Honoring the Life and Legacy of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Floor Speech
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Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Slaughter) who has been so gracious to me on so many occasions for yielding me this time.
Madam Speaker, first let me thank the gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Slaughter) and the gentlewoman from Missouri (Mrs. Emerson), the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Skelton) and the gentleman from New York (Mr. Sweeney) for introducing this resolution honoring President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
It is important for Members of this House to not only remember but to acknowledge his many accomplishments and his unique place in our history. The vast majority of Presidential scholars consider FDR to be one of our country's greatest Presidents. As we all know, FDR assumed the Presidency as this Nation confronted the Great Depression. His inspirational words of hope helped Americans get through some of the most difficult economic challenges in our history, and his bold leadership and creative policies ultimately led us out of the Great Depression.
He showed us then, and I think we should all remember this now, that government can be a force for good. It can be an instrument to empower and to help people.
For example, Social Security is one of FDR's greatest legacies. Today, Social Security provides half the income of 60 percent of our senior citizens. It is a program that keeps countless seniors from falling into poverty, the kind of devastating poverty that plagued so many before FDR's efforts. As we honor Franklin Delano Roosevelt's efforts today, we must recommit ourselves to protecting and strengthening Social Security. It can be there for our children and our grandchildren and our great-grandchildren.
After America was attacked at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, FDR and the Greatest Generation rose to the defense of our country by fighting against the Axis Powers. Millions of men and women were mobilized for our war effort.
These Americans came from small towns, large cities, regardless of race or class. They courageously defended our freedom. They sacrificed much, and our country's eternally grateful for their service.
It is particularly fitting that we honor FDR now because 2004 is the 60th anniversary of D-Day. In honoring FDR, we honor the young soldiers who stormed the beaches of France and turned the tide of World War II.
This is also the year that we will dedicate the World War II memorial on the Washington Mall.
Madam Speaker, I attend veterans events in my district all the time, and never is there a time when a World War II veteran does not come up to me and tell me how honored he was to serve under Franklin Delano Roosevelt. He was an extraordinary Commander in Chief.
Following FDR's death on April 12, 1945, plans were formulated to honor FDR on the dime. The chief proponent of placing FDR's likeness on the dime was then-U.S. Representative Clyde Doyle of California; and Madam Speaker, at this point, I will insert the text of a letter written by Representative Doyle to the U.S. Mint in the Congressional Record
May 3, 1945.
Re To have the likeness of our late President Franklin Delano Roosevelt placed on the dime.
DIRECTOR, BUREAU OF THE MINT,
Department of the Treasury,
Washington, DC.
MY DEAR FRIEND:
A few days ago I received from you in compliance with my request the listing of the relative place in our currency circulation of the first three coins. I note the dime is No. 3. Thank you for this information.
As we stated in asking you therefor, I had in mind that it would be proper to have the likeness of our great President, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, placed on the dime. I say "proper" for the following reasons, amongst others: First. The dime was made famous over the world because of the triumph by our great beloved President of great spirits, heart, mind, and soul over physical infirmities and handicaps. Second. It was made famous over the world because of the March of Dimes which was sponsored by him in order that the terrible disease of infantile paralysis might be eliminated in the experience of all mankind. The millions of dollars received has actually achieved a great deal in this worthy objective. Third. Other coins of our great Nation have had the likenesses of our great Presidents and citizens placed upon them. Fourth. The circulation of the dime, while No. 3 now in our Nation, is so rapidly increasing that it has become almost the most popular coin in business. Fifth. The dime has become a piece of money for which the average American has real affection because of the identity thereof with the March of Dimes.
The other most commonly used coins each have the head of a great American past President, to wit: The penny, Abraham Lincoln; the nickel, Thomas Jefferson; the quarter, George Washington. It would be very appropriate to have the replica of this great American on one side of the time and the replica of the Goddess of Liberty on the other side.
I do not purpose to offer a bill on the floor of the House in this regard, because I anticipate that a simpler and more efficient process of doing this timely act would be by your Department deciding so to do. If I am in error in this important thought, I shall appreciate your advising in the premise.
I will say, from the Eighteenth Congressional District of California, which I have the honor to represent, there come frequent and very large numbers of requests that this development in honor of this great American take place as promptly as possible.
If there is any reason why this cannot be done by you, kindly call my attention thereto by reply mail.
I have the honor to be,
Sincerely yours,
Clyde Doyle,
Member of Congress.
DIRECTOR, BUREAU OF THE MINT,
Department of the Treasury,
Washington, DC.
Put a diamond on every dime.
MY DEAR FRIEND:
You were good enough on May 1 to answer my inquiry of a few days before with reference to the circulation of the dime and other American coins. Thank you for the information.
On May 3 I briefly wrote you on the subject of my earlier phone communication to you. I see in my letter of May 3 that I did not there include a sixth item, which I had intended to do. So I do it now, and urge this sixth point to your attention as to why the dime should have placed on one side thereof, the likeness of our great President, Franklin Delano Roosevelt. It is as follows:
Sixth. A diamond on every dime. If this statement seems at all odd at first glance, I hope that upon reflection it will occur to you that it is most significant and indicative of the fact that the American people, by and large, thought of him in his lifetime and always will, as a genuine diamond. Genuine diamonds being what they are in fact and in the minds of people, I submit the phrase I am using as psychological strength and reason for putting into effect this suggestion.
Shortly after the death of our great leader, I had intended to file a bill to effectuate the purpose of my suggestion to you, but feeling it was a matter which should logically be put into effect by our agreements between the proper Government officials, rather than by congressional legislation; and that it should be put into effect long before congressional action might be concluded, I am going to make remarks and put them in the Congressional Record in the next day or two.
Another suggestion I have is that if you do put the likeness of this diamond of democracy on the dime, then there should be nationwide-yes, worldwide recognition of your doing so. It might be that an extra March of Dimes campaign be conducted to raise additional money for the infantile-paralysis program, or conduct other or additional appropriate national and even world recognition thereof.
I have the honor to be
Respectfully yours,
Clyde Doyle,
Member of Congress.
Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, as many people know, there is an effort underway by some of our colleagues to diminish FDR's legacy by taking his profile off the dime and replacing it with President Ronald Reagan's profile. I am not opposed to honoring President Reagan, who served our country with great distinction, but why in order to honor President Reagan must we dishonor President Roosevelt?
I would like to explain to my colleagues the reasons why FDR is on the dime. Having been paralyzed by infantile paralysis, polio, FDR was a long-time supporter of efforts to eradicate the disease. In 1938, he founded the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis, a national organization which raised funds to find a cure for polio.
The following year, comedian Eddie Cantor asked the Nation to mail dimes to the White House to help the foundation; and in one month, the White House received $85,000 in dimes. Cantor declared it a March of Dimes, and the name became the lasting moniker for the foundation.
The new FDR dime was issued on January 30, 1946, the date that would have been FDR's 64th birthday. In a broadcast kicking off the annual March of Dimes campaign on the same day, President Harry S. Truman declared: "The fight to conquer infantile paralysis is an unfinished task of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. It must and shall be carried to complete victory."
Madam Speaker, at this point, I include in the Congressional Record the March of Dimes statement against removing FDR's profile from the dime.
March of Dimes Strongly Opposes Removal of FDR From the Dime
The profile of President Franklin D. Roosevelt was placed on the dime in 1946 to memorialize his 4 term Presidency, his fight to find a vaccine to prevent polio, and the volunteer movement epitomized by the March of Dimes. For all these reasons, the March of Dimes strongly opposes efforts to remove FDR from the dime.
The Franklin D. Roosevelt dime commemorates a national movement that resulted in the eradication of polio from the United States and in the near future from the entire world. The efforts funded through the "March of Dimes" campaign initiated by Roosevelt provided care for the victims of polio while aggressively working to develop vaccines against it. This represented one of the first large-scale, nationwide biomedical initiatives, led by a charitable organization. It also helped make the volunteer movement an integral part of the fabric of American life.
In January 1938, alarmed by decades of worsening polio epidemics and the terrible toll the virus was taking on America's young, President Roosevelt established the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis. The National Foundation emphasized the nationwide significance and non-partisan character of the polio crusade. FDR believed that people could solve any problem if they worked together. Comedian Eddie Cantor coined the phrase "March of Dimes" (playing on the popular newsreel feature "The March of Time"), appealing to radio listeners all over the country to send their dimes directly to the White House. The campaign proved to be hugely successful with over 2.5 million dimes sent to the White House the first year. The National Foundation officially changed its name to the March of Dimes in 1979.
The FDR dime not only commemorates his presidency, but represents the American spirit of working together to help one another. The coin is symbolic of the struggle to end polio through the "March of Dimes" campaign and the worldwide eradication of polio is expected in 2005. The dime is a vehicle in which to explain what the volunteer spirit in America means, it would be a shame to lose that.
In response to the Reagan dime bill, I introduced H. Con. Res. 343, which expresses Congress's support for the FDR dime. It currently has 130 cosponsors. In fact, Nancy Reagan supports leaving FDR on the dime. Mrs. Reagan said, "While I can understand the intentions of those seeking to place my husband's face on the dime, I do not support this proposal, and I am certain Ronnie would not. When our country chooses to honor a great President such as FDR by placing his likeness on our currency, it would be wrong to replace him with another. It is my hope that this proposed legislation will be withdrawn."
I, at this point, would insert into the Congressional Record an editorial from the Gainesville Times on this issue.
Honor Reagan? Fine. Dishonor Roosevelt? No.
The latest lunacy to emanate from Congress needs to stop on a dime: literally.
Rep. Mark Souder, a Republican from Indiana, is miffed about the miniseries now airing on Showtime, a premium cable channel operated by CBS, on former President Ronald Reagan and his wife, Nancy. The miniseries portrays Reagan, who suffers from Alzheimer's, as a doddering, rather pathetic figure and his wife as a calculating, domineering manipulator.
Therefore, according to Souder's logic, Reagan should replace former President Franklin Delano Roosevelt on the dime.
Souder and other conservatives, inside and outside Congress, were outraged when CBS announced earlier this fall that it would air "The Reagans" on network TV. CBS backed off last month and sent the miniseries to Showtime, where it plays to much smaller audiences. That hardly mollified Souder and some of his colleagues in the House.
"It's what precipitated me introducing the bill ..... and why it was a lot easier to get a lot of support," Souder said of the miniseries, which he termed "vile" in a letter to colleagues in support of his proposal.
Souder claims to have the support of 88 other House Republicans for his ridiculous idea. More than a dozen of them are from California, where the Reagans make their home and where Reagan is a former governor.
In his effort to rewrite history and dishonor Roosevelt, Souder trots out the "L" word in what's becoming a tiresome exercise in partisan politics.
"I believe (Reagan) represents conservative values as we would see them implemented through a president better than anybody else we've had in American history," Souder said. "He, to conservatives, represents kind of the reverse of FDR, who is kind of the liberal icon. Ronald Reagan is the conservative icon."
We "kind of" miss Souder's point and why the obscure congressman believes it's proper to replace Roosevelt on the coin.
The presidencies of Roosevelt and Reagan occurred nearly 50 years apart under circumstances that were quite different.
While Reagan helped restore some resolve to American foreign policy in the aftermath of the caution that resulted from the disastrous Vietnam War and gets credit for cracking the facade of communism, Roosevelt governed in much more dire and challenging times.
In 1933, FDR inherited a nation that was reeling from the Great Depression, which began four years earlier when the stock market crashed and set into motion the most cataclysmic economic emergency in the nation's history. From Wall Street to Main Street, panic reigned. Tens of millions of Americans watched their savings, jobs and fortunes vanish.
Roosevelt's innovative employment and economic programs, and the sweeping changes that guaranteed the financial future of older Americans with the creation of Social Security, lifted the nation out of the Depression's nightmare.
During World War II, Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill turned back the horror of Nazi Germany in North Africa and Europe and the brutal occupation of most of Asia by the Japanese in leading history's greatest and most successful coalition in the name of freedom.
While Roosevelt and Churchill were hesitant to partner with Soviet leader Josef Stalin and shortsightedly criticized for doing so, they pragmatically understood the war against Hitler could not be won without assisting the communists.
Roosevelt an icon? How else to describe a president so popular and successful he was elected to four terms as president?
We suspect that many of the Indiana voters represented by Souder were helped to no small degree by the policies that Roosevelt engineered until his death in 1945. Many of them still are beneficiaries of Roosevelt's work.
Reagan deserves an important place in history. And he has won recognition for his achievements in many ways. Ronald Reagan National Airport and the building that houses the Justice Department are named for the former president, as well as countless schools, streets, roads and bridges across America.
We respect the conservatism that Reagan personifies and the conservative values that Souder desires so passionately to honor. But removing Roosevelt from the dime is an illogical and disrespectful way to do so.
Roosevelt and Reagan both were great men and leaders. Few rise to the office of the president without the extraordinary qualities that both possessed.
We would urge Souder and his colleagues to find a less partisan and emotionally charged way to honor the accomplishments of Ronald Reagan. He deserves better than the outlandish scheme that Souder and his co-sponsors of the bill offer.
Mr. Speaker, FDR was a true liberal. He was a believer in dynamic and efficient government. He was not afraid to use government to lift people out of poverty or to help our children, our seniors, our farmers, our veterans, the unemployed, or those who have been forgotten by society.
In his second inaugural address, he said: "The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little."
Mr. Speaker, I am proud to stand with my colleagues in honoring FDR. He was a wonderful President, and our Nation and our world is better for his service.
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