[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 5]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 7561-7562]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                THEY GOT TO TEXAS AS FAST AS THEY COULD

                                 ______
                                 

                              HON. TED POE

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, May 22, 2013

  Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, from the establishment of our great 
State, people have traveled from all over the world to come to Texas 
either to live, to work or to visit. Before Texas was a state, some 
even came to fight for us. Many of the soldiers that fought in the 
battle at the Alamo were from different states and even a few 
countries. The diversity of people that have traveled to the state 
since the 1800's has contributed to its vast culture. That has made 
Texas what it is today.
  Today, Texas' diversity is expansive and includes the contributions 
of many different cultures that help make Texas' own culture that much 
more unique. From the numerous Vietnamese Pho restaurants in downtown 
Houston to the German Karbach Brewery in North Houston, the global 
influence on Houston's culture is immense.
  The Houston Chronicle recently reported about a Houston historian who 
focused on determining how streets in Houston-area communities received 
their names. Many settlers provided the names for not only cities and 
counties but for streets in local communities

[[Page 7562]]

as well. Spring Branch, a community in the Second Congressional 
District of Texas, had several streets named after early immigrant 
settlers from Germany. Most of the early settlers were German farmers 
who came to the United States in pursuit of prosperity and to have land 
to farm. The City of Houston was named after the great Sam Houston, who 
was of Scots-Irish descent and originally from Virginia. The county 
that encompasses Houston, Harris County, was named after John 
Richardson Harris, a settler who came to Texas from New York by way of 
Missouri.
  As the saying goes, if you weren't born in Texas, you got there as 
fast as you could.
  People from around the world continue to hang a ``Gone to Texas'' 
sign on their front door. Our Texas pride comes from our rich history, 
a history that was built by the contributions of many local heroes and 
leaders who simply got to Texas as fast as they could. And that's just 
the way it is.

                          ____________________