[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 11]
[Senate]
[Pages 14845-14846]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       A WEEKEND OF CELEBRATIONS

  Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, there are two other issues I wish to 
quickly mention. It has to do with important holidays that occur this 
weekend. Sandwiched between Memorial weekend and the Fourth of July, 
Flag Day often gets overlooked. Believed to have been started in 1885 
by a Wisconsin schoolteacher, the purpose of Flag Day, June 14, is to 
celebrate the birthday of the American flag. It gives us all the 
opportunity to reflect on the great Nation that the American flag 
symbolizes.
  The American flag is recognized worldwide as a symbol of democracy 
and freedom. It is the flag which leads us in every American battle and 
many struggles of freedom in foreign lands. It flies over our Capitol 
Building. It is unfurled at public events, large and small. It even 
flies on the face of the Moon.
  I encourage my fellow citizens to pause tomorrow evening at 7 p.m. 
and join in the annual recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance. The 
first pledge we make, after all, is to that Flag of the United States 
of America.
  Also this weekend we celebrate Father's Day. All across the country 
families will be honoring their dads with special dinners, handmade 
gifts, and probably goofy ties for one or two dads across the country, 
and rightly so. Every day we learn more and more about how vital 
fathers are to the well-being of their families, and especially their 
children.
  Children with involved loving fathers, as compared to children 
without fathers, are more likely to do well in school, to have a 
healthy self-esteem, to show empathy, to avoid drug use, to avoid 
truancy, and to avoid criminal activity.
  The National Fatherhood Initiative, a nonprofit organization devoted 
to promoting responsible fatherhood, reports that today's fathers are 
present in their children's lives more than ever.
  The phenomenon of father absence has stopped growing. Dads in two-
parent families are spending more time with their children than fathers 
did a generation ago. What is more, these fathers seem to be more 
active and more nurturing. Indeed, that is progress.
  Perhaps even more heartening is the large number of national surveys 
which find that young men identify fatherhood and family time as a 
major priority. Indeed, that is great news.
  On Saturday, let us salute our flag and, on Sunday, America's dads. 
From a grateful Nation, happy Flag Day and happy Father's Day.

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