[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 2]
[Senate]
[Pages 1894-1895]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




              THE ABRAHAM LINCOLN BICENTENNIAL CELEBRATION

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, today on February 12, America 
celebrates the birthday of the greatest leader our country has ever 
produced. And my home State of Kentucky has a front-row seat in the 
celebration.
  Abraham Lincoln was born February 12, 1809, in a log cabin 3 miles 
south of Hodgenville, KY. The one-room cabin measured 16 by 18 feet, 
had a dirt floor, and no glass in the windows.
  The future President was born with no advantages in life except for a 
strong curiosity and a sterling character. By the end of his life, this 
man of humble background had united our country by demonstrating 
leadership during America's time of greatest crisis, and he showed our 
country the true value of the Declaration of Independence by asserting 
that there must be no exceptions to the ideal that all men are created 
equal.
  Two centuries later, America looks back with gratitude at our 16th 
President by celebrating the Lincoln Bicentennial. The Commonwealth of 
Kentucky can take special pride in the fact that Lincoln was one of our 
own, and the Lincoln Bicentennial's opening ceremonies will take place 
in Hodgenville. So begins a 2-year event celebrating the great 
emancipator's life and legacy. All across the country, from the State 
capital in Springfield, IL, where Lincoln served as a legislator, to 
here in Washington, DC, where Lincoln served as a wartime Commander in 
Chief, Americans will celebrate this important figure in our national 
story.
  This time will be exciting for teachers, students, and any adult who 
loves American history. I know Kentucky's friendly neighbors to the 
north in Illinois often claim Lincoln as their own. Their license 
plates even say so. But Lincoln was born and spent his formative years 
in Kentucky, which surely must have shaped the man he became,

[[Page 1895]]

and he would never have denied his Kentuckian heritage.
  In fact, in 1861, as he traveled east to Washington to begin his term 
as President, Lincoln wrote a speech that he intended to deliver in 
Kentucky but never got a chance to do. In it, he crafted these words: 
``Gentlemen, I too, am a Kentuckian.''
  So it is appropriate that the Lincoln Bicentennial celebration begins 
in the same State that the man himself did. I hope every Kentuckian and 
every American will take advantage of this opportunity to explore this 
exciting chapter in American history.
  I yield the floor.

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