[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 31 (Monday, February 23, 2009)]
[House]
[Page H1639]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       THE BIRTHRIGHT OF AMERICA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms. Kaptur) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, Congressman Poe raises some very good 
points. One of the major reasons we should be renegotiating NAFTA is to 
deal with many of the consequences of that trade agreement which was 
sold as a nirvana for the continent, and there are so many consequences 
that are harmful to people in this country and to the other two trading 
partners. So I was very interested in his remarks.
  I came down to the floor tonight to talk about liberty. When our 
Republic was founded, Patrick Henry courageously implored, ``Give me 
liberty or give me death.'' He put his priority on sacrifice for 
liberty as the fundamental building block of our Republic, a moral 
calling of the highest order.
  Similarly, as immigrants from far off lands flock to America's 
shores, they still journey through New York Harbor and read the 
timeless words at the base of the Statue of Liberty, penned by poet 
Emma Lazarus, that recall our primary founding moral value: ``Give me 
your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.''
  Freedom is not only what this Nation offers to all who come here 
legally, but it is the cornerstone upon which our founders built this 
Nation. America today is navigating a slippery slope that is a 
departure from our birthright, our Nation's very reason for being. When 
freedom becomes subjugated to financial dependence on undemocratic 
regimes or marketplace conveniences, surely we risk losing our way. 
Those around the world can become disillusioned with our Nation's very 
reason for being.
  Thomas Jefferson stated, ``Can liberties of a nation be sure, when we 
remove their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people, 
that these liberties are a gift from God?'' He clearly means we should 
not take the abundance of our Nation in whatever form and squander it 
or take it for granted.
  I become concerned myself when pecuniary interests trump human 
rights. With China's now becoming the chief holder of U.S. Treasury 
debt, one must ask, ``What comes first, liberty or bondage?''
  Whether it is human freedom in China or repressive theocracies across 
the Middle East or dictatorships in Africa, Asia or Latin America, at 
what point does our growing financial dependence sully America's 
birthright, which is liberty first, last and always?
  I stand here, amazed, that yet again the wise Thomas Jefferson 
issued, for posterity, a warning as follows: ``If the American people 
ever allow private banks to control the issue of currency first by 
inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow 
up around them will deprive the people of all property until their 
children wake up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered.'' 
Imagine how many years ago he said that.
  My friends, my dear colleagues and my fellow citizens, we must take a 
strong and devout look at where we are and how we got here. Our 
financial dependence on foreign regimes has compromised our very 
birthright. It was with sadness that I watched our able Secretary of 
State dance on eggshells on her recent trip to Beijing. It is Lady 
Liberty that must inspire us to recapture our freedom for our own 
posterity.
  Surely, Thomas Jefferson would like that.

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