[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 9]
[Senate]
[Page 13212]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         WEST VIRGINIA DAY 2008

  Mr. ROCKEFELLER. Mr. President, as a Senator from West Virginia, I 
wish to pay tribute to our State on the commemoration of our admittance 
into the Union on this day in 1863--and to honor the nearly 2 million 
people who are proud to call it home.
  When people think of West Virginia their thoughts turn to our 
mountains, our rolling green hills, and rivers. It is a place of 
immense natural beauty and scenic wonders. Still others may think of 
our most abundant natural resource, coal, or even our steel. Every 
fall, many college sports fans turn their thoughts to our incredible 
football teams.
  West Virginia, without question, is all of these things. But what 
truly sets us apart from other places is our people. West Virginians 
are the hardest working, nicest people you all ever have the chance to 
meet. They are the reason that so many people choose to come back again 
and again to our State. They are real people who possess an abundant 
spirit of hope, optimism, and authenticity. More than anything else, 
they are the heart and soul of our great State.
  So it seems only fitting on this West Virginia Day that we pause for 
a few moments and think about the lasting contributions that our coal 
miners, steel workers, teachers, public servants, and next door 
neighbors have made not just on our State, but on our Nation.
  West Virginia is rooted in rich culture. Our Appalachian heritage is 
immortalized in song and prose. It is a place where the pioneering 
spirit is still alive and well. Our communities are not just bound 
together by ZIP Codes but in sharing responsibility to care for and 
look out for each other. We are still a place where neighbor helping 
neighbor is a way of life, and our children are raised to honor their 
family and to love our country.
  West Virginia is place where values such as compassion, self-
reliance, loyalty, love, unselfishness, and faith are both timely and 
timeless.
  This is the West Virginia that embraced me and later my family. These 
are the people who helped to give me a true sense of purpose and shape 
me deep into my core.
  This Senator is incredibly proud of our coal miners that do the 
hardwork of mining the coal that provides the Nation with its 
electricity and of our steel workers who forged the tracks for our 
Nation's railroads, the girders for our skyscrapers, and the bridges 
that span the country; I am proud of those West Virginians who are now 
building planes, trucks, and doing cutting-edge research into disease 
prevention and biometrics; of those West Virginians who have dedicated 
themselves to be our communities' guardians as first-responders, or in 
the National Guard; and of those in our State who have entered into 
public service--especially our teachers--and of those rural health care 
professionals who provide essential and life-saving services to some of 
our most vulnerable.
  And of course, our entire State is tremendously proud of those West 
Virginians who have earned the honored title of veteran.
  Emblazoned on our State flag is our motto, ``Mountaineers Are Always 
Free.'' It is in that spirit that West Virginians have always answered 
the call of duty in our country's time of need.
  Earlier this week, the Senate honored Frank Buckles, the last 
surviving solider from World War I, who now lives in Charles Town. As a 
teenager, he went to war to defeat the Kaiser, and he was imprisoned by 
the Japanese for 3\1/2\. He is truly a living legend, a touchstone to 
our past, and we are so proud to have him in WV.
  West Virginia's sons and daughters have fought on the Korean 
peninsula, in the jungles of Vietnam, the mountains of Afghanistan, and 
the desert of Iraq--and in conflicts in between.
  We always have a special place in our heart for our Gold Star 
Mothers--and for those who gave their last full measure of devotion and 
now rest in fields that were once made infamous by war.
  I could go on and say many more flattering things about our beloved 
State, our people, and our future, but as West Virginians we know that 
we are truly blessed. Perhaps that is why humility is one of our 
greatest virtues, because we know that no matter what challenges we 
face, as a State we will stand together, harness our ``can-do'' spirit, 
and overcome them. That is what we do. We are fighters, in every sense 
of the word.

                          ____________________