[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 62 (Tuesday, April 17, 2018)]
[House]
[Page H3352]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      SAVE A MAJESTIC SHIP FROM SINKING INTO THE DEPTHS OF HISTORY

  (Mr. POE of Texas asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, the first board of her keel landed on 
the dockyard with a loud thump.
  It was 107 years ago today, April 17, 1911. One year later, she 
sailed smoothly into Newport News, Virginia, harbor, christened the USS 
Texas, BB-35. She was commissioned and saw immediate action in World 
War I. The Texas made numerous voyages to the North Sea, serving the 
country and our State of Texas.
  Upon formal entry into World War II, the battleship Texas escorted 
war convoys across the Atlantic, was the flagship on D-day, and saw 
action in the Pacific as well. She was decommissioned in 1948.
  Texas schoolchildren saved their nickels to bring the ship home to 
Texas. She is now moored in La Porte, Texas. But now after serving our 
great Nation, Texas is in danger of being scrapped for parts, a fate 
unfitting for the majestic ship that served our country.
  To prevent this, the State of Texas and Congress must band together 
and work to save the battleship Texas from sinking into the depths of 
history.
  And that is just the way it is.

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