[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 52 (Monday, April 13, 2015)]
[House]
[Page H2131]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            THOMAS JEFFERSON

  (Mr. CULBERSON asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. CULBERSON. Mr. Speaker, today, April 13, marks the birthday of 
Thomas Jefferson--America's third President and one of our greatest--
who was responsible in so many ways for the creation of this great 
Nation.
  Thomas Jefferson said on his very simple tombstone at Monticello that 
he was the author of the American Declaration of Independence, the 
author of the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, and the father of 
the University of Virginia--those things that, in his mind, he had done 
for the United States rather than those things that the people of the 
United States had done for him.
  Thomas Jefferson always felt that his greatest achievement throughout 
his life was the preservation of the American Republic--our system of 
separation of powers, of checks and balances. Above all, he believed 
very strongly in, all power not given to the Federal Government is 
reserved to the States and the people respectively.
  That great, good man was born on this day, April 13, 1743, and I hope 
that the Congress of the United States and the people of the United 
States will continue to honor his legacy by preserving and protecting 
this great inheritance, the American Republic, with its separation of 
powers and its recognition that all power is reserved to the States or 
to the people respectively.

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