[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 140 (Thursday, September 20, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1943-E1944]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              IN RECOGNITION OF THE FLUSHING REMONSTRANCE

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. GARY L. ACKERMAN

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 20, 2007

  Mr. ACKERMAN. Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize and celebrate 
the 350th anniversary of the signing of the Flushing Remonstrance. 
Though sadly not as well known as some of our country's other founding 
documents, the Flushing Remonstrance's heroic call for religious 
freedom made this document fundamental to the establishment of our 
country as a land of religious liberty.
  On December 27, 1657, in Flushing, New Netherland, in the Borough of 
Queens, in New York City, 29 brave English citizens composed a document 
stating their unwillingness to tolerate or enforce an official mandate 
for religious persecution. These daring patriots rose in protest of 
Governor Peter Stuyvesant's call to persecute the area's new Quaker 
inhabitants, and affirmed their belief in the ``law of love, peace and 
liberty.''
  Madam Speaker, some of the signatories of the Remonstrance were 
imprisoned, and many suffered for their actions. Nevertheless, by 
standing up for their beliefs, they successfully initiated the fight 
for religious freedom in the New World. We all owe the signers of the 
Flushing Remonstrance a debt of gratitude, as their appreciation of, 
and commitment to religious freedom has become the cornerstone of our 
democracy.
  Later this year, the Borough of Queens will celebrate the 350th 
anniversary of the Flushing Remonstrance with many descendants of

[[Page E1944]]

the document's signatories. The original document will be transported 
from the State Archives in Albany, New York and will be on display at 
the Queens Borough Public Library, Flushing, during the official 
celebration.
  Madam Speaker, I ask all my colleagues to join me in recognizing the 
350th anniversary of the Flushing Remonstrance, a document that 
pioneered the right to religious freedom in America and throughout the 
world.

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