[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 107 (Friday, June 29, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8738-S8739]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            INDEPENDENCE DAY

  Mr. BYRD. Madam President, next Wednesday is July 4, Independence 
Day, the grand national celebration of our Nation's beginning. The 
Senate and the House of Representatives will be quiet, in recess so 
that Members can join in Independence Day celebrations around the 
country with constituents, families, and friends.
  On July 4, summer is approaching its zenith. The days are hot and 
sunny. Water in all forms lures children into the heat--in the country, 
shady streams offer relief; in urban areas, fountains or even fire 
hydrants answer the call, while across the country, swimming pools 
offer watery fun with an accompanying musical soundtrack of splashing 
and laughter. Even summer thunderstorms do their bit to cool things 
down while displaying nature's power and majesty as the lightning 
cracks and the thunder booms.
  Fourth of July celebrations are a wonderful time to glory in all that 
is good about the United States. Flags and fireworks, picnics and 
parades, mellow afternoons and martial music--everything about 
Independence Day is grand. As we join together to remember the bravery 
that led our Founding Fathers to draft the Declaration of Independence, 
the long struggle to win our freedom, and the enlightened wisdom that 
resulted in our unique and wonderful Constitution, the love of our 
Nation that is the true spirit of patriotism is renewed. Surrounded by 
the happy faces of our diverse population enjoying their small town 
parades, music under the stars, family picnics and the grand finale of 
the fireworks displays, we can be sure that our Founding Fathers chose 
well when they gambled on a new nation in which ``all men are created 
equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable 
Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of 
Happiness.''
  On Independence Day, when laughing children run with their sparklers 
to compete with the fireflies, we are also reminded of our own 
obligation to preserve for them all that is good about these United 
States. In this, we may also look to the Declaration of Independence, 
which ends with ``a firm reliance on the protection of divine 
Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes 
and our sacred Honor.''
  For our Founding Fathers, this pledge was not mere rhetoric--their 
signatures on the declaration that hot summer in 1776 put at risk their 
families, their fortunes, their worldly possessions, and their lives. 
Some, like Edward Rutledge, age 26, were young men, with all of their 
life's promise ahead of them. Others, like Benjamin Franklin, age 70, 
were no longer so young, and the prospect of being hunted down for 
treason could not have been very appealing. Still, he did not shirk 
from signing and has even been quoted as saying that ``We must all hang 
together, or assuredly we will all hang separately,'' his witty way of 
warning the signers that any failure to remain united could result in 
each of them being tried and executed for treason. History has shown 
that his warning was not needed.
  Through the years of war, even as some of the signers lost their 
homes or put their fortunes into the war effort, not one of them backed 
down. For that, we may all be thankful.
  Even as the years of war passed, the signers of the Declaration of 
Independence continued to serve their new Nation. They served as 
ambassadors for the new United States, as Presidents and Vice 
Presidents, as Cabinet members, and as a source of inspiration and 
industry for the fledgling Nation into their old ages. It is fitting 
that Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence, third 
President of the United States, Vice President, Secretary of State, 
Minister to France, Governor of Virginia, colonial and State 
legislator, founder of the University of Virginia, farmer and 
philosopher, died at the age of 83 on the Fourth of July, 1826, on the 
50th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence. He 
worked and wrote prolifically until the very end of his life, always 
for the betterment of the Nation.
  On the same day, July 4, 1826, John Adams passed away at the age of 
91. President, Vice President, Member of the Continental Congress, 
farmer, and philosopher, Adams remains the longest lived person ever 
elected to both of the highest offices in the United States. Until his 
record was broken by Ronald Reagan in 2001, Adams was the nation's 
longest living President, at 90 years, 247 days. The record is 
currently held by former President Gerald Ford, who died December 26, 
2006, at 93 years, 165 days. Adams and Jefferson's correspondence 
during their later years remains an invaluable historical record of the 
early days of our Republic, and their respect for each other was 
unmatched. Even as he died, Adams is said to have breathed, ``Thomas 
Jefferson survives,'' in what may have been his final earthly comfort 
knowing that his friend remained to watch over the young Nation.
  Madam President, it is a great privilege to be able to call oneself a 
citizen of these United States. It is my great privilege to serve the 
Senate and the people of West Virginia and the United States. I feel 
that privilege every day but especially on the Fourth of July. I am 
inspired by our Founding Fathers and by the great documents that are 
the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. Like Jefferson 
and Adams, I am inspired to continue serving the land that I love to 
the very best of my abilities for the whole of my years.
  Madam President, I close with a poem by Walter Taylor Field, entitled 
``Flag of the Free.''

                            Flag of the Free

     Look at the flag as it floats on high,
     Streaming aloft in the clear, blue sky,
     Rippling, leaping, tugging away,
     Gay as the sunshine, bright as the day,
     Throbbing with life, where the world may see--Flag of our 
           country, flag of the free!

     What do we see in the flag on high,
     That we bare our heads as it passes by,
     That we thrill with pride, our hearts beat fast, And we cheer 
           and cheer as the flag goes past--The flag that waves 
           for you and me--Flag of our country, flag of the free?

     We see in the flag a nation's might,
     The pledge of a safeguard day and night, Of a watchful eye 
           and a powerful arm

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           That guard the nation's homes from harm.
     Of a strong defense on land and sea--
     Flag of our country, flag of the free!

     We see in the flag a union grand,
     A brotherhood of heart and hand,
     A pledge of love and a stirring call
     To live our lives for the good of us all--Helpful and just 
           and true to thee, Flag of our country, flag of the 
           free!

     Flutter, dear flag, o'er the lands and seas!
     Fling out your stars and your stripes to the breeze, Righting 
           all wrongs, dispelling all fear,
     Guarding the land that we cherish so dear, And the God of our 
           fathers, abiding with thee, Will
     bless you and trust you, O flag of the free!

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