to give thanks in 
the true spirit of Thanksgiving. These congregations are of different 
faiths, different sects and different practices. Nonetheless, they have 
in common a love for our country and gratitude to our Creator for 
bringing them or their forebears to a democratic country where civil 
rights and individual freedoms are protected. This inspired them to 
plan a joint service to give thanks.
  Thanksgiving is a holiday that belongs to every American. It unites 
our country and embodies the principles upon which our great nation was 
founded. The first Thanksgiving is an account of immigrants arriving on 
a remote continent, launching a new life, surviving dangerous 
conditions, encountering a different culture, and sitting down with 
strangers to enjoy the bounty of this land. As waves of new Americans 
have found welcome here, they have embraced American values and joined 
in celebrating Thanksgiving.
  Thanksgiving symbolizes the bond that unites the very first 
immigrants with every subsequent generation of Americans. When we 
recreate the meal eaten at the first Thanksgiving, we remember the 
importance of sharing, kindness and tolerance, and we are grateful for 
the rich bounty offered us by this country. This is a land filled with 
plenty--fertile soil, rich resources and, most of all, liberty. We also 
recall, with sadness, that although the early immigrants were greeted 
with friendship by the native Americans, they reciprocated with 
hostility, greed and intolerance. Thanksgiving gives us an opportunity 
to be at our best, to welcome friends and family into our homes, and to 
recall those who are not as well off. Many Americans take time to feed 
the hungry in Thanksgiving celebrations at homeless shelters, soup 
kitchens and neighborhood civic organizations.
  The Pilgrims arrived in the new world in November 1620, too late to 
plant crops. Of 110 men and women who arrived here from Europe, fewer 
than 50 survived the first hard winter. With help from a neighboring 
tribe, the Pilgrims learned how to cultivate local produce. In the fall 
they celebrated the harvest with members of the tribe. Over time, this 
harvest celebration became an institution. In 1817 New York State 
adopted Thanksgiving Day as an annual custom. By the middle of the 19th 
century many other states also celebrated a Thanksgiving Day. In 1863 
President Abraham Lincoln appointed a national day of thanksgiving. 
Since then every subsequent President has issued a proclamation 
designating a day of Thanksgiving.
  At dark times in our history the celebration of Thanksgiving has 
seemed especially poignant. For example, in 1942, London's Westminster 
Abbey held its first secular service in nine centuries, hosting a 
Thanksgiving event for U.S. troops stationed in England. More than 
3,500 people filled the church, reveling in singing ``The Star Spangled 
Banner'' and ``America the Beautiful''. Everything that marked their 
differences--geography, religion, race--seemed insignificant in 
comparison to the things that united them and the liberties they had 
joined in battle to defend.
  In times of tragedy, Thanksgiving has served to rally our nation. Six 
days after the assassination of President Kennedy, President Lyndon 
Johnson addressed the nation on Thanksgiving Day. He asked his fellow 
citizens to remain ``determined that from this midnight of tragedy we 
shall move toward a new American greatness.''
  Mr. Speaker, I pay tribute to the congregations that honor the true 
spirit of Thanksgiving by setting aside the differences among their 
faiths and joining together to celebrate the liberties and freedoms we 
all treasure.




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