[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 30 (Friday, February 13, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E283]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     COMMEMORATING ABRAHAM LINCOLN ON THE BICENTENNIAL OF HIS BIRTH

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                               speech of

                          HON. JEB HENSARLING

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, February 12, 2009

  Mr. HENSARLING. Madam Speaker, it is with profound admiration and 
respect that I commemorate the 200th anniversary of President Abraham 
Lincoln's birth. From humble beginnings in a one room log cabin in the 
backwoods of Kentucky, Lincoln, a self-taught lawyer, went on to win a 
narrow victory in 1860 to become our 16th president.
   Not long after he took office, our country was plunged into a war 
between the states that threatened to destroy everything our Founding 
Fathers had fought so hard to establish. As the war raged, Lincoln led 
the Union through the maelstrom to save our Republic. At the same time, 
he paved the way to freedom for millions who had never known it. Sadly, 
an assassin's bullet stole Lincoln from his people just days after the 
Civil War ended.
   Madam Speaker, as we commemorate his 200th birthday, I reflect upon 
the life of President Lincoln and the sacrifices he made to protect the 
principles of freedom we cherish so deeply. A man of great wisdom and 
courage who guided our country through some of its darkest hours, 
President Lincoln embodies the true meaning of what it is to be an 
American.
   While, in the words of Secretary of War Edwin M. Staunton, Lincoln 
``belongs to the ages,'' he lives in the hearts of freedom loving 
people in the United States and around the world.

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