[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 47 (Wednesday, April 26, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E619]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




REMARKS OF DEMOCRATIC LEADER OF THE HOUSE, CONGRESSWOMAN NANCY PELOSI, 
     ON THE 100TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE 1906 SAN FRANCISCO EARTHQUAKE

                                 ______
                                 

                              TOM LANTOS-

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, April 26, 2006

  Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, very, very early on the morning of April 18, 
2006, I joined thousands of San Franciscans and Bay Area residents on 
the corner of Kearny and Market Streets at Lotta's Fountain--one of San 
Francisco's most beloved landmarks. The Fountain was donated to the 
citizens of San Francisco in 1875 by Lotta Crabtree, a performer who 
began her show business career at age 6 dancing for miners in the gold 
country and eventually becoming one of America's most popular 
performers. During the 1906 Earthquake the fountain became a famous 
meeting place and bulletin board for families and survivors. It is the 
oldest surviving landmark in the city of San Francisco, and survivors 
of the 1906 Earthquake still gather for reunions around the fountain at 
each anniversary of the `06 quake.
  This year's commemoration was a celebration of the centennial 
anniversary of the Earthquake. My dear friend and our most 
distinguished colleague Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi and San 
Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom spoke at this historic occasion 
remembering this great tragedy. They spoke of the courage and the 
pioneering spirit of the people of San Francisco following this 
devastating event.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in remembering the 100th 
anniversary of the great San Francisco Earthquake, and I ask unanimous 
consent that the full text of the excellent statement by Congresswoman 
Pelosi be placed in the Record.

The People of San Francisco Did the Impossible--Rebuilt Our City Better 
           Than Before Address of Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi

       Good Morning, San Francisco. Thank you all for coming this 
     morning, and thank you Mayor Newsom. It is appropriate that 
     the Mayor would be presiding over San Francisco rising. He 
     comes from good pioneer stock. His family was here at the 
     time of the earthquake, and they have contributed to 
     rebuilding this city ever since. Let's hear it again for 
     Mayor Newsom.
       I am pleased to be here with my colleague Tom Lantos of 
     California and other members of the official family of San 
     Francisco.
       To some, it may have seemed impossible that San Francisco 
     could be rebuilt when they saw this headline in the Call 
     Chronicle Examiner on April 19th: ``Earthquake and Fire: San 
     Francisco in Ruins.'' But they had faith and they had the San 
     Francisco Fire Department.
       The City of San Francisco lived by the words of our patron 
     saint, St. Francis of Assisi: ``Start by doing what is 
     necessary; then do what is possible; and suddenly you are 
     doing the impossible.'' That is what the people of San 
     Francisco did. The Mayor said 250,000 were left homeless. 
     They lived in our parks, built temporary shelters, thousands 
     lost loved ones, and they gathered here at this fountain to 
     find news of the missing. Separated by class and race and 
     neighborhood, they came together in common cause.
       Frances Mae Duffy, who was 11 months old at the time of the 
     quake and is here this morning, said it best: ``No matter how 
     rich or poor you were, you got shook up just the same.''
       One week after the quake, Governor Pardee declared, ``I 
     expect to see the great metropolis replaced on a much grander 
     scale than ever before.'' And indeed that happened.
       A year later, just a year later, a newspaper reported that 
     ``a miracle was wrought. Discipline was restored in a day; 
     orderly government was established in a week; relief was 
     organized almost before there was hunger to assuage; 
     reorganization was planned before the destruction was 
     complete, and begun before the ashes had cooled; courage was 
     never lost.'' That is our San Francisco.
       Courage was never lost because the San Franciscans of a 
     century ago were pioneers or they were children of pioneers. 
     Winston Churchill could have been speaking of them and our 
     great survivors here whom we honor when he said: ``We have 
     not journeyed all this way across the centuries, across the 
     oceans, across the mountains, across the prairies because we 
     are made of sugar candy.'' We are made of sterner stuff. For 
     many of them, just getting here was a dangerous journey--over 
     the Rockies, through the swamps of Panama, across the 
     Pacific, or around Cape Horn. They were pioneers and risk-
     takers. Once they arrived, they began building a city and a 
     future limited only by their imagination. And when the 
     earthquake and the fire leveled the city, their imagination 
     was sparked even further, and they began rebuilding San 
     Francisco better than before.
       Today as we commemorate a tragedy, we also celebrate the 
     survivors here today. You represent the heart and soul of San 
     Francisco.
       And when we have the moment of silence here at Lotta's 
     Fountain we must remember that this is hallowed ground. This 
     is where people came 100 years ago in the hopes of finding 
     news of their loved ones, and sometimes they found their 
     loved ones.
       Over the years, these survivors and their fellow citizens 
     did what was necessary, they did what was possible, and then 
     did the impossible--they made San Francisco what it is today.
       And so to the survivors I say, there's an Italian 
     expression: Cent'anni--may you live 100 years. Well, they 
     did. We are very fortunate indeed that they did and we are 
     very honored by their great contribution to our city. 
     Cent'anni all over again.

     

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