[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 34 (Wednesday, March 17, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E389-E390]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  HONORING THE LIFE AND LEGACY OF PRESIDENT FRANKLIN DELANO ROOSEVELT

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                        HON. SHEILA JACKSON-LEE

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, March 16, 2004

  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to be here today 
in support of H.J. Res 87, honoring the life and legacy of President 
Franklin Delano Roosevelt and recognizing his contributions. I am 
honored that I can be here to reflect upon and recognize the 
contributions President Franklin Delano Roosevelt made during his 
remarkable lifetime.
  Franklin Delano Roosevelt entered public service through politics. He 
was elected to the New York Senate in 1910 and he was the Democratic 
nominee for Vice President in 1920. In the summer of 1921, at the age 
of 39, Franklin Delano Roosevelt was stricken with polio. Demonstrating 
indomitable courage, he fought to regain the use of his legs. In spite 
of these obstacles, Roosevelt became Governor of New York in 1928. In 
November 1932, Franklin Delano Roosevelt was elected President of the 
United States, the first of four terms.
  Assuming the Presidency at the depth of the Great Depression, 
Franklin D. Roosevelt helped the American people regain faith in 
themselves and their government. He brought hope and inspired millions 
with his famous saying, ``the only thing we have to fear is fear 
itself.''
  By March of 1924, there were 13,000,000 unemployed, and almost every 
bank was closed. In his first 100 days, he initiated revolutionary 
programs and reforms to bring recovery to business and agriculture, 
relief to the unemployed and to those in danger of losing farms and 
homes.
  President Roosevelt was the first President to successfully merge 
government and private enterprise to form a partnership that furthered 
both domestic and international interests. As a result of the unique 
partnership, American jobs were created at a time when they were so 
desperately in need and the United States amassed 300,000 planes, 
100,000 tanks, 2 million trucks, and 87,000 warships to the Allied 
cause, out producing the Allied and Axis forces combined.
  Roosevelt had pledged the United States to the ``good neighbor'' 
policy, transforming the Monroe Doctrine from a unilateral American 
manifesto into arrangements for mutual action against aggressors. He 
also sought to keep the United States out of the war in Europe, yet at 
the same time to strengthen and provide support to nations threatened 
or attacked. When England came under siege in 1940, he began to send 
Great Britain all possible aid short of actual military involvement.
  When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, 
Roosevelt understood that the war was escalating out of control, and

[[Page E390]]

United States involvement was crucial. Franklin Roosevelt felt that 
future peace of the world would depend upon relations between the 
United States and Russia, he devoted much thought to the planning of a 
United Nations, in which, he hoped, international difficulties could be 
settled.
  As the war drew to a close, Roosevelt's health deteriorated, and on 
April 12, 1945, he died of a cerebral hemorrhage. President Franklin 
Roosevelt led our country with integrity and nobility. We would be a 
different Nation today if it was not for his courage and leadership 
through difficult times. I am honored to be here today to reflect on 
his legacy.

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