[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 33 (Thursday, March 1, 2012)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1173-S1174]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         TEXAS INDEPENDENCE DAY

  Mrs. HUTCHISON. Madam President, I see the Senator from Arkansas on 
the Senate floor. I will follow the Senator from Arkansas on another 
piece of legislation about which I hope to speak, but I do want to take 
about 5 minutes to read the letter William Barret Travis sent from the 
Alamo. 176 years ago tomorrow, March 2, 1836, is the anniversary date 
of Texas' independence.
  I am going to read this letter in commemoration of Texas Independence 
Day because it was on that date that Texas declared its independence 
from Mexico. Fifty-nine brave men signed the Texas Declaration of 
Independence, putting their lives, and the lives of their families, on 
the line to declare that ``the people of Texas do now constitute a 
free, Sovereign, and independent republic.''
  I am proud that my great-great grandfather, Charles S. Taylor, was 
willing to sign that document that declared our freedom. In fact my son 
Houston is named Houston Taylor Hutchison for that Texas patriot. I am 
humbled to hold the seat that was first held by another signer, and one 
of Charles S. Taylor's best friends, and that was Thomas Rusk, who was 
the Secretary of War who defended the Declaration of Independence by 
fighting at the Battle of San Jacinto.
  As was the case in the American Revolution, our freedom was 
ultimately secured through the actions of the brave Texans who fought 
and died on the battlefield. The late Senator John Tower started the 
tradition of a Texas Senator reading the Travis letter, and it was 
continued by Phil Gramm, and I took it over in 1994. This is something 
we do to tell America and to assure that Texans always remember this 
day in our history because after this, of course, we became a republic 
and we were a republic for 10 years before we became a part of the 
United States.
  So it is with pride that I read--for the last time as a Senator 
representing Texas--the wonderful letter that was written by COL 
William Barret Travis. He said:

       To the people of Texas and all Americans in the world--
       Fellow citizens and compatriots--I am besieged by a 
     thousand or more of the Mexicans under Santa Anna. I have 
     sustained a continual bombardment and cannonade for 24 hours 
     and have not lost a man. The enemy has demanded a surrender 
     at discretion, otherwise, the garrison are to be put to the 
     sword, if the fort is taken. I have answered the demand with 
     a cannon shot, and our flag still waves proudly from the 
     walls. I shall never surrender or retreat.
       Then, I call on you in the name of Liberty, of patriotism 
     and everything dear to the American character to come to our 
     aid with all dispatch. The enemy is receiving reinforcements 
     daily and will no doubt increase to three or four thousand in 
     four or five days. If this call is neglected, I am determined 
     to sustain myself as long as possible and die like a soldier 
     who never forgets what is due his own honor and that of his 
     country. Victory or Death.


                 William Barret Travis Lt. Col. Comdt.

  True to his word, he did not surrender. The Mexicans did have 
thousands of reinforcements. He drew a line in the sand at the Alamo. 
All but one man bravely crossed that line or was carried over it on a 
stretcher to accept the challenge to stay and fight. These men knew 
they would never leave the Alamo alive, but they heroically defended 
the Alamo for 13 days; the 13 days of glory, as it is known, against a 
force that eventually outnumbered them by more than 10 to 1.
  William Barrett Travis, Davy Crockett, Jim Bowie, and the rest of the 
189 men at the Alamo gave their lives fighting for something greater 
than themselves. It was that delay that gave GEN Sam Houston the time 
to organize his men and retreat to a point they could defend, which 
eventually became the Battle of San Jacinto. Just seven weeks later, on 
April 21, 1836, Sam Houston--because of that delay that was given to 
them by William Barret Travis and the 189 men at the Alamo--was able to 
take a stand at the Battle of San Jacinto, and Texas was a republic 
from that time forward, for 10 years. Texas is the only State that was 
a republic when it entered the United States. With that distinction, we 
like to share our vivid history.

  It has been a wonderful opportunity for me to be able to read this 
letter every year. I feel sure it will be continued by Senator Cornyn 
or my successor in this seat. We will always make sure people know we 
fought for our freedom just as the American patriots did, and we are 
very proud to have that rich and colorful history.
  So I thank the Senator from Arkansas, and I look forward to serving 
the rest of my term, but this will be the last time I get to share this 
piece of history.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Arkansas.
  Mr. PRYOR. Madam President, I think it is unanimous on this side of 
the aisle that we are going to miss the Senator from Texas when she 
leaves, and it is sad to hear about her doing something for the last 
time in the Senate. She has been a wonderful Senator and colleague and 
all of us on the Democratic side, and I am sure the Republican side as 
well, will greatly miss her.
  I wish the Record to reflect that Texas does have a glorious history. 
One of the things we are proud of in our State is that many of the men 
who gave their lives for the republic of Texas at the Alamo actually 
passed through Arkansas because that was the Southwest Trail back in 
those days. Many of those men passed through the State--actually, it 
was a meeting place, maybe a tavern I think they might have called it 
back then--near Hope, AR. So we share a little piece of that history in 
our State as well.
  Mrs. HUTCHISON. Madam President, I wish to thank the Senator from 
Arkansas for his kind remarks. I have so enjoyed serving with his 
father before him and then him. It is a point of history for Arkansas 
that this Senator

[[Page S1174]]

Pryor followed his father into the Senate. I appreciate so much that we 
are contiguous with the State of Arkansas and that so many of the 
people who settled the West did come through Arkansas. Some stayed 
there and some came on to Texas. Our whole history of the West is so 
exciting, and I am glad people remember it.

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