[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 154 (Friday, November 18, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Pages S13315-S13316]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            IN THANKSGIVING

  Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, as the City of New Orleans and countless 
other communities along the U.S. gulf coast continue to clean up from 
the twin disasters that were Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, as Florida 
reels from yet another major hurricane there, as U.S. casualties in the 
Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts soar above 2,000, and as scandal engulfs 
the White House itself, it might seem difficult to find anything to be 
thankful for on this Thanksgiving.
  For many families in the United States this holiday season, the 
tables, if tables they can find to set, will be set with fewer plates 
than usual, and the fare might be somewhat skimpier than in years past. 
Their homes are in ruins, their jobs lost, their friends and family 
members scattered, and their prospects for rebuilding the lives they 
once knew are uncertain. It can be difficult to take the long view in 
the face of such circumstances, or to reflect on history with any 
equanimity, even though history is replete with examples of recoveries 
from terrible disasters. One has only to think of Hurricane Camille, or 
the Great Depression, or World War II, or the San Francisco earthquake, 
the great Chicago fire, to find evidence that out of the ashes of war 
and devastation can come the rebirth of cities, communities, and 
economies. There is hope.
  There is also much worth celebrating as families sit down to their 
Thanksgiving tables. We may be grateful that the loss of life to the 
hurricanes was not greater. We can all celebrate the tremendous 
outpouring of support that spontaneously erupted from the hearts, 
hands, and wallets of Americans outside the gulf coast disaster zone 
and from friends around the world who were glad to come in their turn 
to our assistance as the United States has in the past come to theirs. 
Communities all along the periphery opened their doors to welcome 
refugees from the storms, and volunteers flooded into the area in such 
force that relief organizations were overwhelmed. The public response 
to the gulf coast disasters was truly inspiring and heartwarming. It 
proved that a core value of this Nation, its sense of community, 
remains strong and vital.
  We can also celebrate the ability of our Nation's first responders to 
learn from their mistakes. While the planning and response to Hurricane 
Katrina was in most people's estimates pretty abysmal, the preparation 
for and response to Hurricane Rita was a little better. And, 
unfortunately for the people of Florida, they have gotten a lot of 
practice in the last couple of years, and their preparations for and 
response to hurricanes is well rehearsed. There is much we can learn 
from these terrible

[[Page S13316]]

events, and hope that we take those lessons to heart.
  The brightest spot in the war in Iraq is the performance of our 
troops. Day after dangerous day, they do their duty. They patrol, they 
seek out insurgents, they struggle to provide a secure environment for 
the rebuilding of that nation. Day after day, they face down their own 
fears and travel those lethal roads to take the battle to the enemy. 
However one may feel about the path that led us to Iraq, we can feel 
nothing but love, pride, and respect for our men and women in uniform. 
Whatever the circumstances under which we sent them there, through 
misread intelligence or misleading rhetoric, the U.S. military has 
gone, and gone again and again, and performed their duties with courage 
and dedication.
  Even the scandal that now haunts the White House, and which is 
beginning to wash over the President's closest advisors, may give us 
cause for celebration, and not for any partisan reasons. As Americans, 
we may be thankful for living in a nation in which no man is king, to 
rule at his own whim and to undermine his detractors at will and 
without consequence. We may be thankful for our system of government, 
with its checks and balances between the three branches of government 
firmly established in our Constitution. And we may celebrate the wisdom 
of guaranteeing freedom of expression and the existence of a free 
press.
  Though the wheels of government may sometimes grind exceedingly 
slowly, we can be grateful that they still can be pushed and cajoled 
into conducting their oversight functions and asserting those checks 
and balances. That is what keeps this country strong. President Abraham 
Lincoln said ``Let the people know the truth and the country is safe.'' 
Whatever may be the final outcome of the investigation into possible 
retribution by the White House against Ambassador Wilson and his wife 
for Wilson's role in unmasking a fraud in the government's case for 
going to war in Iraq, the Nation is safer and better off for having the 
means for citizens, acting through their elected officials and their 
legal system, to challenge possible abuses of power.
  So even in these dark days, there is cause for thanksgiving. I hope 
that the recent dip in gasoline prices will allow families to come 
together, pull out the good china and set a beautiful table overflowing 
with all the dishes that make this feast so memorable and so 
mouthwatering: turkey, roasted, grilled, smoked, barbequed or deep 
fried; stuffing in all its regional variations with herbs or oysters or 
sausage or cornbread; hams coated in pineapples and cloves or cured 
with smoke or sugar; cranberries served jellied or chopped, with 
oranges or not; green bean casserole with a crown of fried onions; 
yeast rolls or biscuits dripping with butter or gravy; sweet potatoes 
in casseroles or with marshmallows and brown sugar; and pies--glorious 
pies with spicy pumpkin topped with whipped cream, and fruit pies in 
flaky shells, topped with cheese or ice cream. Americans know how to 
cook, and all the variations on our traditional Thanksgiving meal 
surely mean that this feast will never settle into routine.
  Thanksgiving. Can there be a better day? It starts with parades to 
watch for the youngsters. Then the action in the kitchen heats up, 
competing with football games and the happy arrival of guests for our 
attention with a whole array of enticing aromas and clattering noises. 
The meal itself is wonderful, with family and friends around the table 
giving thanks and meaning it. And after the meal, in the warm glow of a 
full stomach, there is time for companionship as the leftovers are put 
away and the dishes are washed. The evenings are primed for walks in 
the cool weather, or short naps, or other sports, before the leftovers 
make their first reappearance. There are few days like this, devoted 
entirely to family without the distraction of, say presents at 
Christmas or Easter egg hunts. Thanksgiving is the one time we can 
really focus on all that we have to be thankful for just by looking 
around that table. My wife Erma and I have so much to be thankful for, 
and I know that she joins me in wishing a very happy thanksgiving to 
all Americans. May each of you, no matter how desperate your present 
circumstances may be, be blessed and see all that you have to be 
thankful for.
  Mr. President, I wish you a happy Thanksgiving. I would like to close 
with a poem by Charles Frederick White, written in November 1895. His 
words serve to remind us that Thanksgivings past were not very 
different than today.

                        Thoughts of Thanksgiving

     Thanksgiving Day is coming soon,
     That long remembered day
     When nature gives her blessed boon
     To all America.

     On that glad day, in all our land,
     The people, in their wake,
     Give thanks to God, whose mighty hand
     Deals blessings good and great.

     The roast goose, steaming on the plate,
     The sweet potato cobbler,
     The cranberry sauce, the pudding baked,
     The seasoned turkey gobbler,

     All these delights and many more,
     From north, south, west and east,
     Do all the nation keep in store
     For this Thanksgiving feast.

     Alas, for those who are denied
     This blessed boon of God!
     May all the needy be supplied
     Like Israel by the rod.

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Kentucky.

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