[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 2]
[House]
[Page 2516]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




             BETTER TO DIE AS FREE MEN--THE ALAMO DEFENDERS

  (Mr. POE of Texas asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, in a beat up old Spanish mission 177 
years ago today, the sun rose in the mist for the last time on a small 
band of soldiers.
  The fiery group of 187 Texas volunteers stood defiant against 
Dictator Santa Anna and his invading Mexican Army of several thousand 
on this, the 13-day siege of the Alamo.
  They came from many States and many foreign countries. There were 11 
Tejanos--Texans of Spanish descent. Their names were Jim Bowie, Jim 
Bonham, David Crockett, and William Barret Travis. They were all killed 
on March 6, 1836, fighting for liberty over tyranny.
  Col. Travis was correct when he said that ``victory would be more 
costly for Santa Anna than defeat.'' Mexican losses were so huge that 
General Sam Houston had time to rally a Texas army and defeat the 
dictator, Santa Anna, on the plains of San Jacinto, on April 21, 1836.
  Texas became a free and independent nation, a republic.
  The guns and bugles are silent at the Alamo, but all freedom-loving 
people should thank the Good Lord that in history there are those who 
are willing to face overwhelming odds and die for freedom rather than 
to live under oppression and tyranny.
  And that's just the way it is.

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