[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 11]
[House]
[Page 14871]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          HOPE IN THE DARKNESS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Franks) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. FRANKS of Arizona. Mr. Speaker, I stand on the floor of this 
House tonight with great hope in my heart for the future of this 
country, because even a cursory survey of America's history should 
impart hope to all of us.
  By the time the 1860s had come to America, the world had marked 7,000 
years of powerful societies enslaving their fellow human beings. Sadly, 
Mr. Speaker, this was also true of America. However, this country was 
never truly at peace in her heart with the hellish institution of 
slavery.
  So it was that slaves began to earnestly pray in America for God to 
intervene. Mr. Speaker, it seems that God sent them Abraham Lincoln, a 
man who understood the true meaning of those magnificent words: ``We 
hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal 
and endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, and among 
these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.''
  Mr. Speaker, our Founding Fathers wrote those words down for us 
because they did not want us to forget their true meaning or to 
otherwise fall prey to those who would deliberately destroy it. This 
has always been the preeminent reason why we write down documents or 
agreements or declarations or, Mr. Speaker, constitutions in the first 
place, to preserve their original meaning and intent.
  When the smoke of a horrible Civil War finally drifted from the air, 
7,000 years of the world accepting the unrequited toil and misery of 
human slavery was over. The prayer of slaves had been answered, and the 
United States of America began to emerge as the true flagship of human 
freedom in the world.
  But only 100 years later, we began to stray from that path. We began 
to think only of ourselves; and in 1973, Roe v. Wade was handed down by 
the U.S. Supreme Court and brought wholesale abortion-on-demand to the 
land of the free, and a veil of darkness fell upon America.
  In that darkness we heard, but disregarded, the mortal cry of one 
little baby in the womb, and then another, and even another was heard, 
until that sound had become the soul-wrenching cry of tens of millions. 
And we found ourselves and our national conscience disoriented and 
awash in the blood of our own children. Millions of prayers called out 
for yet another leader to remind us of those forever words that speak 
the divine message of human dignity: all men, all men are created 
equal.
  Mr. Speaker, from the time we are conceived, all human beings are 
created equal. We do not become equal when we reach a certain age or 
status. This is America's creed. This is our foundation. And how 
grateful we should all be that our Founding Fathers wrote those words 
down, and how desperate our commitment should be to remember what they 
mean.

                              {time}  2300

  And now that test has come upon us, for there is soon an opportunity 
for the President of the United States to nominate individuals to the 
Supreme Court who understand that all men are created equal. And Mr. 
Speaker, I believe in my soul that this President truly understands 
those words. Indeed, it is his commitment to their meaning that has 
given him the courage to stand resolutely against terrorists to protect 
innocent human life. But this president and each one of us must never 
forget that Roe vs. Wade has taken more than 15,000 times the number of 
lives lost on that tragic day on September 11. And we now live in a 
time when there is a glimmer of light breaking on the road before us. 
But the curve just ahead, Mr. Speaker, is sharp, and to miss it may be 
to forever plunge into that darkness. And the voice of destiny calls to 
this president, to our president and to all of us in these decisive 
days to steel our hearts and to ask anew, is it still true in America 
that all men are created equal?
  Mr. Speaker, our legacy to future generations and the survival of 
human freedom in the world will depend upon our answer.
  May God bless America and may God bless President George W. Bush.

                          ____________________