American Heritage
AMERICAN HERITAGE -- (House of Representatives - February 28, 2006)
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Mrs. SCHMIDT. Thank you so much.
Tonight, I really want to talk about what I believe freedom is all about. As we sit in this beautiful Chamber, we must be mindful that we are the luckiest people in the world to live in the greatest Nation in the universe.
So I stand here tonight on the floor of this great Chamber like thousands of Representatives before me as living proof that democracy works. I share the same love for my country as my 37 predecessors from the Ohio Second Congressional District. I am the 38th Member of Congress from my district and the first woman. And I may be the first to wear high heels, but I am not alone in my support of this great country and for all that it stands.
Our country was founded on the principles of freedom: freedom to pursue life, liberty and happiness; freedom to bear arms; freedom to voice your opinion in the market square, or in this very Chamber; freedom to print what you decide to be printed is fit to be printed.
Freedom is a wonderful thing. It is an infectious thing. Millions of the oppressed around the world yearn for this very thing called freedom: free from oppression, free from terror, free from tyranny. Freedom is a powerful drink. It spills 1 million people into the streets of downtown Beirut demanding to be free from the rule of Syria and its dictator. It causes men to take up arms against their oppressors on the streets of Baghdad and Kabul. Just the dream of freedom caused men and women to risk their lives by organizing opposition in places like Beijing and Havana.
Far too often we Americans take our freedom for granted. We forget about the heroes before us that gave us this right, this privilege, this ability.
Thomas Jefferson said, ``The price of freedom is eternal vigilance.'' He knew, even as freedom was being brought to our new country, that our very freedom would be constantly at risk.
``Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it,'' said Thomas Paine. As we stand here tonight, the Official Truth Squad, surrounded by the glorious testament of our democracy and freedom, we must be mindful, mindful that democracy is on the march, mindful that 50 million people are newly free thanks to our efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Let me repeat that. Fifty million people have the same opportunity that we have to taste and drink freedom, but most importantly, mindful that much more needs to be done. Tonight, the oppressed are dying at the hands of evil in far too many places around the world, in the camps of Darfur, in the jails of Havana, in political prisons in Asia.
Dwight David Eisenhower once said, ``History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid. We did not chose to lead this fight, history has chosen us. Only we have the power needed to spread freedom. We indeed have been given the responsibility.''
Our forefathers knew that when they were participating in this grand experiment so many years ago. We have been handed that torch. History will judge not what we say, but what we do.
I am honored to be here tonight to speak about this very important principle, because if we do not continue to lead this march, someone will come and take that torch from us.
Thank you for giving me this opportunity to speak my mind in the greatest Nation, in the greatest chamber.
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