[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 187 (Thursday, November 21, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Page S6729]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                              Thanksgiving

  Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, first, let me thank my friend from 
South Dakota for his wonderful words on Thanksgiving.
  I was going to conclude with Thanksgiving, but I will start with it. 
It is a great holiday. It is a great American holiday. I love it, and 
my family loves it. I was born on Thanksgiving Day. My new grandson was 
born on November 24, so he will have birthdays on Thanksgiving as well. 
This year, for the first time, the Schumers will celebrate with four 
generations, because my parents, who also served in the Army Air Force 
in World War II--my dad, 96, and my mom, 91--will be there with their 
little great-grandson, Noah. We are blessed.
  Thanksgiving is family and food. What could be better than that? They 
are two great parts of the holiday. I will not carve the turkey like 
Thune does because it would get all screwed up, but I can dole out the 
mashed potatoes--I am good at that--which is probably what they will 
have me do. It is a great holiday, and we do have a great deal to thank 
God and the country for.
  The wonderful thing about Thanksgiving is, from its origins during 
the Civil War--one of the worst, most horrible times in America, with 
so much death and mayhem and division--people were still grateful for 
America, and we are today. It is an amazing place. My father was an 
exterminator, and I am a U.S. Senator. What an amazing country this is, 
and we should never stop trying to make it better. I try to do that 
every day. I am thankful that I live in a country in which you can try 
to make it better.
  I am thankful for many, many things--family, with our new addition 
this year. Iris and I are so happy about that. We have great kids and a 
great daughter-in-law and son-in-law. There is just a lot to be 
thankful for, and it is nice to take a pause, amidst all the fighting 
and partisanship here, to be grateful.