[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 23]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 31837]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




        SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT ABOUT LOWE'S CHRISTMAS TREES

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                           HON. VIRGINIA FOXX

                           of north carolina

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, November 15, 2007

  Ms. FOXX. Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of Lowe's Home 
Improvement, a company that has long been a strong force of economic 
development and community involvement in North Carolina.
  It recently came to my attention that this week there was a bit of a 
kerfuffle over a misprint in Lowe's holiday catalog. Apparently the 
Christmas tree section of the catalogue had a misprint that labeled 
them ``family trees.''
  There was no small outcry from a number of concerned citizens who 
thought that Lowe's might be up to something here. Well, I want to set 
the record straight. After hearing from Lowe's myself I know that it 
was a simple printing error--a matter of a hiccup in the creative 
process.
  Lowe's was quick to apologize for the printing error and assured me 
that they were not out to alter the nomenclature of this fine Christmas 
tradition. As a former Christmas tree farmer I know how important it is 
to millions of Americans that a beautiful evergreen graces their living 
rooms each year as part of their celebration of this sacred season. At 
the same time, I also know that Lowe's was in no way attempting to 
undermine our celebrations of advent.
  I fully support every American's right to voice concerns over what 
many see as the steady march of secularism each Christmas season. But I 
want to assure them that Lowe's had no such intentions in mind. A 
printing error slipped through the cracks and the company has pledged 
to redouble its catalogue proofreading processes.
  A company spokesperson has even been quoted in the media explaining 
that the catalogue title was an error and was inconsistent with the 
company's long-standing practice of referring to its Christmas trees as 
``Christmas trees.'' This spokesperson said that Lowe's had intended to 
convey that family traditions often begin with a Christmas tree.
  I hope that now that the facts are out, we can all return to 
celebrating the birth of Christ this Christmas season, undistracted by 
this dust-up over a simple copyediting slipup.

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