[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 22 (Wednesday, March 2, 2005)]
[House]
[Page H921]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         TEXAS INDEPENDENCE DAY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Fortenberry). Under a previous order of 
the House, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Poe) is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. POE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the unique history of the 
great State of Texas. Today, March 2, marks Texas Independence Day. On 
this day, 169 years ago, Texas declared its independence from Mexico 
and its dictator, Santa Anna, the 19th century Saddam Hussein.
  In 1836, in the small farm village of Washington-on-the-Brazos, 54 
Texians, as they called themselves in those days, gathered to do 
something bold and courageous: Sign the Texas Declaration of 
Independence and once and for all ``declare that the people of Texas do 
now constitute a free, sovereign, and independent republic.''
  As these determined delegates met to declare independence, Santa Anna 
and 6,000 enemy troops were marching on an old beat-up Spanish mission 
that we now call the Alamo, where Texas defenders stood defiant, stood 
determined. They were led by a 27-year-old lawyer by the name of 
William Barrett Travis. The Alamo and its 186 Texans were all that 
stood between the invaders and the people of Texas. And behind the 
cold, dark, damp walls of that Alamo, Commander William Barrett Travis 
sent the following appeal to Texas requesting aide.
  This appeal read in part: ``To all the people of Texas and Americans 
in the world, I am besieged by a thousand or more of the enemy under 
Santa Anna. I have sustained a continual bombardment and cannon fire 
for over 24 hours and have not lost a man. The enemy has demanded 
surrender at its discretion, otherwise the fort will be put to the 
sword. I have answered that demand with a cannon shot, and the flag 
still waves proudly over the walls. I shall never surrender or retreat. 
I call upon you in the name of liberty, patriotism, and everything dear 
to our character to come to our aid with all dispatch. If this call is 
neglected, I am determined to sustain myself for as long as possible 
and die like a soldier who never forgets what is due to his own honor 
and that of his country. Victory or death. William Barrett Travis, 
Commander of the Alamo.''
  After 13 days of glory at the Alamo, Commander Travis and his men 
sacrificed their lives on the altar of freedom. Those lives lost would 
not be in vain. Their determination paid off. And because heroes like 
William Barrett Travis, Davy Crockett, and Jim Bowie held out for so 
long, Santa Anna's forces took such great losses they became battered, 
demoralized, and diminished. As Travis said, ``victory will cost them 
more dearly than defeat.''
  General Sam Houston, in turn, had the time he needed to devise a 
strategy to rally other Texas volunteers to ultimately defeat Santa 
Anna at the Battle of San Jacinto on April 21, 1836. The war was over, 
and the Lone Star flag was visible all across the broad, bold, brazen 
plains of Texas.
  The Alamo defenders were from every State in the United States and 13 
foreign countries. They were black, brown, and white, ages 16 through 
67, and they were all volunteers. They were mavericks, revolutionaries, 
farmers, shopkeepers, and freedom fighters. They came together to fight 
for something they believed in: Freedom.
  Freedom has a cost. It always does. It always will. And as we pause 
to remember those who lost their lives so that Texas could be a free 
Nation, we cannot forget those Americans that are currently fighting in 
lands across the seas for the United States' continued freedom and 
liberty today.
  Texas Independence Day is a day of pride and reflection in the Lone 
Star State. It is a day we remember to pay tribute to heroes like 
William Barrett Travis, Jim Bowie, Davy Crockett, Jim Bonham, Sam 
Houston, and the rest of those volunteers who fought the evil tyrant 
and terrorist Santa Anna. It was an effort to make Texas free, and that 
effort was successful.
  On this Texas Independence Day, let us not forget those brave men and 
women in our military that are fighting to preserve and uphold our 
freedom from a new world threat of terrorism.
  Mr. Speaker, I hope that the Congress and the country will join me in 
celebrating this Texas Independence Day. In Colonel Travis' final 
letter and appeal for aid, he signed off with three words that I leave 
with you now: ``God and Texas.'' ``God and Texas.'' ``God and Texas.'' 
And the rest, as they say, is Texas history.

                          ____________________