[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 15]
[House]
[Page 21160]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       CHRISTMAS IN ATHENS, TEXAS

  (Mr. POE of Texas asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute.)
  Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, in the piney woods of east Texas, the 
small town of Athens in Henderson County is getting ready for the 
holidays. A group of local volunteers with Keep Athens Beautiful has 
placed a nativity scene on the far corner of the courthouse square. It 
has been there for the last 10 years with no complaints from residents.
  But a group of out-of-towners, not from Athens, not even from Texas, 
but from a thousand miles away in Wisconsin, have self-righteously 
objected to the nativity scene. The antireligious hate group demands 
baby Jesus be evicted from the courthouse lawn.
  The county judge politely said no local citizen has complained about 
the scene, and he really doesn't care what somebody from Wisconsin 
thinks. He even invited other religious groups to use the courthouse 
square, but no one has asked to do so.
  The county officials don't appear to be succumbing to the 
intimidation tactics of the bigoted group that wants to censor 
religion. County commissioner Joe Hall made it clear: ``We will remove 
the nativity scene when hell freezes over. It's not going anywhere.''
  And that's just the way it is.

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