[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 18]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 25135-25136]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




              IN RECOGNITION OF THE FLUSHING REMONSTRANCE

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. GARY L. ACKERMAN

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 20, 2007

  Mr. ACKERMAN. Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize and celebrate 
the 350th anniversary of the signing of the Flushing Remonstrance. 
Though sadly not as well known as some of our country's other founding 
documents, the Flushing Remonstrance's heroic call for religious 
freedom made this document fundamental to the establishment of our 
country as a land of religious liberty.
  On December 27, 1657, in Flushing, New Netherland, in the Borough of 
Queens, in New York City, 29 brave English citizens composed a document 
stating their unwillingness to tolerate or enforce an official mandate 
for religious persecution. These daring patriots rose in protest of 
Governor Peter Stuyvesant's call to persecute the area's new Quaker 
inhabitants, and affirmed their belief in the ``law of love, peace and 
liberty.''
  Madam Speaker, some of the signatories of the Remonstrance were 
imprisoned, and many suffered for their actions. Nevertheless, by 
standing up for their beliefs, they successfully initiated the fight 
for religious freedom in the

[[Page 25136]]

New World. We all owe the signers of the Flushing Remonstrance a debt 
of gratitude, as their appreciation of, and commitment to religious 
freedom has become the cornerstone of our democracy.
  Later this year, the Borough of Queens will celebrate the 350th 
anniversary of the Flushing Remonstrance with many descendants of the 
document's signatories. The original document will be transported from 
the State Archives in Albany, New York and will be on display at the 
Queens Borough Public Library, Flushing, during the official 
celebration.
  Madam Speaker, I ask all my colleagues to join me in recognizing the 
350th anniversary of the Flushing Remonstrance, a document that 
pioneered the right to religious freedom in America and throughout the 
world.

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