American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes Act of 2010

Floor Speech

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Mr. WHITEHOUSE. Madam President, here in this historic Chamber it is appropriate to recall those who came before us and risked their lives to create the great Republic we serve in this Senate.

Today, I would like to talk about a group of men who, 238 years ago, on this date, engaged in a daring act of defiance against the British Crown--the first bloody act of defiance in the conflict that became the American Revolution.

For many, the Boston Tea Party is considered a first act of defiance. Growing up, we were taught how, on December 16, 1773, Bostonians poured shipments of tea overboard into Boston Harbor to defend the principle, ``no taxation without representation.'' I think almost every schoolchild in America has heard of the Boston Tea Party.

Conspicuously missing from those children's education is the story of the brave Rhode Islanders who dared to challenge the British Crown more than a year before those Bostonians threw tea into the Boston Harbor. Today I would like to take us back to the real beginning of America's fight for independence and share with all of you the story of the British vessel, the HMS Gaspee, and to introduce some little known names, heroes from history, who seem now to be lost in history's footnotes.

In 1772, amidst growing tensions with American Colonies, King George, III, stationed the HMS Gaspee in Rhode Island to prevent smuggling and enforce the payment of taxes to the Crown. But to Rhode Islanders, the Gaspee quickly became a symbol of oppression.

The patronizing presence of the Gaspee was matched by the patronizing and domineering manner of its captain, LT William Dudingston. Lieutenant Dudingston was known for destroying fishing vessels and confiscating their contents and flagging down ships only to harass, humiliate, and interrogate their sailors. But on June 9, 1772, an audacious Rhode Islander named Captain Benjamin Lindsey took a stand.

Aboard his boat, the Hannah, Captain Lindsey set sail from Newport to Providence. When he was hailed by Lieutenant Dudingston to stop for a search by the Gaspee, the defiant Captain Lindsey continued on his course. Gunshots were fired, and the Hannah sped north up Narragansett Bay with the Gaspee in full chase behind.

Outsized and outgunned, Captain Lindsey drew courage and confidence from his and his crew's keen familiarity with Rhode Island waters. He led
the Gaspee into the shallow waters of Pawtuxet Cove, where the smaller Hannah cruised over the sandbars and the heavier Gaspee ran aground. The Gaspee was stranded in a falling tide, and it would be hours before high tide would again set her free.

Captain Lindsey took advantage of this favorable situation. Arriving triumphantly in Providence, Captain Lindsey visited John Brown, whose family helped found Brown University. Knowing the Gaspee's helpless state, the two men rallied a group of patriots at Sabin's Tavern--one daren't speculate on the form of refreshment they took there--in what is now the east side of Providence.

The Gaspee was universally despised by colonists who had been bullied in their own waters, and the vulnerability now of this once powerful vessel presented these patriots an irresistible opportunity. On that dark night, 60 men in longboats with muffled oars, led by Captain Lindsey and Abraham Whipple, moved quietly down the dark waters of Narragansett Bay.

As they encircled the Gaspee, Brown shouted a demand for Lieutenant Dudingston to surrender his ship. Dudingston refused and instead ordered his men to fire upon anyone who tried to board. The fearless Rhode Islanders took this as a cue to force their way onto the Gaspee and forward they charged in a raging uproar of screams, gunshots, powder smoke, and clashing swords. It was amidst this violent struggle that Lieutenant Dudingston was shot by a musket ball. Right there in Rhode Island, right then, the very first blood of the conflict that would lead to the American Revolution was drawn. Victory was soon in the hands of the Rhode Islanders.

Brown and Whipple took the captive Englishmen back to shore and returned to set the abandoned Gaspee afire. She burned prodigiously through the night, until the flames reached her powder magazine. Then, with a convulsive explosion, she was flung in pieces across the bay. The site of this historic victory would later be named Gaspee Point.

Too few people know of this bold undertaking which occurred 16 full months before the heroes of Boston painted their faces and threw tea into the Boston Harbor in the event that became known as the Boston Tea Party. I hope the tale of the Gaspee will work its way into the history books. It preceded the Tea Party. It was more significant than the Tea Party. It was more violent than the Tea Party. And I think it set the stage of conflict that led to our independence and the freedoms we enjoy today.

So I hope Americans will think not just of the date of the Boston Tea Party but will remember June 9, the day the Hannah led the Gaspee across the sandbars of Pawtuxet Cove, stranding her, and those 60 Rhode Islanders came down by oar to attack, burn, and destroy the Gaspee and engage in armed conflict with her crew.

I do know these events are not forgotten in my home State. Over the years, I have often had the chance to march in the annual Gaspee Day's parade through Warwick, RI, as every year we recall the courage and the zeal of these men who risked it all for the freedoms we enjoy today, drawing the first blood of our later Revolutionary conflict.

I hope the young pages I see in the Chamber who, I assume, have all heard of the Boston Tea Party--I see heads nodding, yes, they have--and may not have heard of the Gaspee--I see heads shaking, they have not heard of the Gaspee--at least a small audience of young people today has been educated that it was Rhode Islanders first, Rhode Islanders more energetically, Rhode Islanders more aggressively, and Rhode Islanders more defiantly than anyone else at the early stages of the Revolution.

I thank the Presiding Officer, and I yield the floor.

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