[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 110 (Thursday, June 24, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4752-S4753]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             FOURTH OF JULY

  Mr. LANKFORD. Madam President, I often come to this floor to be able 
to speak about news of the day, disagreements that we have, ways that 
we can solve a problem we have as a nation. Today, I come to tell a 
story.
  In 1774, an Englishman met Benjamin Franklin. They spent a lot of 
time together in conversations, and Franklin convinced this young 
sailor and writer and young friend to move to America, to move to his 
hometown, to Philadelphia. A few months later, 1774, he did.
  Franklin saw something in this young man that no one else saw. That 
Englishman who loved freedom and who saw the glaring injustice of the 
British Crown, 2 years later, on January 10, 1776, wrote a short 
pamphlet that changed the course of history.
  The man's name was Thomas Paine, and the short work that he wrote was 
called ``Common Sense.'' It was the first publication that declared we 
should call for independence for these 13 Colonies. It didn't include 
his name because if it included his name, it would have been a certain 
death warrant from the King, but it made the case for freedom for each 
person, for an elected government rather than a monarchy, and the case 
for religious liberty. In short, he made the case for the United States 
of America.
  He wrote these words:

       The cause of America is, in great measure, the cause of all 
     mankind. Many circumstances have, and will arise, which are 
     not local, but universal, and through which the principles of 
     all lovers of mankind are affected, and in the event of 
     which, their affections are interesting.

  He wrote about the rule of law and how that would be different than 
living under a monarchy, and he challenged the young colonists to be 
able to pursue more.
  He wrote:

       But where says some is the king of America? I'll tell you 
     Friend, he reigns above, and doth not make havoc of mankind 
     like the Royal Brute of Great Britain. Yet that we may not 
     appear to be defective even in earthly honors, let a day be 
     solemnly set apart for proclaiming the charter; let it be 
     brought forth placed on the divine law, the word of God; let 
     a crown be placed thereon, by which

[[Page S4753]]

     the world may know, that so far we may approve of monarchy, 
     that in America the law is king. For as in absolute 
     governments the king is law, so in free countries the law 
     ought to be king.

  He wrote:

       As to religion, I hold it to be the indispensable duty of 
     [every] government, to protect all conscientious professors 
     thereof, and I know of no other business which government 
     hath to do therewith.
       Suspicion is the companion of mean souls. . . .

  He wrote and he said:

       It affords us a larger field for our Christian kindness. 
     Were we all one way of thinking, our religious dispositions 
     would want matter for probation; and on this liberal 
     principle, I look to the various denominations among us, to 
     be like children of the same family, differing only, in what 
     is called, their Christian names.

  He shared a lot of great ideals in ``Common Sense.'' He challenged 
the colonists to dream of an America that would set the example for the 
world.
  Thomas Paine's ideas weren't all great, and we didn't accept all of 
his ideas. In fact, he wrote a long section in ``Common Sense'' saying 
that when we form our own Constitution, we should take these 13 
Colonies and we should elect a President and alternate among each 
State, so each State would, in turn, have a different President for the 
whole group. It is a fairly terrible idea that we never implemented. 
But this passion about the law being king, we did; this passion about 
religious liberty, we did; this passion that America would be an 
example to all mankind, we did.
  One hundred fifty thousand copies of ``Common Sense'' were printed. 
That is an enormous number for that time period. On that January day 
when the first printings of ``Common Sense'' started being passed 
around the Colonies, it fanned the flame of that spark of freedom in 
the hearts of the colonists.
  By June 11, 1776, Congress had appointed a committee of five to draft 
the Declaration: John Adams of Massachusetts, Benjamin Franklin of 
Pennsylvania, Thomas Jefferson of Virginia, Robert Livingston of New 
York, and Robert Sherman of Connecticut--by the way, I think two 
redheads in that group.
  The Declaration ended with this simple paragraph. We are familiar 
with that Declaration. It said:

       We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of 
     America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the 
     Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our 
     intentions, do, in the Name and by the Authority of the good 
     People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That 
     these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and 
     Independent States.

  It ended with this:

       And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm 
     reliance on the protection of the Divine Providence, we 
     mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and 
     our sacred Honor.

  And they gave their all. John Hart, one of the signers of the 
Declaration, from New Jersey, ended up hiding in the woods that 
December of 1776, just a few months later, while the Hessian soldiers 
hunted him across the countryside. He died before the war's end.
  Richard Stockton, also of New Jersey, wasn't so lucky. He was dragged 
from his bed, thrown into prison, and treated like a criminal. His home 
was looted, his fortune stripped away.
  Thomas Nelson of Virginia: He commanded the militia and served as a 
Governor during the Revolution. He had to instruct the artillerymen to 
fire at his own house when the British started using it as their 
headquarters. Nelson had used his personal credit to raise money for 
the cause. The Revolution left him in distress, and he was unable to 
ever recover what he had lost.
  Thomas Heyward, Arthur Middleton, and Edward Rutledge were three 
South Carolina signers who served in their State's militia and were 
captured when the British seized Charleston. They spent the rest of the 
time in prison. They pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their 
sacred honor.
  By that December, when all of this was going on to all of these 
signers of the Declaration, Thomas Paine wrote again, and this time, he 
wrote directly to the patriots serving with George Washington. In the 
freezing winter, on December 23, 1776, Thomas Paine wrote these words:

       These are the times that try men's souls; the summer 
     soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink 
     from the service of [their] country; but he that stands it 
     now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, 
     like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this 
     consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more 
     glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too 
     lightly: It is dearness only that gives every [living] thing 
     its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its 
     goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an 
     article as FREEDOM should not be highly rated.

  It is a good thing for us to be able to stop and reflect on these 
simple words: What we obtain too cheap we esteem too lightly. Sometimes 
I am afraid that, as we approach the Fourth of July each year, we will 
have forgotten the sacrifices of previous generations. In our time 
period and in this wealthy moment in our Nation's history, we seem to 
esteem too lightly what was obtained too cheaply, and we forget the 
great sacrifices of the past.
  Generation after generation of American history has set an example of 
how we have worked for a more perfect Union. Generation after 
generation has served each other and the children who have come after 
them so that they could have a better future. It is our generation's 
turn. The generation that I speak of could have never dreamed of the 
Capitol that stands on this hill. The generation that I speak of could 
have never dreamed of the 50 States that would cover this continent, 
but they did dream this, because it is in Thomas Paine's introduction: 
``The cause of America is in great measure the cause of all mankind.''
  This Fourth of July, we should recommit ourselves to the cause of 
freedom, the future of our Nation, and the service to our children and 
the children not yet born. We are still a great nation, conceived in 
liberty, born to greatness if we are willing to work and sacrifice and 
give for each other. No generation in the history of the world has 
inherited more than we have--no generation. We should not receive it 
too cheaply or hold it too lightly.
  Ironically, as I end my story of an Englishman who became a writer 
and the inspiration of a nation, I must tell you the end. Thomas Paine 
died a bitter and broken man. He remained a revolutionary in the fight. 
He could never stop searching for the next revolution. He went off to 
France to support the French Revolution and almost lost his head for 
it. He ended up in prison there. He came back to America and determined 
that George Washington wasn't as loyal as he was. He spent his last 
years writing against President Washington: that he was the real 
traitor and that he wasn't strong enough. He ended up dying alone, 
isolated, rejecting his faith--and a bitter man.
  My fellow Senators and fellow Americans, the war has been won. 
Freedom, that gift, has been passed on to us. Let's protect it. Let's 
cherish it. Let's pass it on.
  Each generation should be passionate about passing that on to the 
next generation. That is why, on this Fourth of July, it is not just a 
day off; it is not just a day to be at the mall; it is not just a great 
day to be at a lake--it is a great day to contemplate how you will 
serve our Nation in the days ahead in this generation and how you can 
pass on the freedom that we have to our children.
  Our Nation still needs people who will build on the foundation of 
liberty. We need writers and soldiers and farmers and moms and dads. We 
still need people who will run for city council and the school board, 
people who will pick up trash in the neighborhood, people who will 
march in a protest and then intentionally go love people and work for 
the reconciliation of broken relationships. We need people who will 
start new businesses, give to nonprofits, get involved in their 
churches, and love their neighbors as themselves.
  We are free, but as the Bible says in 1 Peter 2, we should live as 
free people but not use our freedom as a coverup for evil.
  Those of us who have freedom should help others to live in the same 
freedom we have and to serve with joy. That is the legacy that was 
passed on to us. That is the legacy we should pass down.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Alaska

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