[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 10]
[House]
[Page 15173]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                FIGHTING ON BEHALF OF THIS GREAT COUNTRY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
North Carolina (Mr. Meadows) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. MEADOWS. Mr. Speaker, I come here today to speak from the heart 
of a true story that's happening really right now in my district. It's 
a story of an innkeeper, Bruce O'Connell, who's operated the Pisgah Inn 
since 1979. It's an inn on the Blue Ridge Parkway, and that inn has 
been operated really at no cost to the Federal Government for years and 
years and years. In fact, as he operates it, he sends money to the 
Federal Government. So this government shutdown shouldn't have anything 
to do with the Pisgah Inn. The Blue Ridge Parkway is open for business. 
It continues to allow cars to go both ways on the parkway. But yet what 
we see is under the direction of this administration, the edict has 
come out to close the inn down.
  Yesterday, they had to close it down at 6 clock. So I got a call this 
morning from Bruce, and he says Congressman Meadows, I just want to let 
you know that I'm going to open my inn back up.
  Now I expected to hear all kinds of just heartfelt hurt and concern 
from Bruce. But what he said is that you're fighting for the right 
thing. You're fighting for our future. You're fighting for our 
children. You're fighting for our grandchildren. And I'm going to open 
back up knowing that the cost of this particular thing may cost me a 
business that I've had for many, many years. But you know, Congressman 
Meadows, it is the right thing to do, that we must stand together and 
fight. We must make sure that what we do is, our voice is heard. So I 
want to say thank you to a patriot who is willing, at great cost to 
himself, stand and fight for what he knows is right.
  And I'm going to close with this because this fight is not a new 
story. On the back of the Delaware quarter is a horse and rider. Many 
people think it's Paul Revere, but indeed it is not. It is an unknown 
or little-known patriot by the name of Caesar Rodney. His statue is in 
this very building. It's on the back of a quarter commemorating what he 
did because, actually, he got on a horse when the founding of our 
Nation was there, he got on a horse and rode through the night, through 
driving storms, to arrive in Philadelphia to cast the deciding vote 
that created this great country.
  Now why do I share this story? Because across his face was a green 
scarf that covered a cancer that could be best operated on back in 
England. So he knew that by signing that document, he potentially was 
signing his death warrant.
  It is that kind of patriotism, Mr. Speaker, that we are seeing day in 
and day out. It is exemplified by the men and women across this 
country--World War II veterans who have come in and crossed a 
barricade. They fought, and many patriots died, for the cause of 
freedom. And I just want to say thank you to the patriots across this 
great land that are standing up to fight on behalf of this great 
country.

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