[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 168 (Friday, December 17, 2010)]
[House]
[Pages H8601-H8603]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
RECOGNIZING MARK TWAIN AS AN AMERICAN LITERARY ICON
Mr. CUELLAR. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to
the resolution (H. Res. 1733) recognizing
[[Page H8602]]
Mark Twain as one of America's most famous literary icons on the 175th
anniversary of his birth and the 100th anniversary of his death, as
amended.
The Clerk read the title of the resolution.
The text of the resolution is as follows:
H. Res. 1733
Whereas, on November 30, 1835, Samuel Langhorne Clemens,
one of the most prolific and influential writers and orators
in America, was born in Florida, Missouri;
Whereas Clemens suffered many childhood setbacks including
incessant poor health until age 9 and the death of his father
at age of 12;
Whereas growing up along the emerging Mississippi port city
of Hannibal, Missouri, watching the frequent steamboat stops
and working as a printer and editorial assistant at his
brother's newspaper, Clemens discovered his passion for
writing;
Whereas Clemens, at the age of 17, moved to St. Louis,
Missouri, and became a river pilot's apprentice, eventually
becoming a licensed river pilot in 1858;
Whereas Samuel Clemens then worked for several newspapers
across the United States after the river trade was halted by
the Civil War in 1861;
Whereas Clemens assumed his pen name, Mark Twain, based on
his experience as a river pilot;
Whereas Mark Twain means two fathoms or 12 feet when the
depth of water for a boat is being sounded, or that it is
safe to navigate;
Whereas Twain's first work to gain notoriety was his short
story, ``The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County'',
which appeared in the New York Saturday Press on November 18,
1865;
Whereas Mark Twain composed 28 books as well as numerous
short stories, letters, and sketches, including such classics
as ``Life on the Mississippi'', ``The Adventures of Tom
Sawyer'', ``The Prince and the Pauper'', and ``The Adventures
of Huckleberry Finn'';
Whereas Twain first declared his disappointment with
politics in ``A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court'',
where he depicted the absurdities of political and social
norms by setting them in the court of King Arthur;
Whereas Mark Twain was a staunch civil rights advocate
believing strongly in emancipation and said, ``Lincoln's
Proclamation . . . not only set the black slaves free, but
set the white man free also.''; and
Whereas Mark Twain was an adamant supporter of women's
suffrage, saying in his most famous speech, ``Votes for
Women'':
``Referring to woman's sphere in life, I'll say that woman
is always right. For twenty-five years I've been a woman's
rights man. I have always believed, long before my mother
died, that, with her gray hairs and admirable intellect,
perhaps she knew as much as I did. Perhaps she knew as much
about voting as I.
``I should like to see the time come when women shall help
to make the laws. I should like to see that whiplash, the
ballot, in the hands of women. As for this city's government,
I don't want to say much, except that it is a shame--a shame;
but if I should live twenty-five years longer--and there is
no reason why I shouldn't--I think I'll see women handle the
ballot. If women had the ballot to-day, the state of things
in this town would not exist.
``If all the women in this town had a vote today they would
elect a mayor at the next election, and they would rise in
their might and change the awful state of things now existing
here.'': Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives recognizes Mark
Twain as one of America's most famous literary icons and
commemorates him on the 175th anniversary of his birth and
the 100th anniversary of his death.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Texas (Mr. Cuellar) and the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Luetkemeyer)
each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Texas.
General Leave
Mr. CUELLAR. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members
may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their
remarks.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from California?
There was no objection.
Mr. CUELLAR. I now yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the Committee on Oversight Government
Reform, I am pleased to present House Resolution 1733, a resolution
recognizing Mark Twain as one of America's most famous literary icons
on the 175th anniversary of his birth and the 100th anniversary of his
death. House Resolution 1733 was introduced by our colleague, the
gentleman from Arkansas, Representative Vic Snyder, on November 18,
2010. This measure enjoys the support of over 60 Members of the House.
Mr. Speaker, Mark Twain was born as Samuel Langhorne Clemens in the
town of Florida, Missouri, on November 30, 1835. Famously, he was born
2 weeks after the closest approach to Earth of Halley's Comet, which
made its next approach 1 day after his death in 1910.
At the age of 4, Twain moved to Hannibal, Missouri, a Mississippi
River town that would inspire some of his most beloved works. At age
12, he became a printer's apprentice; and at age 16, he began working
as a typesetter and contributor of articles and humorous sketches for
the Hannibal Journal, a newspaper owned by his brother Orion. At age
18, he worked briefly as a printer in New York City, Philadelphia, St.
Louis, Cincinnati, taking time to educate himself at public libraries
in the evenings.
After returning to Missouri at age 22, he was inspired to be a
steamboat pilot, earning significant income, learning intimate details
of the river, and where he was inspired to give himself his pen name
Mark Twain, which refers to the depth of two fathoms, or 12 feet, the
right depth for safe passage of a riverboat.
He worked on riverboats until 1861, when the Civil War stopped
traffic along the Mississippi River. He then traveled west, working as
a miner and for newspapers in various towns. His first success as a
writer came when his humorous short story, ``The Celebrated Jumping
Frog of Calaveras County,'' was published in a New York weekly, The
Saturday Press, on November 18, 1865. This launched his renown as a
writer, bringing attention across the country.
After traveling to Europe and the Middle East on assignment from a
local newspaper, he moved with his family to Buffalo, New York, and
then to Hartford, Connecticut. It was in Hartford that Twain wrote his
most famous works, ``The Adventures of Tom Sawyer,'' ``The Prince and
the Pauper,'' ``Life on the Mississippi,'' ``Adventures of Huckleberry
Finn,'' and ``A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court.''
He gave lectures around the world, patented three inventions, and
developed a lasting friendship with one of history's most famous
scientists and inventors, Nikola Tesla.
Twain died at age 74 on April 21, 1910, a year after making his
famous prediction: ``I came in with Halley's Comet in 1835. It is
coming again next year, and I expect to go out with it. It will be the
greatest disappointment of my life if I don't go out with Halley's
Comet. The Almighty has said, no doubt: `Now here are these two
unaccountable freaks; they came in together, they must go out
together.' ''
William Faulkner called Mark Twain ``the father of American
literature,'' and he is rightly remembered as such. We can also
remember and honor him for his advocacy on behalf of emancipation and
women's suffrage.
In closing, no study of American literature is complete without the
works of Mark Twain. Mr. Speaker, let us, therefore, honor this giant
of American literature on the 100th anniversary of his death through
the passage of House Resolution 1733.
I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting it, and I reserve the
balance of my time.
Mr. LUETKEMEYER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of House Resolution 1733,
recognizing Mark Twain as one of America's most famous literary icons
on the 175th anniversary of his birth and the 100th anniversary of his
death.
{time} 0920
Born Samuel Langhorne Clemens in Florida, Missouri, on November 30,
1835, Mark Twain left school at the age of 13 to go to work as a
printer's apprentice. He went on to become an editorial assistant at a
newspaper and river pilot, where he gained his famous pseudonym. Mark
Twain began writing for a newspaper during the Civil War, and his short
story ``The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County'' was published
in 1865. Twain would, of course, go on to author ``The Adventures of
Tom Sawyer'' and ``The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,'' among 28 other
books and numerous short stories.
Mr. Speaker, it is altogether fitting and proper that we recognize
Mark
[[Page H8603]]
Twain and his rich contributions to our country's literary history.
This wonderful occasion has also inspired me to rediscover the great
works of Mark Twain with my granddaughter and connect this imaginary
world with the reality of his boyhood home in Hannibal. It is critical
for us to foster a love for reading among children and our
grandchildren because it is part of what makes them kids.
I am also extremely honored and fortunate to represent Hannibal in
Congress and would encourage folks to visit the area in northeast
Missouri and discover the inspiration for some of the greatest literary
works of American history. Mark Twain and the city of Hannibal are
integral parts of Missouri's heritage, and I am proud to recognize him
on this very special day.
To that end, a Mark Twain quote: ``Twenty years from now, you will be
more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones
that you did. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe
harbor, catch the trade winds in your sail. Explore, dream, discover.''
I urge all Members to join me in strong support of this resolution.
I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. CUELLAR. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the
gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Snyder).
Mr. SNYDER. Mr. Speaker, as a boy growing up in southern Oregon,
Medford, Oregon, I was blessed with a wonderful public school system.
Of course, that is about a half century ago now, but you only have a
good school system if you have good teachers, and I did: Mr. Merriman
and Elsie Butler and Devere Taylor and John Smock and Mrs. Leininger
and Irv Myrick, and I do a disservice to all of them by naming just a
few.
Chuck Nevi was one of those teachers, and he helped me explore
America and humanity through the words of Mark Twain.
For a boy growing up in 1950s America, the world of riverboats,
scalawags, runaway slaves, and sassy, independent, barefooted boys was
magical. The world of Mark Twain taught readers universal truths about
the human animal, and some of those truths are not flattering. Like all
youngsters, I imagined myself to be Huckleberry Finn, and when Huck
Finn chooses what he believes will be hell and eternal damnation so
that his love, loyalty, and friendship with a runaway slave will be
preserved, well, for me, being raised in a town with few minorities, I
learned both about racism and about the power of even young boys to
find the real truths and confront confusing human institutions that
allowed racism to persist.
A few weeks ago, I saw the news report of Tina Fey winning the Mark
Twain Prize for American Humor, and it reminded me that this year,
2010, should be acknowledged for the 100th anniversary of Mark Twain's
death and the 175th anniversary of his birth. And so even though it was
late in the session, I filed this resolution on his birthday to honor
Mark Twain.
Mr. Speaker, when parents are away from their babies, particularly
during these holidays, we talk about our kids, and so I will. My 4-
year-old, Penn, and my three 2-year-olds, Aubrey, Wyatt and Sullivan,
are the four little boy Huck Finns in our Arkansas household
geographically not far from Huck Finn's world, but such a different
world now, one that 19th century contemporaries of a young Sam Clemens
would not recognize, except, of course, for his insights into the
strengths and weaknesses of human nature. And because of that genius,
that genius expressed with humor, I hope my young boys, my young Huck
Finns, learn to love the world and works of Mark Twain.
Mr. LUETKEMEYER. I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. CUELLAR. Mr. Speaker, again I urge my colleagues to join me in
supporting this measure, and I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Cuellar) that the House suspend the rules and
agree to the resolution, H. Res. 1733, as amended.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the
rules were suspended and the resolution, as amended, was agreed to.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
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