[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 62 (Monday, April 27, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E988-E989]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       HONORING THE BICENTENNIAL OF THE BIRTH OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. DANNY K. DAVIS

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, April 27, 2009

  Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Madam Speaker, I Wish to take a moment to 
honor Abraham Lincoln's legacy as we commemorate the bicentennial of 
his birth this year. President Lincoln had a tremendous impact on the 
progression of our nation. The 16th President of the United States 
successfully led the country through its greatest internal crisis, the 
American Civil War, preserving the Union and ending slavery with the 
signing of the Emancipation Proclamation. As a young man, Abraham 
Lincoln feared not achieving anything that would make men remember him. 
With hard work, dedication, and determination, today, Abraham Lincoln 
tops the list, for many, as one of the most influential--and most 
revered--Americans.
  The spirit that guided him was clearly that of his Second Inaugural 
Address, now inscribed on one wall of the Lincoln Memorial in 
Washington, DC: ``With malice toward none; with charity for all; with 
firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive 
on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation's wounds . . .'' 
Indeed, Lincoln's legacy is most alive in our continuous search for 
freedom, equality, and opportunity. I feel that it is only right for my 
fellow colleagues and I to pay homage to a great leader who helped pave 
the way for so many and who continues to inspire people today, two 
hundred years later.
  As our newly elected 44th President of the United States, Barack 
Obama, also from Illinois, begins his first term in office, the wounds 
of the nation and the world will begin to heal as he is guided and 
inspired by the former President Lincoln. Illinois is the state where 
Lincoln spent more than a quarter century of his life, serving as a 
lawyer and politician, leaving his mark in many towns and cities 
throughout the state. Long before being elected president in 1860, he 
served four terms in the state legislature and one in Congress. The 
state of Illinois honors Lincoln's legacy in a variety of ways 
including: The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, the 
Lincoln

[[Page E989]]

Memorial Garden, Lincoln's Journey of Remembrance, The Lincoln Home 
National Historic site, and the city of Lincoln. In addition, The U.S. 
Mint will introduce four newly-designed Lincoln pennies throughout 
2009, the first being released on his birthday. A Lincoln commemorative 
silver dollar will also be released later this year.
  We have come a long way since the Lincoln days, but we still have a 
long way to go. The bicentennial of Abraham Lincoln is a great time to 
honor his legacy, as well as re-examine the American Dream and what it 
means to be an American today. It is a time of opportunity to bring 
together a divided nation in order to work together to fulfill 
Lincoln's goal of finding unity in our diversity. With a newly-elected 
President who shares many of the same ideals as Lincoln, there is not a 
better time to start this transformation, create change, and finish the 
work that we started so long ago. President Obama, similar to Lincoln, 
faces many great challenges ahead, but with hard work, dedication and 
determination these challenges we shall too, overcome.

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