[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 172 (Wednesday, October 30, 2019)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1376]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  COMMEMORATING TREE PLANTING IN HONOR OF PRESIDENT THEODORE ROOSEVELT

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                          HON. J. FRENCH HILL

                              of arkansas

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, October 30, 2019

  Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Madam Speaker, I rise today to commemorate the 
tree I was able to plant this morning on U.S. Capitol grounds in honor 
of President Theodore Roosevelt and his important influence on 
conservation.
  Republicans quote him. Democrats quote him. He's on Mount Rushmore. 
He left a legacy of having written more than thirty-five books, 150,000 
letters and countless articles.
  As president, he used his authority to establish 150 national 
forests, 51 federal bird reserves, four national game preserves, five 
national parks, 18 national monuments, and designated over 200 million 
acres as national forests, yet no tree here on the U.S. Capitol grounds 
honors our transformational 26th president.
  In 1907, Roosevelt penned a letter to school children in honor of 
Arbor Day, saying ``a people without children would face a hopeless 
future; a country without trees is almost as helpless.''
  A Greek proverb tells us that ``a society grows great when old men 
plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in.''
  It is my hope that our future youth and Capitol visitors will now 
enjoy the beauty and shade of this tree and that the important 
influence of President Roosevelt will continue well into the 22nd 
century and beyond.

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