[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 5]
[House]
[Pages 6099-6100]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         WILLIAM BARRETT TRAVIS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Poe) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. POE of Texas. Madam Speaker, today is March the 2nd; and on March 
2, 1836, my native State, Texas, declared independence from Mexico.
  It all started back when Texas was a part of Mexico. Mexico revolted 
from the Spanish empire, won that revolution, and then Texas became a 
part of northern Mexico. And there was a constitutional republic in 
Mexico, it was the Constitution of 1824, drafted somewhat after the 
American Constitution. But things turned sour when a guy by the name of 
Santa Anna became dictator of Mexico, abolished the constitution, and 
eliminated civil rights. And people who lived in Texas, both white, 
brown and black, were offended by that, and so in 1835 revolution 
started in Texas, or northern Mexico. And on March 2, 1836, Texas 
declared independence from Mexico.
  It was an interesting time of the year because, you see, on March the 
second, there were already 187 volunteers in a beat-up old Spanish 
church not far from where Texas independence was declared, that being 
Washington on the Brazos. In that beat-up old Spanish church, a 
mission, it was called the Alamo. And those 187 volunteers from every 
State in the Union, from 13 foreign countries, including Mexico, of all 
races stood defiant against Santa Anna's invading Army of about 6,000 
that came in to quell the revolution.

                              {time}  1445

  We all know what happened at the Battle of the Alamo. For 13 days 
those 187 volunteers withheld the onslaught, and finally on March 6, 4 
days hence, the Alamo fell.
  The Alamo was commanded by my favorite person in all of history, 
William Barrett Travis. He was a 27-year-old lawyer from South 
Carolina, then Alabama, and then came to Texas. And one of his last 
letters from the Alamo pleading for other Texans to come to his help 
and help Texas' independence was written on February 24, 1836. It goes 
like this, Madam Speaker:
  ``To the people of the world and all of Texas, I am besieged by a 
thousand or more of the enemy under Santa Anna. I have sustained a 
continual bombardment and cannon fire for over 24 hours, but I have not 
lost a man. The enemy has demanded surrender at its discretion. 
Otherwise, the fort will be put to

[[Page 6100]]

the sword. I have answered that demand with a cannon shot. And the flag 
still waves proudly over the wall.
  ``I shall never surrender or retreat. I call upon you, in the name of 
liberty and everything dear to our character, to come to my aid with 
all dispatch. If this call is neglected, I am determined to sustain 
myself for as long as possible and do what is necessary for my honor 
and my country. Victory or death.
  ``God and Texas, William Barrett Travis.''
  That was one of the last letters he wrote, and except for 32 men from 
the small town of Gonzales, no one came to Travis's aid, and the Alamo 
fell on March 6, 1836. All 187 Texans were killed and about 10 times 
that number from the Mexican army fell as well.
  Texans started fleeing to the east to get away from the invading 
armies, and General Sam Houston was elected as the commander in chief 
to try to rally what Texans were left to do battle. And on April 21, 
1836, where Buffalo Bayou meets the San Jacinto River in what is now 
Houston, Texas, they did battle with Santa Anna's invading army. It 
took place in the afternoon on April 21. Madam Speaker, we all know 
that battles take place in the morning, but yet this battle took place 
in the afternoon. The outnumbered Texans caught Santa Anna's army 
sleeping, and in 18 minutes it was complete victory and Texas won its 
independence. It became a republic. It claimed not only Texas but part 
of Oklahoma, New Mexico, Kansas, Colorado, and Wyoming, all the way to 
the Canadian border. Texas remained an independent nation for 9 years. 
Then in 1845, it was allowed into the Union by one vote. Some wished 
the vote had gone the other way. But be that as it may, Texas was an 
independent republic for 9 years.
  And on this day, March the 2nd, we from Texas celebrate the Republic 
of Texas and Texas' independence and that spirit that gave all 
Americans what we have today: a free and independent Nation. And we 
also honor the likes of William Barrett Travis, Sam Houston, Davy 
Crockett, Jim Bonham, and Jim Bowie.
  And that's just the way it is.

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