[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 147 (Friday, November 16, 2012)]
[House]
[Pages H6422-H6425]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
DIGGING DEEPER IN A HOLE
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of
January 5, 2011, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Gohmert) is recognized
for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader.
Mr. GOHMERT. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
There's so many problems in the world. There's so many problems here
in America. There's so many things that are being hidden, kept secret,
that need to have sunlight hit them and come to be known, because
sunlight truly is an illumination of not only facts, but creates
cleanliness when shining light comes upon things that have been hidden.
We have so many things yet to resolve, so many people that are now in
poverty that have not been in the past, an economy that's in trouble, a
Congress that can't seem to find its way to reduce spending, so we keep
digging deeper and deeper holes. But with all the problems in this
Nation, we are the most blessed nation in the history of mankind.
Solomon's Israel did not have the liberties for the individuals that
we have. It didn't have the assets that we have. It didn't have obesity
as a major health problem for the nation's poor, as we do.
{time} 1240
We are so richly blessed. So amidst all the skirmishing, debating,
fussing and arguing, we are about to go out of session for the last few
moments before we hit Thanksgiving. It's a time when people should
pause and understand, without dwelling on our problems, that we are so
richly blessed. It's time--as the Founders and as those leaders
throughout our great history have every year paused--to thank God for
the blessings which we have.
Some people see us fussing and debating and getting angry at times.
We have such different views of the way to fix things. I see my friend,
Eliot Engel. We don't vote on a lot of things the same way, but I know
his heart and I know he's a great, honorable man. I don't agree with Ed
Markey very often; in fact, we are usually crossways in our Committee
on Natural Resources. He and I think we can reach some agreements on
some issues regarding natural gas. Louise Slaughter, she didn't let a
bunch of my amendments through when she was Rules chair, but I like her
very much and she is a friend. Carolyn Maloney, she thinks we should
eliminate private guns and I believe the Second Amendment should be
enforced, but she's a friend. Having friends in a body in which we
disagree over things on the best way forward is another one of those
blessings.
So before we recess for Thanksgiving, it is such an honor to get to
remind people, you know, we have so many people who have blessed our
Nation who were not born here. There are people like the President, who
was born in Hawaii but was not educated for his early years, is not
aware so much of the history that many of us grew up being taught. So
it's a real honor for me to get to share some of our history as we
approach the Thanksgiving holiday.
For example, James Madison was given credit as having more to do with
our Constitution than any of the other Founders. When he was President,
March 4, 1815, he had this proclamation--a guy that should know what
the Constitution means and that it was never intended to prevent a
people from prayer and thanking God for our blessings, either in a
governmental setting or a nongovernmental setting. It was never meant
to force people to pray, but never intended to prevent governmental
leaders from leading prayers. This was James Madison, March 4, 1815. He
said:
No people ought to feel greater obligation to celebrate the
goodness of the Great Disposer of Events and of the Destiny
of Nations than the people of the United States.
And to the same Divine Author of every good and perfect
gift we are indebted for all those privileges and advantages,
religious as well as civil, which are so richly enjoyed in
this favored land.
I now recommend a day on which the people of every
religious denomination may in their solemn assemblies unite
their hearts and their voices in a freewill offering to their
Heavenly Benefactor of their homage of thanksgiving and of
their songs of praise.
Abraham Lincoln, in the midst of the worst war in American history--
more Americans died in the Civil War than in any other war of this
Nation--in July of 1863, the middle of the Civil War, our President,
Abraham Lincoln, provided these official words. For those who are on
the Supreme Court and did not have a proper education about our
history, these words might be surprising, but Abraham Lincoln made
these an official proclamation when he said:
It is meet and right to recognize and confess the presence
of the Almighty Father, and the power of His Hand equally in
these triumphs and in these sorrows. I invite the people of
the United States to assemble on that occasion in their
customary places of worship and in the forms approved by
their own consciences to render the homage due to the Divine
Majesty for the wonderful things He has done in this Nation's
behalf, and invoke the influence of His Holy Spirit to subdue
the anger which has produced and so long sustained a needless
and cruel rebellion.
Andrew Johnson, October 28, 1865, as President of the United States,
he succeeded Abraham Lincoln, as we all know, after the terrible
atrocity of Abraham Lincoln's assassination; came at the end of such a
cruel war that saw family member fighting and killing family member,
and so much destruction, so much hate. Andrew Johnson's official words
as President of the United States in 1865:
Whereas it has pleased Almighty God, during the year which
is now coming to an end, to relieve our beloved country from
the tearful scourge of civil war, and to permit us to secure
the blessings of peace, unity and harmony, with great
enlargement of civil liberty; and
Whereas, our Heavenly Father has, also, during the year
graciously averted from us the calamities of foreign war,
pestilence and famine, while our granaries are full of the
fruits of an abundant season; and
Whereas, righteousness exalteth a nation, while sin is a
reproach to any people.
I recommend to the people thereof that they do set apart
and observe the first Thursday of December next as a day of
national thanksgiving to the Creator of the Universe for
those great deliverances and blessings.
Ulysses S. Grant, as President, responding as did those already
mentioned--and actually every President each and every year--I'm just
selecting specific official proclamations. This one was President
Ulysses S. Grant, 1869. He said:
[[Page H6423]]
I, Ulysses S. Grant, President of the United States, do
recommend that Thursday, the 18th day of November next, be
observed as a day of thanksgiving and of praise and of prayer
to Almighty God, the Creator and the Ruler of the universe;
and I do further recommend to all the people of the United
States to assemble on that day in their accustomed places of
public worship and to unite in homage and praise due to the
bountiful Father of All Mercies in fervent prayer for the
continuance of the manifold blessings he has vouchsafed to us
as a people.
Rutherford B. Hayes, 1877, said these in his official proclamation:
The completed circle of summer and winter, seed time and
harvest, has brought us to the accustomed season at which a
religious people celebrates with praise and thanksgiving the
enduring mercy of Almighty God. Let us with one spirit and
with one voice lift up praise and thanksgiving to God for his
manifold goodness to our land, his manifest care for our
Nation.
I earnestly recommend that, withdrawing themselves from
secular cares and labors, the people of the United States do
meet together on that day in their respective places of
worship, there to give thanks and praise to Almighty God for
His mercies, and to devoutly beseech their continuance.
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Chester A. Arthur, November 1881:
It has long been the pious custom of our people, with the
closing of the year, to look back upon the blessings brought
to them in the changing course of the seasons, and return
solemn thanks to the All-giving source from whom they flow.
The countless benefits which have showered upon us during
the past 12 months call for our fervent gratitude, making it
fitting that we should rejoice with Thanksgiving, that the
Lord, in His infinite mercy, has most signally favored our
country and our people.
That was Chester A. Arthur.
Grover Cleveland in 1885:
The American people have always abundant cause to be
thankful to Almighty God, whose watchful care and guiding
hand have been manifested in every stage of their national
life, guarding and protecting them in time of peril and
safely leading them in the hour of darkness and danger.
It is fitting and proper that a Nation thus favored should,
on one day in every year, for that purpose especially
appointed publicly acknowledge the goodness of God and return
thanks to him for all his gracious gifts.
That was Grover Cleveland in his official proclamation of 1885.
And again, there were proclamations every year by every President. So
we're selecting just a few, as it being fit and proper, as our country
has done every year of its existence since we had a Constitution in
1789, to declare a time of thanksgiving to God for our blessings.
Benjamin Harrison. This is November 1, 1889:
Now therefore, I, Benjamin Harrison, President of the
United States of America, do earnestly recommend that
Thursday, the 28th day of this present month of November, be
set apart as a day of national thanksgiving and prayer, and
that the people of our country, ceasing from the cares and
labors of their working day, shall assemble in their
respective places of worship and give thanks to God, who has
prospered us on our way and made our paths the paths of
peace, beseeching him to bless the day to our present and
future good, making it truly one of thanksgiving for each
united home circle as for the Nation at large.
Benjamin Harrison, November 1889.
Grover Cleveland, November 1893, said:
While the American people should every day remember with
praise and Thanksgiving the divine goodness and mercy which
have followed them since their beginning as a Nation, it is
fitting that one day in each year should be especially
devoted to the contemplation of the blessing we have received
from the hand of God and to the grateful acknowledgment of
His loving kindness.
On that day, let us forego our ordinary work and
employments and assemble in our usual places of worship,
where we may recall all that God has done for us, and, where,
from grateful hearts, our united tribute of praise and song
may reach the throne of grace.
Let the reunion of kindred and the social meeting of
friends lend cheer and enjoyment to the day. And let generous
gifts of charity for the relief of the poor and needy prove
the sincerity of our thanksgiving.
Can't help but parenthetically note that the greatest blessing in
giving comes not from a government that forcibly takes people's money
but from people who give from the bounty of their own hearts to those
in need. It makes us better people.
Another, William McKinley, in 1897 officially proclaimed, ``In
remembrance of God's goodness to us during the past year, which has
been so abundant''--he put in quotes--``Let us offer unto him our
Thanksgiving and pay our vows unto the Most High.''
McKinley went on:
Under his watchful providence, industry has prospered. The
conditions of labor have been improved. The rewards of the
husbandman have been increased, and the comforts of our homes
multiplied. His mighty hand has preserved peace and protected
the Nation. Respect for law and order has been strengthened,
love of free institutions cherished, and all sections of our
beloved country brought into closer bonds of fraternal regard
and generous cooperation.
For these great benefits, it is our duty to praise the Lord
in a spirit of humility and gratitude, and to offer up to Him
our most earnest supplications, that we may acknowledge our
obligation as a people to Him who has so graciously granted
us the blessing of free government and material prosperity.
William McKinley, October 1897.
Theodore Roosevelt, as President of the United States, said these
words in 1903, officially proclaiming:
The season is at hand, when according to the custom of our
people, it falls upon the President to appoint a day of
praise and thanksgiving to God.
During the last year, the Lord has dealt bountifully with
us, giving us peace at home and abroad, and the chance for
our citizens to work for their welfare unhindered by war,
famine, or plague. It behooves us not only to rejoice greatly
because of what has been given us, but to accept it with a
solemn sense of responsibility, realizing that under heaven,
it rests with us ourselves to show that we are worthy to use
aright what has been entrusted to our care.
In no other place, and at no other time has the experiment
of government of the people, by the people, for the people
been tried on so vast a scale as here in our own country in
the opening years of the 20th century. Failure would not only
be a dreadful thing for us, but a dreadful thing for all
mankind because it would mean loss of hope for all who
believe in the power and the righteousness of liberty.
Therefore, in thanking God for the mercies extended to us
in the past, we beseech Him that He may not withhold them in
the future.
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That was Theodore Roosevelt, 1903.
William Howard Taft, 1909:
The people of the United States are wont to meet in their
usual places of worship on a day of thanksgiving appointed by
the civil magistrate to return thanks to God for the great
mercies and benefits which they have enjoyed. During the past
year, we have been highly blessed . . . It is altogether
fitting that we should humbly and gratefully acknowledge the
Divine source of those blessings.
Therefore, I hereby appoint . . . a day of general
thanksgiving, and I call upon the people on that day, laying
aside their usual vocations, to repair to their churches and
unite in appropriate services of praise and thanks to
Almighty God.
William Howard Taft in 1912, without any problem from the Supreme
Court, officially proclaimed:
A God-fearing nation, like ours, owes it to its inborn and
sincere sense of moral duty to testify its devout gratitude
to the All-giver for the countless benefits it has enjoyed.
For many years, it has been customary at the close of the
year for the national Executive to call upon his fellow
countrymen to offer praise and thanks to God for the manifold
blessings vouchsafed to them . . .
Wherefore, I, William Howard Taft, President of the United
States of America, in pursuance of long-established usage and
in response to the wish of the American people, invite my
countrymen, wheresoever they may sojourn, to join on
Thursday, the 28th day of this month of November, in
appropriate ascription of praise and thanks to God for the
good gifts that have been our portion and in humble prayer
that His great mercies toward us may endure.
It's worth noting that William Howard Taft was the only person in
American history to have been elected to Congress, to have been elected
President of the United States, and after making these official
proclamations every year as President of the United States, where he
officially chided Americans to thank God for our blessings, he then
became Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. He is the only one in our
history to have been in Congress, President, and on the Supreme Court,
and in his case, he was actually Chief Justice. He never failed to
thank God officially, publicly, as President of the United States.
Woodrow Wilson, October of 1913, officially proclaimed this:
The season is at hand in which it has been our long
respected custom as a people to turn in praise and
thanksgiving to Almighty God for His manifold mercies and
blessings to us as a Nation. The year that has just passed
has been marked in a peculiar degree by manifestations of His
gracious and beneficent providence . . . We have seen the
practical completion of a great work at the Isthmus of
Panama, which not only exemplifies the Nation's abundant
resources to accomplish what it will and the distinguished
[[Page H6424]]
skill and capacity of its public servants, but also promises
the beginning of a new age, of new contacts, new
neighborhoods, new sympathies, new bonds, and new
achievements of cooperation and peace.
Then Woodrow Wilson put these words in quotes as he quoted from the
Holy Bible, ``Righteousness exalteth a Nation.'' Then Wilson put in
quotes, ``Peace upon Earth, good will towards men,'' which is also from
the Holy Bible, ``furnish the only foundations upon which can be built
the lasting achievements of the human spirit . . . Now, therefore, I,
Woodrow Wilson, President of the United States of America, do hereby
designate Thursday, the 27th of November next, as a day of thanksgiving
and prayer.''
Apparently, he didn't know to say ``a moment of silence.'' He, as
every President before him, commended a time to prayer and invited
``the people throughout the land to cease from their wonted occupations
and in their several homes and places of worship render thanks to
Almighty God.''
John F. Kennedy, October of 1961, officially proclaimed these words.
Having become President some 9 months earlier, this was President
Kennedy's first Thanksgiving proclamation:
The pilgrims, after a year of hardship and peril, humbly
and reverently set aside a special day upon which to give
thanks to God . . . I ask the head of each family to recount
to his children the story of the first New England
Thanksgiving, thus to impress upon future generations the
heritage of this Nation born in toil, in danger, in purpose,
and in the conviction that right and justice and freedom can,
through man's efforts, persevere and come to fruition with
the blessing of God.
This will be the next to last, Mr. Speaker. Yet it is important, just
as every President every year has proclaimed a day of thanksgiving to
God, to our eternal and omnipotent source of all blessing, so every
President has done it. President Obama has done it. It is just so
important. We see surveys done of schoolchildren in America--of high
school students, of college students. They're asked, To whom did the
original pilgrims give thanks? So many say the Indians, say each other,
and do not understand what has been part of our history since that
early Thanksgiving with the pilgrims when they set it aside to
celebrate with the Indians, in gratitude to the Indians; but the
purpose was a proclamation of thanksgiving by every heart to Almighty
God. As some try to rewrite our history, it must be said that, for the
Nation's whole history, each year was a proclamation of thanksgiving to
God.
It's even worth noting, Mr. Speaker, that here in the House Chamber--
where you and I are dwelling right now--above all the doors in the
gallery, it has the side profile of the greatest lawgivers in the
history of man. Some are sometimes surprised to see Napoleon, but he
gave us the Napoleonic Code. Louisiana still uses that as the basis of
its law. There are Popes who were considered great lawgivers of
mankind.
{time} 1310
Some have heard of Hammurabi. We have him up there. The Justinian
Code, he's up there. But the only one who is considered a great
lawgiver, who does not have a side profile is directly in front of you
and above you, Mr. Speaker, because he was considered the greatest
human lawgiver. He is faced as a full face, not a side profile, and
around which all the other great lawgivers as thought when this Chamber
was built, he was thought to be the greatest. He had 10 pretty good
ones apparently, and that is the face of Moses.
I was noting, as I listened in recent years, to oral argument before
the Supreme Court as lawyers argued, including my friend Ted Cruz, who
was arguing on behalf of the State of Texas. They were arguing as to
why Texas should be allowed to keep a monument on its State capitol
grounds to the Ten Commandments. It was combined with a case from
Kentucky as to whether or not Kentucky should be allowed to keep a
posting of the Ten Commandments publicly posted.
As I listened to this great oral debate before the Supreme Court on
whether or not there could be a calling out, a noting of the Ten
Commandments, and as I looked at the Court, I looked up on the marble
wall to my right. There, looking down on us, carved into the marble
wall was Moses holding two tablets with Hebrew written on the tablets.
I have been told by people who have gotten tours over there--one
individual said their official tour guide said Moses is holding the 10
Bill of Rights, but, Mr. Speaker, you and I know those were not the
Bill of Rights. Moses was holding and depicted as holding the Ten
Commandments. It has been a part of our history.
I want to close before we conclude here with the first Thanksgiving
proclamation since we had a Constitution. It was written in 1787. It
was ratified in 1789. As it says, as it is dated in the year of our
Lord, 1787, Washington had a Thanksgiving proclamation that he made
October 14, 1789. Mr. Speaker, I will conclude with this before
recessing for an official Thanksgiving, the first Thanksgiving
proclamation by the Father of our Country, George Washington.
Some have tried to rewrite history and say he was a deist. We know a
deist is one who thinks there is some force that set things in motion
and then lets nature take its course. They believe that if such deity
of such force still exists, such force never interferes with the ways
of nature or man. That's a deist.
George Washington was not a deist. His own words, official as they
were, make that very clear. His words, his official proclamation, given
the third day of October, A.D., 1789, Washington said:
Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the
providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful
for His benefits--
That means he is not a deist. He believed God provided this Nation
benefits.
Washington goes on to say:
--and humbly to implore His protection and favor; and whereas
both Houses of Congress have, by their joint committee,
requested me to recommend to the people of the United States
a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by
acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors
of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity
peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety
and happiness.
Now, therefore, I do recommend and assign Thursday, the
26th day of November next, to be devoted by the people of
these States to the service of that great and glorious Being
Who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that
is, or that will be; that we may then all unite in rendering
unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and
protection of the people of this country previous to their
becoming a nation; for the signal and manifold mercies and
the favorable interpositions of His providence in the course
and conclusion of the late war; for the great degree of
tranquility, union, and plenty which we have since enjoyed;
for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been
able to establish constitutions of government for our safety
and happiness, and particularly the national one now lately
instituted; for the civil and religious liberty with which we
are blessed, and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing
useful knowledge; and, in general, for all the great and
various favors which He has been pleased to confer upon us.
And also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our
prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of
Nations and beseech Him to pardon our national and other
transgressions; to enable us all, whether in public or
private stations, to perform our several and relative duties
properly and punctually; to render our national government a
blessing to all the people by constantly being a government
of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and
faithfully executed and obeyed; to protect and guide all
sovereigns and nations (especially such as have shown
kindness to us); and to bless them with good governments,
peace, and concord; to promote the knowledge and practice of
true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among
them and us; and, generally to grant unto all mankind such a
degree of temporal prosperity as He alone knows to be best.
George Washington's official Thanksgiving proclamation, October 14,
in the year of our Lord 1789.
And as we finish and recess for Thanksgiving, the official day this
year proclaimed by this year's President, President Barack Obama, I am,
Mr. Speaker, profoundly grateful and, as all these Presidents
mentioned, thankful to God for my blessing. I know they're not earned.
{time} 1320
There was nothing I ever did in the womb to deserve to be born in the
greatest country in history, but I was blessed because generations
before were blessed, and it is an honor to rise up and call them
blessed for the opportunities that were given us through their devotion
and thanksgiving and hard work and acknowledgment to God for our
blessings.
[[Page H6425]]
Mr. Speaker, I was blessed with an older sister, whom I love. I'm
blessed with two younger brothers, one who died a couple of years ago,
and for my youngest brother, Bill, whose birthday we'll celebrate
November 17 as a Baptist pastor and my friend.
With that, Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
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