House Proceeding on Jul 27th, 2009 :: 2:23:25 to 2:30:00
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2:23:21 to 2:23:42( Edit History Discussion )

Neil Abercrombie: at this time i'd like to yield five minutes to my good friend and proud nive of hawaii, mr. abercrombie. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the chair recognizes the gentleman from hawaii. mr. abercrombie: madam speaker, thank you very much. representative clay, thank you very much for your gracious

2:23:25 to 2:30:00( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Neil Abercrombie

2:23:43 to 2:24:06( Edit History Discussion )

Neil Abercrombie: introduction to this resolutio . madam speaker, i'm filled with great emotion today. there are a lot of dates being celebrated. representative clay's birthday is today, and, of course, we want to wish him a very happy birthd i introduced this resolution on my birthday. june 26.

2:24:07 to 2:24:29( Edit History Discussion )

Neil Abercrombie: it was about that time 50ears ago that i understood that i would be able to go to hawaii. just before that i'd been informed that i had received a teaching assistanceship at the university of hawaii, and that i would be soon on my way at the end of the summer to begin

2:24:30 to 2:24:51( Edit History Discussion )

Neil Abercrombie: what became 50 years in hawaii. so i have that same anniversary with statehood, of course, came in august 21, and the first week in september, neil abercrombie arrived in honolulu and knew almost immediately that i would never leave if given the opportunity. .

2:24:52 to 2:25:12( Edit History Discussion )

Neil Abercrombie: it's also going to be the birthday of brom, born in the hospital just down the road from where i lived. as i said it's great emotion for me, great time of no, sir tala -- nostalgia. i arrived in hawaii at the same time as president obama's father.

2:25:55 to 2:26:15( Edit History Discussion )

Neil Abercrombie: firsts, if you will. we were maybe the last state to come into t union, but we had some very interesting firsts. i want to congratulate representative bachmann on her superb pronunciation of the prince's last name. thank you very much, indeed. i know you must have struggled with that because i remember my

2:26:16 to 2:26:37( Edit History Discussion )

Neil Abercrombie: first day in the classroom, the first saturday, 8:00 in the morning, teaching the lab course in sociology determined to say the names right, the hawaiian names right. i remember the first one was sampson pomohaleini. we celebrated our 50th anniversary of our friendship

2:27:00 to 2:27:23( Edit History Discussion )

Neil Abercrombie: fong lived almost a century. first asian american, chinese american. of course patsy mink, or beloved patsy mink, whom we miss every day. and danny akaka, perhaps the best loved person in the congress of whom never a bad word has been said. don't we wish -- all wish the same could be said of us. and of course the congressional

2:27:24 to 2:27:47( Edit History Discussion )

Neil Abercrombie: medal of honor winner, third longest serving senator in the united states, daniel k. inouye. serves now as the chairman of the appropriations committee. first japanese american to serve in the senate. some other dates i think of interest to all of us, 1778,

2:27:48 to 2:28:08( Edit History Discussion )

Neil Abercrombie: james cook comes to bya mia -- wiamea bay. and 1785, king could he maya maya establishes the hawaiian monarchy. february 24, 1954, mr. speaker, a 25250-pound petition containing 120,000 signatures in

2:28:09 to 2:28:30( Edit History Discussion )

Neil Abercrombie: favored of statehood was delivered to the congress. in march of 1959, this house of representatives passed the hawaii statehood bill, 323-89. i'm sure the 89 all had a chance to visit and regretted their votes against it. eisenhower signed the proclamation, making it the 50th state on august 24.

2:28:31 to 2:28:51( Edit History Discussion )

Neil Abercrombie: so, mr. speaker, i can say from the bottom of my heart that hawaii has given everything to me. i never conceived as i indicated earlier that i would ever have a chance to represent hawaii in congress. it is not just an honor and privilege to do so -- the speaker pro tempore: the

2:28:52 to 2:29:14( Edit History Discussion )

Neil Abercrombie: gentleman's time mr. abercrombie: could i have another 30 seconds. mr. clay: i yield an additional one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. abercrombie: thank you, mr. speaker. i ask all now then to join with us in this joyous occasion where we have the opportunity to celebrate friendships and

2:29:15 to 2:29:36( Edit History Discussion )

Neil Abercrombie: relationships of decades standing. to celebrate the transition of hawaii from the time of a prefeudle kingdom, a kingdom -- a prefeudal kingdom, a kingdom, now a state of the union. last state of the union to this

2:29:37 to 2:30:00( Edit History Discussion )

Neil Abercrombie: time. we are filled with great -- sense of gratitude for that which has been given to us over these past 50 years. and of course pledge at this time that even though we were last to join the union, we are first among those who appreciate, understanding, and