[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 160 (Wednesday, December 14, 2005)]
[House]
[Pages H11596-H11600]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
EXPRESSING SENSE OF THE HOUSE THAT SYMBOLS AND TRADITIONS OF CHRISTMAS
SHOULD BE PROTECTED
Mr. PORTER. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to
the resolution (H. Res. 579) expressing the sense of the House of
Representatives that the symbols and traditions of Christmas should be
protected, as amended.
The Clerk read as follows:
H. Res. 579
Whereas, Christmas is a national holiday celebrated on
December 25; and
Whereas the Framers intended that the First Amendment to
the Constitution of the United States would prohibit the
establishment of religion, not prohibit any mention of
religion or reference to God in civic dialog: Now, therefore,
be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
(1) recognizes the importance of the symbols and traditions
of Christmas;
(2) strongly disapproves of attempts to ban references to
Christmas; and
(3) expresses support for the use of these symbols and
traditions, for those who celebrate Christmas.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Nevada (Mr. Porter) and the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Davis) each
will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Nevada.
General Leave
Mr. PORTER. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members
may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their
remarks and include extraneous material on the resolution under
consideration.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Nevada?
There was no objection.
Mr. PORTER. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 579, which would
express the sense of the House of Representatives that the symbols and
traditions of Christmas should be protected.
Each year during the month of December, thousands of homes across
America are decorated with Christmas trees, lights and festive wreaths.
Christmas is the most widely celebrated festival in the world, with
traditions and customs that originated long ago and still are very much
alive today.
Christmas has long been for giving and sharing and for coming
together with family and friends. The tradition is a celebration of the
spirit of love which is what makes this holiday so popular throughout
the world. I urge all Members to come together to support and protect
the pastime and traditions of a holiday that many of us hold very dear.
Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that I
be able to yield 10 minutes of my time to the gentleman from New York
(Mr. Ackerman) and that he be permitted to control that time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Illinois?
There was no objection.
Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Madam Speaker, I yield myself 2 minutes.
Madam Speaker, H. Res. 579 expresses the sense of the House of
Representatives that the symbols and traditions of Christmas should be
protected for those who celebrate Christmas. While this resolution
focuses on the symbols and traditions of Christmas, it gives this body
an opportunity to consider the lessons of Christmas.
The story of Christmas is about a child whose conception was, to say
the least, unusual and whose birth was under the most lowly of
circumstances. This was a child who lived among and
[[Page H11597]]
served the needy and the poor. This is the lesson of Christmas. Though
we have modern-day symbols of Christmas, Christmas is not only about
beautifully decorated pine trees and gift-wrapped boxes that lie
beneath them. Christmas is about goodwill and peace on Earth. It is
about tolerance; it is about providing for the less fortunate among us.
We cannot debate H. Res. 579 without considering how our policies
address homelessness, the uninsured, the poor, the sick, and the
suffering. Yes, we have Christmas symbols and traditions, but what do
they really represent if we do not first embrace the spirit and true
meaning of Christmas: love, peace, tolerance, compassion, goodwill, and
hope for the future. Those are the true expressions of Christmas.
Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. PORTER. Madam Speaker, I yield such time as she may consume to
the gentlewoman from Virginia (Mrs. Jo Ann Davis).
Mrs. JO ANN DAVIS of Virginia. Madam Speaker, I rise today in support
of my resolution, H. Res. 579, as amended, expressing the sense of
Congress that the symbols and traditions of Christmas should be
protected for those who celebrate Christmas and that references to
Christmas should be supported.
This measure simply states congressional support for traditional
references to Christmas that I believe are being eradicated from the
public dialogue.
Madam Speaker, this is a very busy week in Congress; and we are
working on some very important measures that impact our Nation. So with
that said, some may question the importance of this resolution in light
of other national priorities that we are addressing this week, but this
resolution is important because it defends the traditions of Christmas
for those who celebrate Christmas. It is unfortunate that a
congressional resolution is even needed to do this. It is unfortunate
that we have had to come to this point.
Christmas has been declared politically incorrect. Any sign or even
mention of Christmas in public can lead to complaints, litigation,
protest, and threats. America's favorite holiday is being twisted
beyond recognition. The push towards a neutered ``holiday'' season is
stronger than ever so that no one can be even the slightest bit
offended.
Madam Speaker, overzealous civil liberties lawyers are making their
list and checking it twice. Change the Christmas tree to a Friendship
tree, check. Change ``We Wish You a Merry Christmas'' to ``We Wish You
a Happy Holiday,'' check. Remove the colors green and red, check. Get
rid of Christmas music, even instrumental, check.
When did wishing someone a Merry Christmas show insensitivity?
According to a recent poll, 96 percent of Americans celebrate
Christmas. In an effort to create a generic holiday starting at
Thanksgiving and ending at New Year's, what are we exactly celebrating?
The purpose of celebrating the Fourth of July is to celebrate our
Nation's independence. Why is it not reasonable to say that celebrating
Christmas is a celebration of Christ's birth?
This is a selective assault on religious free speech which is a
fundamental right. The Founders did not view celebrating Christmas as
an issue of church versus State. It is celebrating a holiday that has
for thousands of years been celebrated. The framers intended that the
first amendment to the Constitution of the United States would prohibit
the establishment of religion, not prohibit any mention of religion or
reference to God in civic dialogue.
From Madison Avenue to Wall Street, from activists and lawyers to
politicians, educators and the media, a culture is being created that
shames people for saying Merry Christmas.
Ironically, many retailers, the same group who flood our mailboxes
with catalogs and advertisements urging us to purchase gifts for
Christmas, have done away with the Christmas greeting Merry Christmas
in their stores. Employees have been told not to say Merry Christmas to
customers. This is political correctness run amok.
The attack on Christmas, while not new, has now shifted its focus
from overtly religious symbols, like the nativity, to symbols regarded
by most Americans, including the Supreme Court, to be secular symbols
of Christmas, a federally recognized holiday. Now these innocent
secular symbols are causing concerns of insensitivity. Santa Claus,
Christmas trees, candy canes, Christmas carols, even the colors red and
green, they have been place on the endangered list.
They say to boil a frog you have to do it gradually because if you
throw it into boiling water, it will jump out; but if you put the frog
in cold water and gradually turn up the heat, the frog will never know
he is being boiled until it is too late, and I am afraid that is what
is happening to us with our Christmas holiday.
Madam Speaker, the transition to replace Christmas with this vague
``holiday season'' is a gradual process that over the past few years
has reached a new crescendo. Let us protect the symbols and traditions
of Christmas for those who celebrate Christmas, or before we know it,
we will be looking at a holiday season that represents nothing and
celebrates anything.
I for one do not want to surrender and let retailers, overzealous
civil liberty lawyers, and the media make me feel guilty for wishing
someone a Merry Christmas. For generations, Christmas has been a public
expression of the celebration of the birth of Christ. I hope we can say
that for many more years to come.
With that, Madam Speaker, I wish you a Merry Christmas.
Mr. ACKERMAN. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Madam Speaker, first, let me assure the gentlewoman from Virginia
that I know she comes to the floor with a pure heart and with every
good intention. Let me also assure her that I am not the Grinch that
stole the Christmas tree ornaments.
That being said, I really do not understand what we are doing today.
I do not understand why we need to set up a straw man just to knock it
down, to protect the symbols of Christmas as if they were under attack.
Is this another war we fight for reasons that do not exist?
There are people around who need an enemy at all times to try to
separate us one from the other as Americans in order to advance their
own agenda. I do not think we should be playing into their hands.
Nobody is attacking Christmas or its symbols. I enjoy Christmas, sing
Christmas carols. I do not celebrate the religious significance of it,
but it is a holiday I tremendously respect, as I do my Christian
friends, and do wish them a Merry Christmas. But that is not the point.
What we are doing here is we are selling the American people sizzle
and providing no steak. We are choosing symbolism over substance, and
we are not providing substance, which is why I think most of us came to
the Congress of the United States, not to protect symbols, but to
protect everybody's rights.
Now, I know when people want to be inclusive they come to the floor
and they are very inclusive. I get included in when you want to talk
about Judeo-Christian traditions or heritage.
{time} 1945
When you want my participation, you know how to do it. But I am
offended by this. You have drawn me out. Why not protect my symbols? My
symbols are not protected here. And I am not asking them to be because
if you came to the floor protecting my symbols and nobody else's, I
would say, no thank you. Do not protect me unless you protect everybody
because that is the American way. We are doing symbols over substance.
We have embarked on a very slippery slope, the incline of which might
be too steep. We do not know the unintended consequences.
I like Christmas. I like the message of Christmas. I like helping the
needy and the poor and the least among us. But I did not come here to
protect the symbols.
Did something happen when I was not looking? Did somebody mug Santa
Claus? Is somebody engaging in elf tossing? Did somebody shoot Bambi?
If you eat venison, are you a suspect? What silliness we engage in,
protecting symbols.
If you wanted to protect the message of Christmas, come to the floor
with real bills with substance. Where is your bill to house the
homeless? Where is
[[Page H11598]]
your bill to feed the needy? Where is your bill to clothe the naked?
Where is your bill to protect senior citizens who will not be able to
heat their homes this winter? Where is the substance? Why are we
engaging, in this terrible time in which we are in, in symbolism?
We can be doing something meaningful. Where is the bill for real
health care? Where is the bill to educate the children that we really
are leaving behind? We are not doing any of those things. I think we
could be doing so much more instead of feeding the flames that divide
us instead of bringing us together.
I wish the gentlewoman a merry Christmas. I have no compunction about
doing that. But I do not want my government to engage in the
foolishness of deciding for people what their symbols should or have to
be. And I know that it has been amended so that it now reads that this
is for Christian people. I do not want to be here telling Christian
people how to observe Christmas. I mean, I did not come here to protect
toys and tinsel anymore than I came here to protect presents and potato
latkes. This is not my deal. And we have important work to do that is
important to real people of all faiths, and people of all faiths should
not engage in anything that feeds those who would be divisive.
I know that is not the intent of the gentlewoman, because I think I
know her heart well. But this is the unintended consequence of bills
such as this when we go down that path.
Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. PORTER. Madam Speaker, I yield as much time as she may consume to
the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ginny Brown-Waite).
Ms. GINNY BROWN-WAITE of Florida. Madam Speaker, I rise today in
support of House Resolution 579 and the tradition of Christmas. I
commend my colleague, Ms. Davis, for introducing this resolution.
As Americans, we enjoy the freedom to practice our own faith. This
heritage inspired the American tradition of respecting individuals in
their right to practice their religion, regardless of faith. However,
it seems that, in recent years, zealous liberals have tried to destroy
this heritage. It all started when schools would no longer call their
annual winter recess a Christmas break in order to be politically
correct. Now, instead, there is a holiday break, in many instances
thanks to actions of the ACLU, American Civil Liberties Union.
While this may be a valid point since various religions observe
holidays around the same time, they would not stop there at the
erosion. There is a war against Christmas. Our children cannot sing
Christmas carols. They can only sing holiday tunes. And now, instead of
a Christmas tree, advertising calls them holiday trees. There is no
reason why we cannot honor and cherish the traditions of Christmas
while also doing the same with Chanukah, Kwanzaa or any other valued
religion celebrated in America. America should never single out a
religion for the purposes of banning or looking down upon references to
their holiday celebrations. That practice flies in the face of the
principles that our Nation was founded on. Instead, we must treasure
the traditions that remind us of our history and of our country while
at the same time respecting Americans of different faiths. As such, I
strongly support House Resolution 579 which recognizes and supports
symbols and traditions of Christmas.
Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote in favor of this
resolution.
Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Madam Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the
gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Dingell), the Dean of the House.
(Mr. DINGELL asked and was given permission to revise and extend his
remarks.)
Mr. DINGELL. Madam Speaker, I have a little poem.
'Twas the week before Christmas and all through the House,
no bills were passed `bout which Fox News could grouse.
Tax cuts for the wealthy were passed with great cheer,
so vacations in St. Barts soon should be near.
Katrina kids were all nestled snug in motel beds,
while visions of school and home danced in their heads.
In Iraq, our soldiers need supplies and a plan,
and nuclear weapons are being built in Iran.
Gas prices shot up, consumer confidence fell.
Americans feared we were in a fast track to . . . well.
Wait, we need a distraction, something divisive and wily,
a fabrication straight from the mouth of O'Reilly.
We will pretend Christmas is under attack,
hold a vote to save it, then pat ourselves on the back.
Silent Night, First Noel, Away in the Manger,
Wake up Congress, they're in no danger.
This time of year, we see Christmas everywhere we go,
From churches to homes to schools and, yes, even Costco.
What we have is an attempt to divide and destroy
when this is the season to unite us with joy.
At Christmastime, we're taught to unite.
We don't need a made-up reason to fight.
So on O'Reilly, on Hannity, on Coulter and those right-wing
blogs.
You should sit back and relax, have a few egg nogs.
'Tis the holiday season; enjoy it a pinch.
With all our real problems, do we really need another Grinch?
So to my friends and my colleagues, I say with delight,
a Merry Christmas to all, and to Bill O'Reilly, happy
holidays.
Ho, ho, ho. Merry Christmas.
Mr. PORTER. Madam Speaker, I yield as much time as he may consume to
the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Bartlett).
(Mr. BARTLETT of Maryland asked and was given permission to revise
and extend his remarks.)
Mr. BARTLETT of Maryland. Madam Speaker, if our Founding Fathers
could be resurrected and be with us here this evening, they would be
astounded that we were discussing, debating this subject. Let me
explain. Most of our Founding Fathers came here to escape one of two
tyrannies, the tyranny of the crown and the tyranny of the church. In
the Second Amendment, they address the tyranny of the crown. But that
is a subject for another day. In England, the Episcopal Church was the
official state church, and it could and did oppress other churches. On
most of the countries of the continent, the Roman Church was the
official state church, and it could and did oppress other churches, and
our Founding Fathers wanted to make sure that this never could happen
in their new country. And so in the First Amendment, they wrote the
establishment clause which means exactly what it said, not the way it
is frequently interpreted today. Congress shall make no law respecting
an establishment of religion, no established state religion, please, or
prohibiting the free exercise thereof. Not only should there not be a
state religion, there should be free exercise of every religion.
But they had no fear, Madam Speaker, of religion. The Continental
Congress bought 20,000 copies of the Bible to distribute to their new
citizens. And for the first 100 years of our country, our Congress each
year voted funds to send missionaries to the American Indians. For 160
years of its existence, the Supreme Court, up until 1947 when they did
an abrupt about face, 180 degrees from where they were before in every
decision relative to this subject, our Supreme Court said that we were
a Judeo-Christian nation, and they affirmed the right for expression of
those beliefs. Indeed, 102, I believe, of the first 104 universities in
our country were church schools, including Harvard. Harvard's handbook
has an interesting note, that the Bible should be the constant
companion of its students. And for the first hundred years of its
existence, about half of all of the graduates of Harvard were
ministers.
Madam Speaker, if our Founding Fathers could be resurrected and be
with us this evening, they would unanimously support this commonsense
resolution.
Madam Speaker, we should join them and unanimously support this
resolution.
Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the
gentlewoman from the District of Columbia (Ms. Norton).
Ms. NORTON. Madam Speaker, I cannot help but note the irony of a bill
celebrating Christmas or its symbols coming on the floor in a session
that has just destroyed Christmas for millions of poor people.
I am going to make a request of this Member, because I know her and I
respect her and I regard her as a friend. And as a Christian, I am
going to ask
[[Page H11599]]
her in the name of interfaith tolerance if she would withdraw this
resolution because it is needlessly divisive, and I think she did not
realize when she put it in how divisive it is.
For example, the gentlewoman said Merry Christmas to you, Madam
Speaker. I do not know what your background is. But I do not believe
she would have said Merry Christmas to the gentleman from New York (Mr.
Ackerman). And in a real sense, that sums up where our country has come
simply to be tolerant of the fact that we are from many faiths, and we
do not want to insult anybody. And I say to you that, far from
references to Christmas needing to be supported, they are glorified,
and we all know it. The notion of giving any aid and comport to the Fox
campaign against ``happy holidays'' would be funny if it were not so
serious.
Understand how ``happy holidays'' developed. It developed out of a
country, first and foremost, where there was rampant anti-Semitism.
Now, of course, we have many more, we have many more religions and much
more diversity. It developed simply out of a sensitivity, so we
developed proxy language, and so everybody feels comfortable even when
it is not your particular religious holiday. I am not going to go up to
a brown-skinned person in a turban and say, merry Christmas. I think
that it is more appropriate to say, happy holidays. Maybe the
gentlewoman understands why this is important for people who, unlike
her and unlike me, are not Christians. If you do not want to feel
guilty for wishing someone merry Christmas, I do not want to feel
guilty for saying happy holidays to someone whose religious background
I do not know.
{time} 2000
Mr. PORTER. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
I could not imagine growing up that some day I would be on the House
floor debating the merits of Christmas, and I certainly have great
respect for my colleagues and their concern. But what is great about
America is we can debate Christmas on the House floor.
But let us talk about a few other things that we do in this House
that I am very proud that we have done. We have recognized Korean
Americans and the symbols. We have recognized Filipino Americans,
ideals, very special weeks that we recognize here on this House floor
numerous times. Pancreatic cancer, campus safety awareness. As a matter
of fact, one of our next bills this evening is American Jewish Month.
And that is what is great about America. We can have this debate
about Christmas, but certainly there are thousands of Americans and
there are thousands of people around the world that believe in this
tradition. I too say ``happy holidays'' in respect to Chanukah. I say
``happy holidays,'' but I also will say ``Merry Christmas'' because
that is what December 25 is about.
Again, I appreciate my colleagues and I think that their point is
being well considered. I have great respect for my colleagues across
the aisle, but I think it is a very cherished national holiday; and I
would certainly encourage that we support this, as we have many other
symbols and different groups in this country, because that is what
Congress is about.
Mr. WEINER. Madam Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
Mr. PORTER. I yield to the gentleman from New York.
Mr. WEINER. Madam Speaker, I have no question about the gentleman's
values or his intent.
Is there any element of this bill that if we substituted
``Chanukah,'' which you mentioned, recognizing the importance of the
symbols and traditions of Chanukah, would you find that offensive in
any way?
Mr. PORTER. Madam Speaker, I am not sure of the protocol of the
debate on the floor.
Mr. WEINER. Madam Speaker, he controls the time. He has yielded to me
for a question, and now I am asking it.
Mr. PORTER. I would absolutely support a bill that talked about the
symbols of Chanukah. Absolutely.
Mr. WEINER. Will the gentleman yield further for another question?
Mr. PORTER. Absolutely.
Mr. WEINER. Would you find anything offensive about recognizing the
importance of the symbols and traditions of Diwali, the Indian New Year
for Indian Americans?
Mr. PORTER. Madam Speaker, I am, again, not certain this is time for
the debate, but I think we should look at all these groups that would
like to be considered. Again, this is not a place for the debate, and I
would be happy to have this discussion.
Mr. WEINER. It is exactly the place to debate. We are on the floor of
the House of Representatives.
Mr. PORTER. But I believe that the gentleman's point is well taken.
Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. ACKERMAN. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from
California (Ms. Woolsey).
(Ms. WOOLSEY asked and was given permission to revise and extend her
remarks.)
Ms. WOOLSEY. Madam Speaker, nobody enjoys Christmas more than I. But
today we have roughly 160,000 men and women in Iraq putting their lives
on the line for an immoral, senseless war. Here at home many of our
vulnerable citizens will face a cold, bitter winter because they do not
have home energy assistance from the Federal Government. Many others
will not get the health care or education they need because of harsh
cuts in Medicaid and student loans.
Naturally, the majority does not want to talk about this, and one can
always tell when the right wing is in political trouble. They
invariably cook up some divisive culture war that has nothing to do
with our real challenges in this country.
What American families really want is the ability to afford more
gifts for their children this season regardless of whether there is a
wreath in the local department store.
Meanwhile, how many casualties have there been in the so-called ``war
on Christmas''? Here is a hint: several thousand less than in the war
on Iraq.
Mr. PORTER. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the
gentleman from New York (Mr. Israel).
Mr. ISRAEL. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me this
time.
Madam Speaker, I want to thank the gentlewoman for introducing this
resolution. I actually share her view and understand her frustration
when any government attempts to ban secular symbols like Santa Claus or
Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer or Christmas lights. I do not believe
that any community should ban those secular symbols as long as they do
not choose one set of symbols over the other; as long as they are
inclusive of all symbols.
My difficulty with this resolution is that it excludes some symbols
and includes only certain symbols. So I would ask the gentlewoman, in
the spirit of diversity, and of the many faiths that we celebrate in
this body and throughout America, I would ask her not to withdraw the
resolution, but allow this resolution to attract a very significant
number of votes, maybe a unanimous vote, simply by adding the words
``Kwanzaa,'' ``Ramadan,'' and ``Chanukah'' to her resolution. Do not
exclude certain symbols. Be inclusive of all.
The gentleman just stated prior to the gentleman from New York that
he would support a resolution that includes the holidays of different
faiths. So I would take the gentleman up on that offer.
So, Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman and ask her if she
would change this resolution, change this language, include Chanukah,
include Kwanzaa, include Ramadan, include holidays of all faiths so
that this resolution can reflect the best of America, which is a place
of justice for all.
Mrs. JO ANN DAVIS of Virginia. Madam Speaker, I would say that the
reason for this resolution is that the attack has not been on the
menorah or any of the other symbols of the other religions. But the
attack has been and is being made on red and green colors, on candy
canes, on Santa Claus, which are not even religious symbols. That is
the point of the resolution. And with that I will leave it the way the
resolution stands.
Mr. PORTER. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. ACKERMAN. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from
Virginia (Mr. Scott).
[[Page H11600]]
Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Madam Speaker, this resolution purports to
protect the symbols of Christmas, but what really needs to be protected
are not the symbols of Christmas, but rather the spirit of Christmas.
The spirit of Christmas demands generosity and goodwill towards others.
Instead of legislation that respects the spirit of Christmas,
Congress in just these past few weeks has passed a budget that includes
mean-spirited attacks on the least of us. For those who are hungry, we
are cutting food stamps. For those who are sick, we are cutting
Medicaid. For those who are in prison, we are imposing senseless
mandatory minimums. For others we are ignoring increases in heating
costs and cutting student loans. At the same time we are cutting those
programs to help the least of us, we are cutting taxes for the
wealthiest in society.
Madam Speaker, we ought to express our passion for Christmas through
deeds, not words; and we should not be distracted from our
responsibility to uphold the spirit of Christmas as we consider the
effects our actions on the Federal budget will have on the least of us
during this holiday season.
For these reasons I oppose this resolution.
Mr. PORTER. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. ACKERMAN. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from
New York (Mr. Weiner).
Mr. WEINER. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me this
time, and I thank the gentleman from Nevada and the gentlewoman from
Virginia.
The bottom line is there was a good-faith effort made by the
gentleman from New York to change ``recognizes the importance of the
symbols and traditions of Christmas'' to ``the symbols of Christmas and
Chanukah,'' and you said no.
It was an attempt to change ``strongly disapproves of attempts to ban
references to Christmas'' to ``ban references to Christmas and
Kwanzaa,'' and you said no.
It was a chance to take this and put it into the words that the
gentleman from Virginia, the gentlewoman from Florida earlier
articulated, and the gentlewoman who is the sponsor says that she
intends. The question must be, why? For someone who does not celebrate
Christmas, the question looms: Why? Why not say to someone who wants to
make this inclusive that, indeed, we are going to make it inclusive?
The symbols of Chanukah are not valuable? Sure, they are, I think. The
symbols of Kwanzaa are not valuable to some? Sure, they are. I cannot
imagine why the gentlewoman who is the sponsor of this, who says that
she speaks from a sense of inclusion, would not want to include those.
Are those not worthy of being protected? What is the message that is
being sent?
The gentleman from Nevada articulated his support. He perhaps should
persuade his colleague to offer that UC.
Mr. PORTER. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Again, I appreciate the comments from our friends across the aisle,
and I would be happy to cosponsor those bills that were just mentioned.
They certainly have merit and should be considered by this House of
Representatives.
This evening we are here to discuss H. Res. 579, as amended, and I
believe that it should pass. But I also would suggest we do the same
for those other religions that were mentioned, from Kwanzaa to
Chanukah, and there are many others that should be considered at some
point in time.
This evening I respect the fact that my colleague has presented this
resolution and would encourage that Members support it.
Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. ACKERMAN. Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
I am really very saddened by the fact that when given the opportunity
to expand this resolution that the sponsor demurred. I am not sure why.
If you do not know and you are saying that you want this to be what
this is because yours is the religion that has its symbols under
attack, when was the last time you walked into Wal-Mart and saw it
saying ``Happy Chanukah''? When did you walk into Toys `R Us and see it
saying ``Happy Kwanzaa''? Does that give me the right to say that my
religion is under attack, the symbols of my faith or the holiday I wish
to celebrate are under attack. It is not, and I am not going to be a
crybaby and say that it is.
To tell the truth, it is slightly offensive to see people trying to
create a war and claiming they are attacked just so that they go on the
offense instead of the defense.
This is a prefabricated issue that has no merit. Nobody is attacking
the symbols of Christmas. Are you objecting to our wanting to be
included because the symbols of your religion are more important than
the symbols of anybody else's religion in America? Or is it because you
think that the symbols of your religion are more official? And that is
the danger in what we are doing.
Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of
my time.
We have had a tremendous discussion. The United States of America is
a seriously diverse country. I did a bit of research about Christmas
and found 32 pages about how we sort of evolved to the point of
Christmas in this country.
{time} 2015
I think the season is a season to spread goodwill. I would hope that
there would not be a political debate necessarily around the yuletide,
a political debate, because I was taught, and maybe some of what I was
taught is different, that Christ was born, and out of that evolved
Christmastime, and we spread good cheer, and we give hope, and we say,
happy holidays, we say merry Christmas, happy Ramadan, happy,
productive Kwanzaa.
I just could not imagine, though, what it would be like if I could
not hear Mahalia Jackson sing ``Silent night, holy night; all is calm,
all is bright; round young virgin, mother and child; holy infant, so
tender and mild,'' from which I got the impression that the origin of
this period came.
So, I would hope that all of us would have a happy Kwanzaa, a happy
Chanukah, a happy Ramadan, a merry Christmas and happy holidays to
everybody.
Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. PORTER. Madam Speaker, I urge all Members to support the passage
of H. Res. 579, as amended, and I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Miss McMorris). The question is on the
motion offered by the gentleman from Nevada (Mr. Porter) that the House
suspend the rules and agree to the resolution, H. Res. 579, as amended.
The question was taken.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds of
those present have voted in the affirmative.
Mr. PORTER. Madam Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
Parliamentary Inquiry
Mr. ACKERMAN. Madam Speaker, I have a parliamentary inquiry.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman will state it.
Mr. ACKERMAN. Madam Speaker, how many Members arose?
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The count by the Chair is not liable to
question, but the chair will affirm that she counted more than one-
fifth of those present.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this question will
be postponed.
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