[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 39 (Tuesday, March 2, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Page S973]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                         Texas Independence Day

  Mr. CRUZ. Mr. President, I rise today to commemorate Texas 
Independence Day. One hundred and eighty-five years ago today, on March 
2, 1836, the Republic of Texas declared our independence from the 
nation of Mexico. Fifty-nine delegates who adopted the Texas 
Declaration of Independence on that day gathered at Washington-on-the-
Brazos. The delegates adopted a declaration, modeled in significant 
parts after the Declaration of Independence of the United States.
  The declaration decried the arbitrary acts of oppression and tyranny 
from the Mexican Government under the dictator General Santa Anna. In 
particular, it noted that that government had ``ceased to protect the 
lives, liberty, and property of the people from whom its legitimate 
powers are derived.'' And the Texans signing that declaration sought to 
protect their rights of free speech, their rights to keep and bear 
arms, and their rights of freedom of religion.
  Signing that declaration commenced the Texas Revolution, our battle 
for independence, where we won independence from the nation of Mexico. 
And for 9 years, the State of Texas became the Republic of Texas, an 
independent nation. That, of course, ceased in 1845, when we joined the 
United States. And today, we celebrate that spirit of independence that 
is still found throughout all 29 million Texans