[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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