[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 117 (Friday, July 12, 2019)]
[House]
[Pages H5731-H5732]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        RECOGNIZING INDEPENDENCE DAY AND PRESERVATION OF FREEDOM

  (Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania asked and was given permission to 
address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. Madam Speaker, last week, my wife, 
Penny, and I honored those who make Independence Day possible by 
attending our son Logan's reenlistment and promotion to Army sergeant 
first class at Fort Drum, New York.
  This occasion reminded me that our independence relies upon the 
vigilance of our citizens and those who have fought to defend our 
freedoms.
  Regarding Independence Day, John Adams wrote to his wife, Abigail: 
``It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance by solemn acts 
of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and 
parade, with shews, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and 
illuminations from one end

[[Page H5732]]

of this continent to the other from this time forward forevermore.''
  Following the Constitutional Convention, Benjamin Franklin was asked 
what sort of government the delegates had created. Without hesitation, 
he responded, ``A republic, if you can keep it.''
  President Reagan aptly stated that freedom isn't something passed to 
our children in the bloodstream.
  Preserving our freedom is certainly a responsibility of this 
generation as any past.
  Madam Speaker, I commend those who continue to make these freedoms 
possible, and I look forward to a future where these freedoms will be 
defended for generations to come.

                          ____________________