[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 14]
[House]
[Pages 19602-19603]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         ATTACK ON PEARL HARBOR

  (Mr. McDERMOTT asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute.)
  Mr. McDERMOTT. Mr. Speaker, one of the darkest days in American 
history was December 8, 1941. Over 2,400 lives were lost in the attack 
on Pearl Harbor the previous day. Half our Navy was destroyed, and our 
allies in Europe were on the verge of collapse. It was a terrifying and 
uncertain time to be in the world.
  The world feels particularly dark these days, too. Things feel more 
uncertain. And for a country that enjoys the privilege of security, we 
might be forgiven for this growing anxiety. Fear makes it easy to be 
nervous and cynical.
  We allowed our baser instincts to get the better of us in this 
country, as we did in 1941. We translated the contagion of xenophobia 
into national policy with the internment of German and Japanese from my 
area in internment camps.
  We are hearing the same contemptible rhetoric today. It is 
dishonorable, it is false, and to believe it is to reject the 
fundamental truth that the American people are ultimately made of finer 
stuff than fear, blame, and prejudice.
  We will get through these troubles, Mr. Speaker. Nothing is above our

[[Page 19603]]

strength or our endurance as a nation so long as we have the grace and 
courage to remind ourselves on our darkest days of our essential values 
and responsibilities as a free and open people.

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