[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 121 (Wednesday, July 30, 2014)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5124-S5125]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     CAMPOBELLO INTERNATIONAL PARK

  Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President. I wish to commemorate the 50th 
anniversary of Roosevelt Campobello International Park. This beautiful 
and historic park preserves the summer home that Franklin Delano 
Roosevelt enjoyed both as a boy and as president. It was established by 
treaty between the United States and Canada and is the only memorial to 
an American president on Canadian soil.
  The 2,800-acre park on Campobello Island, New Brunswick, was opened 
on August 20, 1964, by Canadian Prime Minister Lester Pearson and 
American President Lyndon Johnson. It is jointly owned and managed by 
both countries and is a beautiful and historic testament to a legacy of 
friendship. Like all true friendships, the friendship commemorated at 
Roosevelt Campobello International Park is based not upon expedience or 
self-interest, but upon shared values.
  It is a legacy of friendship between two men: one of America's 
greatest presidents and one of Canada's greatest prime ministers. 
Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Mackenzie King could not have been more 
dissimilar in personality--one gregarious and outgoing, the other 
reticent and intensely private--yet they saw beyond the superficial 
traits and into the depths of character. Together, they led their 
nations out of the Great Depression. Together, they led their nations 
through the Second World War and made North America the arsenal of 
democracy so crucial to victory. Although only one lived to see the 
peace, together they forged an alliance that has allowed that peace to 
endure.
  It is a legacy of friendship between two communities. By land, 
Campobello Island is accessible only from Lubec, ME, our Nation's 
easternmost town, via the FDR Memorial Bridge, itself a stunning 
example of international cooperation and friendship. The people of 
eastern Maine and western New Brunswick share a past, a present, and 
the future. They are bound together by a rugged yet rewarding way of 
life, by personal and family ties, by commerce and by mutual 
assistance. They earn their livelihoods from the land and from the sea, 
and they care for this special place so that those livelihoods may 
continue for generations to come.
  It was at Campobello, his ``beloved island,'' that young Franklin 
Roosevelt learned to guide a sailboat through the challenging Lubec 
Narrows and developed the inner strength and self-reliance that enabled 
him to meet any challenge. Among the proud and determined people on 
both shores of the narrows, he felt the power of committed individuals 
working together in common cause.
  In 1933, during his first return visit as President, with First Lady 
Eleanor at his side, FDR recalled his happy childhood memories and 
again thanked the islanders who taught him to sail. Then, in words that 
still ring true today, he described the region as, ``The finest example 
of friendship between Nations--permanent friendship between nations--
that we can possibly have.''
  The United States and Canada share the world's longest undefended 
border, a common history and culture. In trade, we are each other's 
best customers. We are, as one of the park's permanent exhibits 
declares, ``Good Neighbours--Best Friends.''
  George Washington wrote that, ``True friendship is a plant of slow 
growth, and must undergo and withstand the shocks of adversity.'' The 
friendship between the United States and Canada is the hardiest of 
plants with the deepest of roots. The adversities are but minor shocks; 
they are no match for the values of freedom, human rights and the rule 
of law that bind us together.
  Those values are the foundation of this legacy, and they are our 
guarantee that this friendship will endure. They are what make the 50th 
anniversary of Roosevelt Campobello International Park an event so 
worthy of celebration.

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