[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 1]
[Senate]
[Page 1447]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




   SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 65--CELEBRATING THE BIRTH OF ABRAHAM 
LINCOLN AND RECOGNIZING THE PROMINENCE THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 
         PLAYED IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN'S BELIEFS

  Mr. DURBIN submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was 
referred to the Committee on the Judiciary:

                            S. Con. Res. 65

       Whereas Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United 
     States, was born of humble roots on February 12, 1809, in 
     Hardin County, Kentucky;
       Whereas Abraham Lincoln rose to political prominence as an 
     attorney with a reputation for fairness, honesty, and a 
     belief that all men are created equal and that they are 
     endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights;
       Whereas Abraham Lincoln was elected and served with 
     distinction in 1832 as a captain of an Illinois militia 
     company during the Black Hawk War;
       Whereas Abraham Lincoln was elected to the Illinois 
     legislature in 1834 from Sangamon County and was successively 
     reelected until 1840;
       Whereas Abraham Lincoln revered the Declaration of 
     Independence, forming the motivating moral and natural law 
     principle for his opposition to the spread of slavery to new 
     States entering the Union and to his belief in slavery's 
     ultimate demise;
       Whereas Abraham Lincoln was elected in 1846 to serve in the 
     United States House of Representatives, ably representing 
     central Illinois;
       Whereas Abraham Lincoln re-entered political life as a 
     reaction to the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act in 1854, 
     which he opposed;
       Whereas Abraham Lincoln expounded on his views of natural 
     rights during the series of debates with Stephen A. Douglas 
     in 1858, declaring in Charleston, Illinois that natural 
     rights were ``enumerated in the Declaration of Independence, 
     the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness'', 
     and these views brought Lincoln into national prominence;
       Whereas Abraham Lincoln, through a legacy of courage, 
     character, and patriotism, was elected to office as the 16th 
     President of the United States on November 6, 1860;
       Whereas Abraham Lincoln believed the Declaration of 
     Independence to be the anchor of American republicanism, 
     stating on February 22, 1861, during an address at 
     Independence Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania that, ``I 
     have never had a feeling politically that did not spring from 
     the sentiments embodied in the Declaration of Independence . 
     . . I have often inquired of myself, what great principle or 
     idea it was that kept this Confederacy so long together. It 
     was not the mere matter of separation of the Colonies from 
     the motherland; but that sentiment in the Declaration of 
     Independence which gave liberty, not alone to the people of 
     this country, but, I hope, to the world, for all future time. 
     It was that which gave promise that in due time the weight 
     would be lofted from the shoulders of men'';
       Whereas, upon taking office and being thrust into the midst 
     of the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln wrote the 
     Emancipation Proclamation, freeing all slaves in southern 
     States that seceded from the Union on January 1, 1863;
       Whereas, on November 19, 1863, Abraham Lincoln dedicated 
     the battlefield at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania with the 
     Gettysburg Address, which would later be known as his 
     greatest speech, that harkened back to the promises of the 
     Declaration of Independence in the first sentence: ``Four 
     score and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth, on this 
     continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated 
     to the proposition that all men are created equal'';
       Whereas Abraham Lincoln was reelected to the presidency on 
     November 8, 1864, by 55 percent of the popular vote;
       Whereas Abraham Lincoln gave the ultimate sacrifice for his 
     country, dying 6 weeks into his second term on April 15, 
     1865;
       Whereas the year 2009 will be the bicentennial anniversary 
     of the birth of Abraham Lincoln, and the United States will 
     observe 2 years of commemorations beginning February 12, 
     2008; and
       Whereas all Americans could benefit from studying the life 
     of Abraham Lincoln as a model of achieving the American Dream 
     through honesty, integrity, loyalty, and a lifetime of 
     education: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives 
     concurring), That Congress--
       (1) requests that the President issue a proclamation each 
     year recognizing the anniversary of the birth of President 
     Abraham Lincoln and calling upon the people of the United 
     States to observe such anniversary with appropriate 
     ceremonies and activities; and
       (2) encourages State and local governments and local 
     educational agencies to devote sufficient time to study and 
     appreciate the reverence and respect Abraham Lincoln had for 
     the significance and importance of the Declaration of 
     Independence in the development of American history, 
     jurisprudence, and the spread of freedom around the world.

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